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Lean - Greatest Value at Least Cost
The principles of Lean date back to the popularity or Kaizen in the 1980s, but the concepts were developed for the Westernised culture in the 1990s.
The objective of Lean is to provide the best possible value, as perceived by the customer, and to do so at the
least possible cost. This is done by looking internally to manage the company processes, and by looking externally
to manage the total supply chain on which those processes depend.
Lean is the key to being efficient and competitive in any production situation. That obviously includes manufacturing,
but it also includes service sectors such as accounting and the public sector.
The costs of introducing Lean should be quickly recovered if the system is properly focussed and carefully implemented.
Many organisations have tried to introduce Lean, but have found it difficult to overcome compartmentalised behaviour in the pursuit of cross-functional teamwork. There is also a tendency to introduce
unnecessarily complex planning systems. This is why we find that companies benefit from our help.
Lean basic principles
The principles of Lean are briefly summarised as follows:
Identifying value.
Efficiency depends on knowing what is required to create value, and taking steps to reduce activities that don't specifically contribute to it.
Customer value includes support elements of the products or services offered, as well as avaliability, reliability, lead times, documentation, training etc.
Identifying the value stream.
Show the sequence of required value-adding activities, with their interactions and dependencies, clearly as a chart that everyone can understand.
Sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Find out where there is waste, and take it out. Lean provides a specific agenda for identifying waste, broken down into categories.
Optimising the value stream.
Planning and control methods are introduced to ensure that the value stream continues to operate at maximum efficiency.
Support and training
Our support and training programmes cover the following:
Training and coaching.
We provide training and coaching at all levels, from top management overview to detailed methods for making the system work.
All our training courses lead to personal certification.
Further details
Documentation.
If your company does not have the means or experience to produce the necessary process charts or other documents, we can provide training,
on-job coaching or a document design service. We can provide as much or as little help as you need on an as-required basis for economy.
System reviews and audits.
We can help you by providing an independent review periodically, and offer constructive comment on how your system could be improved, or how to overcome particular problems.
Integration with ISO standards.
If you already work to management standards such as ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS18001, we can help you integrate Lean processes and procedures into your existing system.
To find out more about our support programmes, please go to our
free downloads page |  |
For further details of training programmes, please go to our
training page | |
Grant support
Many of our SME customers get up to 50% grant support through several regional development agencies.
The money comes to you, not to us, but we can help you find out where to look for support.
Ring us on: 01633 430166
or email us at: enquiry@2kbs.co.uk
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