Infosys-Oracle Blog

Moving away from the concepts, if we look at the implementation level, Lean Manufacturing implementation is therefore focused on getting the right things, to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity to achieve a synchronized work flow while eliminating waste and be flexible to adapt changes. This requires a good business system and such Lean Manufacturing system implementation includes the establishment of visible customer relationships, improved channel visibility, flexible product configuration, shortened cycle times, real time inventory visibility, improved capacity utilization, and integrated/optimized operational procedures. These are all the parameters which attribute to a synchronized functioning of a lean manufacturing environment. A well planned Oracle Applications implementation program helps in defining the lean environment by configuring and optimizing these parameters so that they are controlled to achieve the end objectives.
One of the important aspects of an ERP enabled lean manufacturing environment is change management. All of these concepts and systems have to be understood, appreciated, and used by the actual employees who build the products. The change management (cultural and managerial) aspects of Lean system are just as important as the actual tools or methodologies of IT and production itself.

It is interesting to see how in the name of lean, proponents of lean are keen to avoid ERP system transactions while doing equal or more no. of non-ERP transactions. In a recent implementation, a customer (who was primarily a configure-to-order assembler) had an internal job shop manufacturing setup. As a job progressed from one work center to another, no operational reporting was performed. Instead, the operators used to scribble the completion on a notebook. If a planner wanted to know the status of any particular job, his only recourse was to physically track the job through work centers or to lookup the completions on the notebook. So much so for lean!! Lean says eliminate waste, not to eliminate waste in an area (avoid operation reporting) and create waste elsewhere (planning function). We impressed upon this particular manager that limited operational reporting was in fact useful in a job shop environment where lead times can be upto 3 days.

Gaurav starts out correctly but has let IT overshadow the process evaluation that should have occurred at the job shop mentioned. First, evaluate the manual process for its effectiveness and its deficiencies. Second, determine the best alternatives to correct/remove the deficiencies based on cost, speed of implementation and overall usefulness. Finally, implement rapidly and work thru a PDCA cycle to tweak as needed. I agree that operational reporting (electronically provided) can be effective but only if the shop needs it and, most importantly, will utilize it once deployed. Would a large whiteboard at the center of the shop and an employee that circulated to collect job stats to post hourly been just as effective? Electronic reporting is only effective if it is accessible in seconds and can be interpreted in even less time. Rule of thumb at Toyota - if a dashboard cannot be understood in 5 seconds, it is too complicated.

Very good point brought out by Doug in the last post. Lean does not always mean using electronic formats to do something in the most efficient way. A classic example would be the Mumbai Dabbawala Case Study which is a perfect example of a lean supply chain which operates at Six Sigma levels in terms of defects without the use of any computer systems at all. It's a complete manual process and yet the success rate and efficiency levels they have been able to achieve has been amazing.

Often there seems to a divide between Shop Floor and IT where IT guys think they have done their best to address Business needs with help of new IT system while Shop Floor Guys look at the same system as a burden. There is strong need to orchestrate the two parties to create and implement a system which helps to achieve strategic objectives of the company.
According to Toyota's Philosophy, IT (Computer Systems) is there to aid the Core (Manufacturing) and not the visa- versa. Hence Computer systems / IT is a mere tool (Out of a Toolbox having other Tools also) which helps the company to achieve and execute Lean principles.