| When industrial visionaries create improvements in | | | | areas such as manufacturing, finance, HR, and |
| manufacturing technique far ahead of their time, | | | | shipping. Instead, they are replaced with a single |
| reluctance to change is the common response of | | | | unified software program that is subdivided into |
| managers comfortable with traditional, production | | | | several software modules dedicated to each |
| methods. From Adam Smith's eighteenth century "pin | | | | enterprise area. Now, all departments are linked |
| factory" to Frederick Taylor's "scientific management" | | | | together with the same real-time data. Like the lean |
| in the nineteenth century, and Henry Ford's twentieth | | | | principals that it serves, accountability, responsibility |
| century "mass production" to Taichi Ohno's | | | | and communication are also primary concepts at the |
| contemporary "pull production" model, shop floor | | | | heart of the ERP package. |
| operation has been in constant evolution. In all of | | | | To enhance ERP applications, the lean cell technique is |
| these periods of change, it has often been the early | | | | increasingly employed to build efficiencies into the |
| adopters of emerging manufacturing techniques who | | | | system. With the lean cell concept of production, |
| have enjoyed great benefits over their competitors. | | | | several operators work in proximity to each other |
| Those benefits often result in increased market | | | | with the principal goal of reducing the unnecessary |
| share, profit margins, or both, from enhanced | | | | movement of materials. In a lean cell configuration, |
| efficiencies in the manufacturing process. In many job | | | | everything for assembly is built into the cell and |
| shops, make-to-order, or mixed mode manufacturers, | | | | material goes right through the floor-no more |
| these efficiencies in production are found in the | | | | maintenance of depreciating raw materials inventory. |
| elimination of waste-a technique commonly referred | | | | Lean cell technique results in the batching of several |
| to as lean production. It was Ohno who, in the | | | | orders together to buying to the job or project. |
| post-war period of the late 1940's, developed the | | | | Then as soon as the order comes in it goes in, it |
| lean system as an operations management | | | | goes straight to the job. You build to a shippable |
| philosophy centered around reducing waste in the | | | | inventory or wait to you get enough orders to make |
| manufacturing system. His idea was to make the | | | | the cell concept viable as a cost savings application. |
| process more efficient and less expensive by | | | | The ultimate benefit is that in lean cell techinque |
| producing a higher quality product in less time. | | | | extremely fast lean set-ups are achieved. |
| By the 1980's, the lean production concept in | | | | In tandem, lean cell and ERP work well in the system |
| manufacturing replaced older batch production | | | | flow model of manufacturing now emerging in the |
| methods that sought to save on the number of | | | | 2000's. In system flow models, high volumes of unit |
| times set-ups needed to be made in machinery. | | | | production (as repeat items) flow through the plant |
| These batch production techniques created large | | | | with ease by the use of lean cells-collections of |
| (though wasteful) inventories that led to inventory | | | | workstations that physically tie together in a single |
| value depreciation, wasted cash flow, and the need | | | | location all the equipment, materials, and tools, used in |
| for warehousing. Instead, lean operations began to | | | | the fabrication of an item. With the modern lean cell, |
| be employed that limited work-in-progress (WIP) | | | | set-up times are significantly reduced to ten minutes |
| inventories through the use of just-in-time (JIT) pull | | | | or less, if not eliminated altogether. |
| production controls. With JIT pull production, finite | | | | So, from Ohno's 1940's development of lean principals |
| scheduling of resources could finally be engaged to | | | | to the contemporary applications of lean in fully |
| ensure there was adequate space downstream | | | | integrated ERP operations in the late 2000's, the |
| before additional inventories would be processed. By | | | | history of waste reduction in the manufacturing |
| the late 1990's, JIT production techniques began to | | | | process has been the brass ring for every manager. |
| finally realize the overarching goals of continuous | | | | Modular, robust manufacturing software is now the |
| improvement leaning through the elimination of | | | | name of the game when it comes to bringing |
| wasted inventory in the system. | | | | together all of the elements in manufacturing and the |
| Today, these refined lean principals interface well | | | | creation of the lean cell production model. In other |
| with the rise of total enterprise resource planning | | | | words, the marriage of ERP software packages and |
| (ERP) software packages that integrate all plant | | | | lean operation principals are a match made in |
| departments and functions onto a single computer | | | | manufacturing heaven, and one that makes |
| system that serves all those departments' particular | | | | manufacturers more competitive in the |
| needs. ERP eliminates individual computer systems in | | | | ever-increasing movement toward globalization. |