Lean Manufacturing Philosophy

Abstract

The philosophy of lean production is widely used around the world. Its main idea is the creation of a production system for client satisfaction, loss minimization and energy efficiency. This idea coincides with the objectives, defined by the Goal 12 of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development: Transforming our world, - achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

The

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all;

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation;

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns;

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

To achieve these and some other goals it is necessary to define several instruments. Lean production (or Toyota Production System, TPS), Total Quality Management (TQM) and ISO standards may be considered as such means.

Lean production or lean manufacturing is a management concept which transforms a business in a one with increasing level of output and decreasing any waste that occurs in the production process. Term “waste” refers to any losses (resources, materials, time) that should be removed from the process to make it more efficient. Lean production was originated in Toyota Motor Corporation and is known as Toyota Production System (TPS n.d.).

The years after World War II were years of rapid growth of Japanese economy and implementation of new approaches to enterprise management, such as Total Quality Control (TQC) and Total Quality Management

It can be seen that when lean production uses term “waste” the TQM uses term “errors”.

ISO standards for Quality Management has a 30-year history. The first version of ISO 9000 family of standards was published in 1987. In 2015 fifth version of these standards was adopted. Starting from the end of last century new standards were developed on base of TQM principles: ISO 14000 family – Environmental Management (2009), ISO 22000 - Food Safety Management Systems — Requirements for Any Organization in the Food Chain (ISO 2005), ISO 26000 - Guidance on Social Responsibility (ISO 2010), etc.

Look at these approaches