1 - Common Ground

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief history and evolution of manufacturing followed by the concept of lean manufacturing and lean maintenance. Lean Manufacturing is the practice of eliminating waste in every area of production including customer relations, product design, supplier networks, production flow, maintenance, engineering, quality assurance and factory management. Its goal is to utilize less human effort, less inventory, less time to respond to customer demand, less time to develop products and less space to produce top quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible. In order to function effectively in the lean manufacturing environment, the shop-floor operator needs to know more about customer needs, equipment maintenance and reliability and the supply chain; in general he needs to know more about the business operation. This need to know more about the business operation applies to everyone working in the Lean enterprise. When considering the Lean Enterprise, defining it must be done within several self-contained domains. There are first, the preeminent principles of Lean that must be dominant in all aspects of the Lean Enterprises practices including the subset of Lean implementation principles. Within that envelope are the characteristics of the operation, the concepts under which the enterprise operates and the tools used in making the lean journey. The chapter also states the laws of manufacturing maintenance.