In a nutshell, Material Handling Engineering (1998) defines lean manufacturing as “eliminating waste in the manufacturing process” (30). While this definition is distilled to its most simplified form, lean manufacturing is a manufacturing strategy developed by Toyota. During the 1980s U.S. Corporations were dumbfounded over how Japanese automobile manufacturers could be so good at manufacturing cars. They discovered their answer in the manufacturing process, one that was so different from American manufacturing processes that they deemed the process lean manufacturing. Upon this discovery, 1000s of U.S. manufacturers jumped on the lean manufacturing bandwagon.
Lean manufacturing is called lean because it primarily uses less of everything when compared to conventional mass production strategies of U.S. manufacturers. This includes less labor, less manufacturing square footage, less investment in tools and machinery, less product development time and so forth. So, too, the concept involves keeping lower levels of inventory on hand and has been proven to result in less defects and a greater variety of products. There are a few significant concepts involved with lean manufacturing as developed by the Japanese: Jidoka, Heijunka, and Just-In-Time and Kanban systems (Rao, 1999, 1).
The Jidoka concept enables laborers to have the option of working several machines over the course of one shift. Heijunka is a planning system originally developed by Toyota that has as its goal consistent production levels. Just-In-Time and Kanban systems are interlocking and critical for lean manufacturing to be successful. Just-In-Time is defined as “the right part at the right time in the right amount” (Rao, 1999, 2). Kanban is a corollary system with Just-In-Time that helps facilitate the process. A Kanban is a card that is assigned to parts as they move through the manufacturing process. When the part is used the car is taken off ...