Lean Production

Lean Production

NCFE Level 1/2 Award in Business and Enterprise

Multiple Choice

True or False

Lean production may involve a change in culture and could be heavily resisted by workers

• True

• False

Lean Production

Lean production is an approach to management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst ensuring quality.

This approach can be applied to all aspects of a business – from design, through production to distribution.

Lean production aims to cut costs by making the business more efficient and responsive to market needs.

The lean approach to managing operations is really about:

* Doing the simple things well

* Doing things better

* Involving employees in the continuous process of improvement

…and as a result, avoiding waste

Just In Time

Just-in-time (JIT) is a methodology aimed at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers.

This means that stock levels of raw materials, components, work in progress and finished goods can be kept to a minimum.

Supplies are delivered right to the production line only when they are needed. For example, a car manufacturing plant might receive exactly the right number and type of tyres for one day’s production, and the supplier would be expected to deliver them to the correct loading bay on the production line within a very narrow time slot

Kaizen

Kaizen (or ‘continuous improvement’) is an approach of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a business in order to improve quality and/or efficiency. 

This approach assumes that employees are the best people to identify room for improvement, since they see the processes in action all the time. A firm that uses this approach therefore has to have a culture that encourages and rewards employees for their contribution to the process.

Cell Production

Cell production has the flow production line split into a number of self-contained units. Each team or ‘cell’ is responsible for a significant part of the finished article and, rather than each person only carrying out only one very specific task, team members are skilled at a number of roles, so it provides a means for job rotation.

Cell production is a form of team working and helps ensure worker commitment, as each cell is responsible for a complete unit of work,  

Cells would usually have responsibility for organising work rosters within the cell, for covering holiday and sickness absences and for identifying recruitment and training needs.

Multiple Choice

JIT aims to keep stock levels to the bare minimum.

• True
• False

Multiple Select

The main focus of any Continuous Improvement should be the elimination of...….

• Errors

• Flexibility

• Waste

Multiple Choice

What does Kaizan mean?

• Continuous improvement

• Agile manufacturing

• Multi-skilling

• Market oriented

Multiple Choice

Which one of the following is NOT a benefit of lean production?

• overcrowded work area

• saves cost

• unit costs are reduced

• less risks of damage to stocks and equipments

Multiple Choice

Which one of the following would be an example of 'lean production'?

• producing a greater variety of goods with an increased workforce

• holding very low stock levels such as with Just-in-Time methods

• making smaller quantities of goods than previously

• buying the latest equipment to increase output even though it is not used all of the time

Multiple Choice

One of the benefits of increasing productivity is:

• more workers will be employed

• total production will increase with the same number of workers

• average costs will remain the same

• fewer raw materials will be needed to produce the same level of output

Open Ended

Examination Question One

Identify ONE method of Lean Production (1)

Open Ended

Examination Question Two

SYM Woodcrafts Ltd Manufactures wooden furnitire which it sells online.

The company:

* Promises customers delivery within 3 days of placing an order

* Has one supplier of wood for its furniture. This supplier is based in Germany

* Employs 5 workers in its warehouse

SYM Woodcrafts Ltd is considering changing its stock control system to just-in-time (JIT) system. Explain ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage to SYM woodcraft of changing to a JIT stock control system. Provide SYM Woodcrafts Ltd with a justified recommendation on whether or not to make the change (6)