The visual management specialists here at Clarity can support you in embedding a culture of World Class Manufacturing throughout your organisational structure. If you’re new to Lean principles, this blog explains what World Class Manufacturing is and how it will transform the way your company operates in multiple ways.
World Class Manufacturing is a philosophy that every manufacturing business should embrace and aspire to achieve. It revolves around striving to be the very best producer of your particular products whilst also being the fastest and most competitively priced.
This may seem an impossible task, as many business consultants say that when it comes to the factors of quality, speed and price, you can only ever have two in place at any given time. However, Lean thinking is all about continuous improvement, which is an investment in establishing a business as an industry leader and perfecting every aspect of its day-to-day operations.
When continuous improvement, in-depth consultancy and employee engagement are combined, a business can indeed achieve World Class Manufacturing status and provide the best choice for its customers every time.
Though being an outstanding manufacturer through continuous improvement is a straightforward concept, its implementation is dependent on multiple actions. In fact, World Class Manufacturing is a collection of principles that complement and work in unison with each other. If even just one of these principles is ignored, your systems and processes can still be improved but they will never reach their full potential.
The best way to explore the full spectrum of principles associated with World Class Manufacturing is to contact our team and book an initial consultation. However, here are three examples of Lean principles that we regularly help our clients to roll out across their manufacturing premises:
Value stream mapping: This follows a fundamental two-stage process, which involves establishing the Current State Map (what happens today) and finding improvements to create the Future State Map (an ideal future state of how the process will look after improvements).
Standard work: The identification and removal of variations from all processes within your production cycle. This consistency comes with multiple benefits, such as an improved product, greater health and safety compliance and minimal waste. It also plays a major role in reducing timeframes and costs, which in turn enables a smoother and more precise prediction of outputs and profit margins.
Just In Time: Rather than producing stock that’s stored until the customer needs it, Just In Time is a system in which the right items are produced in the right amounts at the right time. Its primary aim is to reduce the amount of stock or inventory held within a company’s Value Stream, which in the process helps you to move from a “push” to a “pull” system.
As you may have gathered by now, World Class Manufacturing is neither a quick fix nor a one-off undertaking. Instead, it requires ongoing commitment from every team member, as only then can it be consistently applied across each department and the business as a whole. Though this may seem daunting, we guarantee that the pursuit of World Class Manufacturing is well worth the time and effort, as it will bring exceptional results on a long-term basis.
If you’re unsure where to begin, we recommend booking our Value Stream Mapping workshop. Designed for senior management teams, this insightful and enjoyable workshop takes place at your premises and covers the entirety of the VSM landscape, such as:
World Class Manufacturing is an ambitious goal, yet any manufacturing business can achieve it no matter its size, sector or age. The key is to remember that perpetual focus is required by all employees, which is why culture change is required in order to get everyone on the same page and keep them there. This is made possible through consultation, analysis, training, and clear communication through visual management assets, which in turn enable the maximisation of employee engagement. When every member of staff is working toward a shared goal and acting both proactively and in an accountable manner, incredible things can happen everywhere from the production line to the logistics yard.
The methods and strategies adopted as a means to achieve WCM may be universal but they are also tailored to the business in particular. For instance, one manufacturing site may have very fast production rates but create large volumes of waste in the process. Meanwhile, another site may offer the highest quality products but either take too long to build them or have an excess of inventory taking up valuable space. Whatever the case may be with your business, we’ll help you to identify problems and develop a bespoke strategy for applying World Class Manufacturing across your site.
We’re ready to support your business in implementing the World Class Manufacturing philosophy across the board. To get started, contact our team on +44 (0)1482 296451 or fill in our contact form to book your free initial consultation.
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