Lean manufacturing using kanban systems

Abstract

Production is a process of converting raw material into product by utilizing various resources like Men, Material, Machine, Method and Money. These resources need to be utilized effectively in order to sustain in the competitive global scenario. Wastes need to be eliminated for the effective utilization of these resources. It is anything which doesn t add value to the system. Wastes which need to be eradicated from the system are Overproduction, Excess inventory, Defects, Non value adding processing time and cost, unnecessary motion, Transport and Waiting. Many tools are utilized to produce the goods at competitive price and one such effective means is Lean manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing system helps in minimizing/eliminating the wastes in several ways and helps the organization to sustain in the global competitive environment. It aims to produce products at the right quantity, right time and at economical price without compromising the quality and customer satisfaction. Manufacturing systems which are to be revamped for improving the performance parameters can make use many tools and the most important are Kaizen and Kaban (2K). They are effective tools, contributing to achieve Lean Manufacturing by continuous improvement and waste reduction. Kaizen refers to small and continuous improvement. The mantra of Kaizen is big results come from many small changes accumulated over time . Kaizen helps the organization to find its ways to sustain in any unprecedented market. Kaizen is a continuous improvement process involving everyone in the organization from top management to low level workers. Kaizen is a systematic approach to help the organizations to reduce waste. newline