Top 25 Lean Tools

Lean Tool What Is It? How Does It Help?

Organize the work area: Eliminates waste that results from a poorly organized
 Sort (eliminate that which is not needed) work area (e.g. wasting time looking for a tool).
5S  Set In Order (organize remaining items)
 Shine (clean and inspect work area)
 Standardize (write standards for above)
 Sustain (regularly apply the standards)
Visual feedback system for the plant floor that Acts as a real-time communication tool for the plant floor
Andon indicates production status, alerts when assistance is that brings immediate attention to problems as they occur
needed, and empowers operators to stop the – so they can be instantly addressed.
production process.
Bottleneck Identify which part of the manufacturing process Improves throughput by strengthening the weakest link in
Analysis limits the overall throughput and improve the the manufacturing process.
performance of that part of the process.
Manufacturing where work-in-process smoothly flows Eliminates many forms of waste (e.g. inventory, waiting
Continuous through production with minimal (or no) buffers time, and transport).
Flow between steps of the manufacturing process.
Gemba A philosophy that reminds us to get out of our offices Promotes a deep and thorough understanding of real-
(The Real and spend time on the plant floor – the place where world manufacturing issues – by first-hand observation
Place) real action occurs. and by talking with plant floor employees.
Heijunka A form of production scheduling that purposely Reduces lead times (since each product or variant is
(Level manufactures in much smaller batches by manufactured more frequently) and inventory (since
Scheduling) sequencing (mixing) product variants within the same batches are smaller).
process.
Hoshin Kanri Align the goals of the company (Strategy), with the Ensures that progress towards strategic goals is
(Policy plans of middle management (Tactics) and the work consistent and thorough – eliminating the waste that
Deployment) performed on the plant floor (Action). comes from poor communication and inconsistent
direction.
Jidoka Design equipment to partially automate the After Jidoka, workers can frequently monitor multiple
(Autonomatio manufacturing process (partial automation is typically stations (reducing labor costs) and many quality issues
n) much less expensive than full automation) and to can be detected immediately (improving quality).
automatically stop when defects are detected.
Pull parts through production based on customer Highly effective in reducing inventory levels. Improves
Just-In-Time demand instead of pushing parts through production cash flow and reduces space requirements.
(JIT) based on projected demand. Relies on many lean
tools, such as Continuous Flow, Heijunka, Kanban,
Standardized Work and Takt Time.
Kaizen A strategy where employees work together Combines the collective talents of a company to create
(Continuous proactively to achieve regular, incremental an engine for continually eliminating waste from
Improvement) improvements in the manufacturing process. manufacturing processes.
A method of regulating the flow of goods both within Eliminates waste from inventory and overproduction. Can
Kanban (Pull the factory and with outside suppliers and customers. eliminate the need for physical inventories (instead
System) Based on automatic replenishment through signal relying on signal cards to indicate when more goods need
cards that indicate when more goods are needed. to be ordered).
Metrics designed to track and encourage progress The best manufacturing KPIs:
KPI (Key towards critical goals of the organization. Strongly  Are aligned with top-level strategic goals (thus helping
Performance promoted KPIs can be extremely powerful drivers of to achieve those goals)
Indicator) behavior – so it is important to carefully select KPIs  Are effective at exposing and quantifying waste (OEE is
that will drive desired behavior. a good example)
 Are readily influenced by plant floor employees (so they
can drive results)
Muda (Waste) Anything in the manufacturing process that does not Eliminating muda (waste) is the primary focus of lean
add value from the customer’s perspective. manufacturing.
 Lean Tool What Is It? How Does It Help?
Framework for measuring productivity loss for a Provides a benchmark/baseline and a means to track
Overall given manufacturing process. Three categories of progress in eliminating waste from a manufacturing
Equipment loss are tracked: process. 100% OEE means perfect production
Effectiveness  Availability (e.g. down time) (manufacturing only good parts, as fast as possible, with
(OEE)  Performance (e.g. slow cycles) no downtime).
 Quality (e.g. rejects)
Iterative methodology for implementing Applies a scientific approach to making improvements:
improvements:
PDCA (Plan,  Plan (establish plan and expected results)  Plan (develop a hypothesis)
Do, Check, Act)  Do (implement plan)  Do (run experiment)
 Check (verify expected results achieved)  Check (evaluate results)
 Act (review and assess; do it again)  Act (refine your experiment; try again)
Poka-Yoke Design error detection and prevention into production It is difficult (and expensive) to find all defects through
(Error Proofing) processes with the goal of achieving zero defects. inspection, and correcting defects typically gets
significantly more expensive at each stage of production.
A problem solving methodology that focuses on Helps to ensure that a problem is truly eliminated by
resolving the underlying problem instead of applying applying corrective action to the “root cause” of the
Root Cause quick fixes that only treat immediate symptoms of the problem.
Analysis problem. A common approach is to ask why five
times – each time moving a step closer to
discovering the true underlying problem.
Reduce setup (changeover) time to less than 10 Enables manufacturing in smaller lots, reduces inventory,
minutes. Techniques include: and improves customer responsiveness.
Single Minute  Convert setup steps to be external (performed
Exchange of while the process is running)
Die (SMED)  Simplify internal setup (e.g. replace bolts with
knobs and levers)
 Eliminate non-essential operations
 Create standardized work instructions
Six categories of productivity loss that are almost Provides a framework for attacking the most common
universally experienced in manufacturing: causes of waste in manufacturing.
Six Big Losses  Breakdowns
 Setup/Adjustments
 Small Stops
 Reduced Speed
 Startup Rejects
 Production Rejects
SMART Goals Goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Helps to ensure that goals are effective.
Relevant, and Time-Specific.
Documented procedures for manufacturing that Eliminates waste by consistently applying best practices.
Standardized capture best practices (including the time to complete Forms a baseline for future improvement activities.
Work each task). Must be “living” documentation that is
easy to change.
The pace of production (e.g. manufacturing one Provides a simple, consistent and intuitive method of
Takt Time piece every 34 seconds) that aligns production with pacing production. Is easily extended to provide an
customer demand. Calculated as Planned Production efficiency goal for the plant floor (Actual Pieces / Target
Time / Customer Demand. Pieces).
A holistic approach to maintenance that focuses on Creates a shared responsibility for equipment that
Total proactive and preventative maintenance to maximize encourages greater involvement by plant floor workers. In
Productive the operational time of equipment. TPM blurs the the right environment this can be very effective in
Maintenance distinction between maintenance and production by improving productivity (increasing up time, reducing cycle
(TPM) placing a strong emphasis on empowering operators times, and eliminating defects).
to help maintain their equipment.
A tool used to visually map the flow of production. Exposes waste in the current processes and provides a
Value Stream Shows the current and future state of processes in a roadmap for improvement through the future state.
Mapping way that highlights opportunities for improvement.
Visual indicators, displays and controls used Makes the state and condition of manufacturing
Visual Factory throughout manufacturing plants to improve processes easily accessible and very clear – to everyone.
communication of information.