Lean Into It

Practical applications for modern manufacturing solutions that fix real-world problems

At a time when growing numbers of manufacturers are embracing an expanding ecosystem of powerful digital tools, increasingly sophisticated production environments are becoming the rule, rather than the exception.

The world is changing in profound ways. But manufacturing is still manufacturing. The same lean manufacturing principles first codified so neatly in the Toyota Production System (TPS) still apply today. The tools and products may evolve. Processes may become more streamlined, automated, and efficient, but the foundational goals of quality, consistency, and efficiency remain unchanged. Frustratingly for many manufacturers, however, age-old challenges remain just as prevalent. The eight wastes of lean manufacturing, memorably presented in the acronym DOWNTIME, are just as much of an everyday obstacle as ever.

• Defects
• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Not utilizing talent
• Transportation
• Inventory excess
• Motion waste
• Excess processing

Every manufacturing professional has experienced these pain points. And virtually every manufacturing professional has heard about how lean manufacturing principles and new technology tools can address them.

But there is a gap between the brochure and the shop floor: a missing link between the promised benefits of modern manufacturing technology and the practical realities of production. It’s one thing to hear about how connected process control solutions can deliver significant and, in many cases, dramatic improvements in efficiency, quality, and consistency. But it’s another to experience what that looks like and witness firsthand how it works to solve problems. Engineers, plant floor managers, and manufacturing decision-makers don’t want or need slogans or sales pitches, they want to know specifics about how these connected process control solutions can fix their problems.

This series of four blogs will answer that question, bridging the gap between the concepts and principles of lean manufacturing and the cutting-edge tools and solutions that leverage them to make a meaningful and measurable difference on assembly lines and bottom lines alike.

Waste #1: Defects

The best connected process control technologies address defects by empowering both operators and managers, enabling them to conduct proactive problem solving instead of reactive damage control. The detailed real-time data that comes from connected tools and technologies provides effective quality control and error correction. Effective training and procedural refinement reduce errors and inefficiencies. Data insights at the task and operator level help standardize processes, performance, and products, unlocking continuous improvements that boost consistency and quality. And digital work instructions remove the guesswork from decision tasks and help improve accuracy and reduce defects.

The right connected process control solution can also provide a network of failsafe procedural guardrails, including no-faults-forward functionality. Connectivity to a wide range of tools, including cameras and DC torque tools, means that the system can verify correct assembly or tolerances before allowing the operator to move forward. Task level process monitoring can even detect otherwise invisible changes in operator performance or product quality, ensuring error correction can take place before small issues become larger and more expensive ones. Traceability and transparency is elevated, with digital “birth certificates” generated for both individual components and completed products. Precision monitoring and verification not only increases quality, it optimizes repair/rework strategies. The result is a production environment where it is functionally impossible for defective parts or products to make it to completion—much less to shipping.

Waste #2: Overproduction

Overproduction is a wasteful and avoidable error, potentially leading to unnecessary expenses in staffing and warehousing, and spiraling into other expensive and impactful inefficiencies. The best connected process control solutions ensure that operators are not building products that have not yet been ordered, avoiding excess inventory consumption and eliminating the need to dedicate time and money to warehouse extra product.

The best solutions facilitate not just strict procedural efficiency, but precise scheduling management. Digital control means that a station simply won’t operate until the next scheduled production run. In other words: if an operator is only supposed to build five products, the system won’t allow them to build the sixth. Impressively, that production scheduling can be configured at the individual station, all while retaining the flexibility required to deliver high levels of customized production, as needed.

Leading modern solutions come with seamless ERP synchronization that ensures production volume is precisely calibrated with orders/demand and warehousing capability. Quality control and precision testing during production (see Waste #1: Defects above) reduces or eliminates the need to produce the extra yield traditional manufacturers were forced to factor in for quality assurance purposes. The result of all of this is a solution that unlocks true just-in-time manufacturing capabilities, speedily and seamlessly reducing flow times across the production environment and ensuring that wasteful overproduction is a thing of the past.

In part two of this four-part series, we will explore the next two wastes, clarifying how modern manufacturing solutions can address the issues of Waiting and Not utilizing talent.

Learn how Epicor can help streamline your processes and support your lean manufacturing goals.