Introducing lean production systems

For many companies, the design of production systems according to lean principles is a crucial tool for ensuring a competitive advantage at the global level. On the one hand, lean and flexible factories make it possible to reduce costs significantly and to react quickly to market fluctuations. On the other, when a company can show that is has lean production systems in operation, this becomes an important feature in distinguishing it from its direct competitors. In the automotive industry, for instance, the auditing of supplier plants according to lean principles is now an essential component in the evaluation and classification of suppliers by OEMs.

In recent years, numerous companies have been working intensively on the introduction of lean production systems, meeting with considerable success. However, a closer examination of the results reveals that in many cases, the focus was solely on the value-added process. Indirect functions, such as planning, engineering, quality assurance, and maintenance, were overlooked by many companies. Another shortcoming is that insufficient consideration has been paid to approaches for reducing complexity.

With its so-called “Lean Factory Design", ROI Consulting has developed an approach for creating holistic, permanent lean production systems with the following core elements:

• Extrapolation of the strategic framework in order to realign the production strategy
• Rigorous reorganization of the value stream according to lean principles (flow, takt time, pull, right first time)
• Optimal integration and synchronization of all production-support functions
• Realization of an effective management and leadership system (qualified managers, process-oriented organization, integrated target and performance-indicators systems)
• Enhancement of problem-solving expertise through motivated and specially qualified employees in order to create a learning organization
• Systematic complexity management in order to reduce product, production, and organizational complexity

ROI’s preferred introduction strategy combines quick implementation achievements (“flagship projects”) with a fundamental, step-by-by step realignment of processes, structures, and systems. This is accompanied during all project phases by targeted qualification of management personnel and employees.

You can find an overview of our entire spectrum of services in this area under Lean Production.