Features

• Lean production is a theory of building products or delivering services that use parts only on an "as needed" basis. Under this model, there are no storerooms, and the plants are not cluttered with parts waiting to be used. In this system, parts necessary for production are delivered when they are needed and not before.
  
  

Function

• Lean production is meant to minimize the inputs for any given output. Less abstractly, business costs are to stay at a minimum with this approach to production. Deliveries of parts and production schedules, as well as deliveries of the finished product, must be scheduled with precision and no slowdowns can occur without altering the system. This is production without any "cushions," with all production done solely on a contingency basis.
  
  

Benefits

• Waste is reduced to nearly zero while the working areas are kept clean and easy to operate. Less labor is needed per product and production costs are substantially reduced. Overhead is equally reduced. Ultimately, the benefit here is to get more from less. Use only the parts and space that is absolutely necessary for the given job on the given day.
  
  

Identification

• The lean production model, as developed by Toyota, stressed five specific concepts. Value must be specified. This means that customer's needs and timetables must be fully mapped out. The same goes for the production process. In lean production, timing is everything. Parts and services must be delivered precisely on time or the system fails. Therefore, all values and inputs must be mapped out and planned to the smallest detail. This leads to the concept of "flow" which means that information is the main issue. Since everything must be mapped out in detail, information and scheduling become dominant ideas. "Pull" is the same thing, except applied to delivery of the product rather than its production. Finally, "perfection" is the end goal, as the process and concept maps are analyzed and worked out in practice over a long period of time.
  
  

Considerations

• The Toyota Way is a summary of lean production at the factory floor level. The system described is based on precision delivery and planning. Therefore, employees must be trained for the long term. The system takes some time to develop and work. Long-term planning is absolutely central. Creativity in fixing problems is also important. Problems must be solved at the source, not when the product is finished. No time can be wasted in this production theory. Slowdowns can destroy the precision timing. All decisions must be based around consensus, since it only takes one slow employee to throw the entire system off. Therefore, consensus management is necessary to make certain all workers are on board with the plan and schedule.