3 ms·
Lean manufacturing is a lot about avoiding waste, but it doesn't necessarily mean removing all buffers and stocks, which is a type of waste, if this is causing
by ngrilly 4y ago
Lean manufacturing is a lot about avoiding waste, but it doesn't necessarily mean removing all buffers and stocks, which is a type of waste, if this is causing a much worse type of waste, which is making the entire production line useless because it is missing input material. I really think "lean manufacturing" = 100% JIT is a misconception and an over-simplification.
- actionfromafar 4y agoAnd wasn't it notably Toyota, inventors of lean which had a decent stock of components? (Not huge perhaps, but better than a lot of competitors.)
- prometheus76 4y agoThe argument becomes how much buffer and stock do you need? How long can you fade a falloff in supply? One hour? One day? One week? What is "wasteful" vs. what is wise?
- ngrilly 4y agoExactly, which is a much more sane and useful discussions to have, and something any serious process engineer will do using for example a simulation.