Lean Manufacturing Flow Simulation

Simulation of lean flow system. ...

Lean Dentistry

Local dentist uses lean techniques to streamline his office processes, delighting customers, and achieving recognition by the Shingo Prize. ...

... "For the dental office, this means small things - like arranging sterilization areas in a way that minimizes steps - as well as large things. One of the biggest differences at Bahri's office, for example, is that patients don't move from room to room or have to deal with multiple appointments ... " ...

Via Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville: Business Lean Success Story

LeanSix Sigma Improves Processes

Military uses lean six sigma to decrease the cycle time for maintenance and repair of its assets. The facilities and business processes are designed and refined to increase the flow and throughput of the work. ...

... "Many officials credit AirSpeed - formerly Lean Six Sigma - with helping improve processes, from assessing what work is needed to ordering spare parts to scheduling final flight testing to changing bad habits. " ...

Via Marine Corps Times: Aircraft repair centers

Lear Lean Manufacturing Implementation Drives Operational Efficiency Gains

Lear Corporation's lean manufacturing processes have driven productivity and operational efficiency for the company. Lear's lean implementation concentrates on the work environment, quality, the layout, and the flow of materials. ...

... "Tony Coomer, the company's vice president of Advanced Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement-Seating Systems, said lean manufacturing techniques have been deployed throughout the company's global manufacturing network.

Lear employees are trained on LMS during a three-week workshop. The training is conducted at all Lear plants by a lean manufacturing leader and employees receive LMS certification upon successful understanding of LMS principles and validation of model line projects which deploy LMS.

Product design is another key element in Lear's Lean Manufacturing System. Product design teams rely on LMS principles to ensure products can be manufactured in a lean environment. Approximately two thirds of product costs are locked into the initial design of the product, Coomer noted, so any effort to reduce cost after the initial design stage can only influence the remaining one third of the product's overall cost. At one facility, for example, product design teams incorporating design for lean principles in a model year change realigned workstations, changed production flows and made other assembly line changes to boost productivity.

Plant layout also plays an important role in Lear's approach to lean manufacturing. Lear uses Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to understand work flow and identify waste. In addition, extended VSM allows Lear to eliminate waste from the entire value stream -- from supplier to customer. VSM encompasses items such as freight costs, inventory controls and production changes. " ...

Via Lear Corp: Lean Manufacturing System Hikes Productivity and Reduces Costs

2-Bin Lean Manufacturing Flow System

Video demonstrates the flow of two bin system for lean manufacturing. ...

Six Sigma Benchmarking with Industry Leaders

Martin Guitar learns valuable improvement principles from benchmarking with Air Products. ...

... "Tools: Having techniques that are used to tackle waste and empower performance. Some examples include mapping, mistake-proofing, Six Sigma, kaizen and flow. " ...

Via IndustryWeek: Martin Guitar