Lean Manufacturing CellLean Manufacturing advocates the reduction in production costs by reducing wastes from the production processes. One of the ways how it achieves this is by setting up small dedicated units in a big factory where the small units would be specialized in dealing with their processes of production. Once the small unit also known as Cell had completed its stage of production, it would pass on the product to the next stage and so the information flow was maintained. These smaller workplaces which executed Lean Manufacturing techniques to perfection is known as a Lean Manufacturing Cell. History revisited… Lean manufacturing technique identified that one of the main reasons for waste in a production process was non-focus on areas like Inventory, Transportation and Labor Overspecialization. If one had to read the classical manufacturing techniques, it would clearly state that the best way to execute a big process was to implement it in small steps and then join all of them. Many companies who followed this technique had issues with the inventory and transportation factor. Lean techniques could implement an end-end solution keeping these factors in mind and it was this focus that could help Lean Manufacturing achieve its objectives. An example of Lean Manufacturing Cell… Imagine that a factory has to produce a truck. The most effective way to produce this truck to reduce inventory and transportation costs would be for the manufacturer to keep the machines responsible for producing different trucks all in a sequence. This will enable faster flow of the product and it does not even feel the need of storing different parts of the product in different places which in turn increases inventory costs. The advantages…. Lean Manufacturing cell techniques have reportedly saved organizations close to 90% of their production costs. By following the simplest of techniques, companies could drive the inventory and transportation costs almost out of the window. Since software development is one industry which is closely related to the manufacturing industry in concept, lean techniques have found its way to the software industry too. Lean techniques are presented in a slightly different perspective to adapt to the end product requirements in the software development industry. This lean approach has gone on to be one of the most successful manufacturing techniques by Toyota. Toyota's success in trimming down costs by employing simple techniques has given a feeder to plenty of other manufacturing companies who wished to trim down their production costs too. With the fact that these specialized Lean Manufacturing Cells contribute to the smoothening of the production, many companies have adopted the Work cell approach in their manufacturing processes. And the cost advantages that these companies have realized is for everyone to see. |