Why LEAN?
LEAN in Manufacturing and Business IS essential to maximizing productivity. When combined, reducing the amount of wasted time and resources, your rate of return increases. While it’s easy to understand where efficiencies can be increased in the manufacturing process, we don’t always realize there are many other places within our businesses that can benefit from LEAN.
“Lean for Production and Services”, an article from LEAN Enterprise Institute’s website further explains;
“A popular misconception is that lean is suited only for manufacturing. Not true. Lean applies in every business and every process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization.”
If you are a business owner, a manager within a business, even support staff, you can look for ways to streamline your processes and to save money.
For example:
Office staff may chose to move to electronic filing of documents for safe storage. Saving documents electronically reduces the amount paper used and office space requirements, which can also reduce operating costs! How is that so??? When less space is needed for filing cabinets and shelving for boxes, you require less space for your office needs. If your office is smaller, operating costs, such as rent or heating and cooling expense will also be reduced.
Additionally, electronic filing allows you to search for documents without leaving your desk or having to go into the office. The time saved searching for files is therefore reduced, which saves staff time and costs!
As a manager, establishing LEAN thinking and processes is a great way to show upper management, and your employees, that you care about the company. Knowing that you are taking steps to think smart and manage costs, employees may be more apt to care about the same ideas. Helping employees manage their workload and time can also be an effective way to boost productivity and reduce errors. The following list from Intelligent Management’s article, Resource Optimization, provides a few recommendations;
“An efficient use of resources to carry out a project requires us to:
Becoming LEAN starts today. LEAN is not all about implementing a new process; it’s about starting a new way of thinking, which leads to creating new processes. “The word transformation or lean transformation is often used to characterize a company moving from an old way of thinking to lean thinking. It requires a complete transformation on how a company conducts business. This takes a long-term perspective and perseverance.” (From the LEAN Enterprise Institute’s website)
Don’t wait until tomorrow, make today the day to transform; It’s time to become LEAN.
For more information on LEAN in manufacturing, view our blog, “Lean Manufacturing Tools - A Quick Summary”.
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