While it’s important for lean consultants to stay on top of current trends in lean manufacturing, it is difficult to keep up with advances in technology and new opportunities.
Most applications of lean thinking begin with an assumption that there is a theoretical “perfect state” for each organizational process and that the current state deviates from the perfect state due to inefficiencies and waste. The strength-based approach to lean has a different focus. Instead of focusing on what is not working and inefficient, it teaches how to identify what is already working efficiently and generates value in existing processes and systems (this is called “strength focus”).
As Lean transformations are truly cultural transformations, executives are matching their Lean process investments dollar-for-dollar with cultural investments designed to create an enterprise-wide Lean language driving predictable customer service performance and global focus on waste elimination. It will not be an easy task considering the IoT revolution is almost upon us, and even the best experts are unable to predict the impact fully.
Sustainability and manufacturing have not traditionally gone hand-in-hand. However, that’s starting to change. Manufacturing is starting to focus more on sustainability by creating more efficient factories that have lower levels of pollution. Green jobs will also be a focus in the industry over the next several years, as will creating more energy-efficient operations.
Even without explicitly targeting environmental results, lean efforts can yield sufficient environmental benefits. However, because environmental wastes and pollution are not the main focal points, these achievements may not be considered in the normal scheme of lean.
Lean manufacturing will not fade away in this fourth industrial revolution, quite the opposite. IoT supports lean processes, and it enables a truly lean enterprise by delivering better metrics to drive increased efficiency and productivity, tighter integration with key clients and suppliers, better coordination among divisions, and both, increased manufacturing safety and reduced downtime.
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