The path to perfect production leads from a specially developed lean audit system via seven levers. © (Image: Pull Consulting )

The term design means that LFD encompasses the entire life cycle of a factory and deliberately focuses on the design and planning phase before the start of production, as this is where 70-80 percent of subsequent costs can be influenced with comparatively little effort. However, design also means consciously shaping the system. This requires comprehensive knowledge of the right levers for optimizing production, which often only have an indirect effect on the overall system.

Lean Factory Design is an interdisciplinary optimization concept for manufacturing organizational units with 100-2,000 employees. Driven by the vision of perfect production, Prof. Dr. Schneider has been systematically collecting and developing organizational and technical solutions for over ten years in order to get closer to this goal. Through intensive research and numerous practical projects, he has been able to identify the seven most important levers for optimizing production systems. Interestingly, these levers are neither directly located in production nor do they have a direct effect on it. For this reason, but also due to the lack of interdisciplinary know-how, they are often overlooked and not used in practice. Used correctly, they nevertheless form a highly effective planning and optimization approach that combines key elements of many relevant disciplines.

The path from actual to target status
At the start of an optimization project, a specially developed "lean audit system" measures the lean maturity level of an organization in relation to these seven levers. In the form of a two-day inspection, it is determined how efficiently the processes in the company are currently running, whether and how the most important levers for optimizing production are being used and in which areas previously undiscovered potential lies dormant. A comparison is also made with other companies to determine the company's own position. In addition to determining the current level of lean maturity, this forms an ideal basis for planning further steps.

The findings from two decades of practical experience and a decade of research activities in the optimization of production and logistics systems have prompted Prof. Dr. Markus Schneider to develop his own optimization concept called Lean Factory Design. © (Image: Pull Consulting)

Involving management is essential for the success of the project. This takes place as part of a "North Star Workshop". The potential identified in the lean audit provides a target-oriented guide to what the company should focus on in the next planning period. The measures required to achieve these targets are then planned and implemented using the LFD method kit. This is designed in such a way that, on the one hand, it takes into account all seven levers of production optimization and, on the other hand, only contains methods and tools that have been tested for their lean compatibility and, if necessary, further developed. The basic structure is based on the three dimensions of a company as a socio-technical system: process, technology and people.

The starting point of an optimization project is usually value stream-oriented material flow planning. Here, lean methods such as value stream design are combined with selected approaches from classic factory planning and factory planning software. The customer thus receives a master plan for each location in the form of a 2D layout, value stream and action plan for several years into the future. A master plan helps to ensure that the high investments in buildings and infrastructure are properly aligned in the long term.

This top-down-oriented approach is combined with bottom-up-oriented "lean production optimization" in what is known as the counterflow method. It is optimized in an onion-slice fashion from the workplace outwards. While the master plan is intended to ensure long-term orientation, the bottom-up approach brings direct and tangible success in the short term.

Individual solution with specific training concept
The technology dimension is currently an important driver of innovation, particularly due to digitalization and Industry 4.0. The basis for process-oriented technology selection is provided by the "Intelligent Production Logistics" model factory at the Puls Technology Center in Dingolfing and a catalog containing a structured list of over 170 technologies for production logistics. The "technology scouting" workshop concept also provides a quick overview of the available options. Thanks to the methodical support, the technologies that are ultimately used in the companies are determined strictly on the basis of the process requirements of the respective environment. This ensures an individual, tailor-made solution instead of following certain industry trends or selecting technologies simply because they are already known in the company.

A particular challenge in any change project is the human dimension. After all, the best plan is useless if the employees do not accept the ideas, do not understand the why and do not live the processes. Lean Factory Design includes a target group-specific training concept that is coordinated both in terms of content and timing with the process optimization process and covers topics such as "on-site leadership", store floor management and Kata in addition to lean methods.

Dr. Markus Schneider, Professor of Logistics, Materials and Manufacturing Management at Landshut University of Applied Sciences, Scientific Director of the PULS Technology Centre and founder and Managing Director of Pull Beratung GmbH / ee