The principles of Lean Management, some of which are also applicable in Lean Manufacturing, consist of a series of complementary methods or ways of working. Although in practice they are not necessarily applied together, all these methods pursue efficiency and productivity objectives.
Let's see what some of the most relevant techniques of the evolution of Lean as a philosophy consist of.
1. Kaizen → continuous improvement approach to achieve total excellence.
2. The 5s (seiri, seiton, seisō, seiketsu, shitsuke) → refer to the processes of sorting, ordering, cleaning, standardizing, and maintaining.
3. Kanban → planning system that facilitates the application of the ideals that Lean promulgates and contributes to limit the excess of inventory.
4. Poka yoke → method that seeks to ensure that no defect is present, through "error-proof" processes and through the implementation of preventive and corrective actions.
5. The SMED (Single-minute Exchange of Die) → consists of reducing waste by adjusting internal and external times throughout a production system.
6. The Deming Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act - PDCA) → registered within the Quality Management, this cycle consists of a series of actions that, through self-evaluation, seeks to ensure the integral improvement of the organization.
7. Muda → consists of optimizing aspects that may constitute potential sources of waste (muda) such as:
- inventory and its movement,
- waiting time between processes,
- overproduction,
- defects,
- overprocessing.
8. Value Stream Map (VSM) → tool that helps to visualize and track the steps of a process, in order to analyze the flows of materials more easily.
9. The Visual Control → management technique through which it is sought to explain a process from visual resources, instead of written instructions.
10. Standardization of work → tool that consists in selecting the best practices implemented in the production to constitute a work methodology common to the whole team, which is functional.
11. Jidoka → consists in pointing out when an inconvenience occurs so that the necessary measures can be implemented to prevent it from happening again.
12. Just in Time (JIT) → system that helps to eliminate waste and fix the processes within a production system.
13. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) → periodic review activities based on:
- prevention,
- optimization,
- maximum production.