Setting Up a Lean Factory that Works

A lean factory adjusts to market forces better than factories weighed down with a lot of machinery, too many employees and not enough efficiency. Lean manufacturing allows startups to compete with larger firms and get products to market in weeks instead of months. To set up a lean system for your facility that works, examine these starting points.

1. Planning

Begin with a strategy. Everyone in the company, from CEOs down to entry-level workers, must be on board to effectively create a lean factory. Senior leadership must plan the layout of the building to ensure it's efficient for everyone. The building would be small compared to other factories, because a lean company does not keep a lot of inventory or excess equipment. Because there isn't a lot of inventory, support personnel, such as sales and marketing teams, can keep raw materials and parts coming into the plant and finished products going out to customers.

Have a core team of individuals who are helping to get departments and teams ready to move towards lean manufacturing. Have this team leads groups of workers who assess current inventories, thoroughly going through pieces of equipment to assess what the company must keep and what it can eschew. This core team helps put the strategy into action, making moves without disrupting production.

2. Training

Everyone, from the CEO down to the newest hire, should undergo training on the lean factory objective. Each person should understand what to expect, when things should happen, and what their roles are before, during and after the transition. During planning and strategy sessions, get feedback from any employee who has ideas. Write down the good ideas, and consider how they can help streamline your operations.

3. Tollgate Process

Consider using a tollgate process to help you achieve success with the lean factory. Tollgates represent milestones throughout the transition to a lean factory. Teams determine if it met a deadline through a comprehensive tollgate meeting. During the meeting, everyone involved in the tollgate discusses and decides if the team is ready to move to the next tollgate. Every person in the meeting brings other people at the meeting up to speed as to what happened and when. There is no time to collect data for a future tollgate meeting. Tollgates are crucial because at any time, if senior leader wants to move in a direction that's too risky or expensive, tollgates can put an end to the process during a meeting.

4. Automation

Part of the success of moving to a lean operation comes from automation. Thanks to technology, it's never been easier to automate shipping, purchasing supply ordering or pre-sales processes. You already automate a lot of your factory floor, so continuing this strategy to support operations just makes sense in terms of efficiency.

Moving to a lean factory model is a great idea, but it requires a great deal of collaborative effort. Great planning is also essential, along with the willingness to automate certain aspects of your business.

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