Value stream-based optimization
Lean factory design - keeping an eye on the value stream
According to studies, around 20 percent of process costs can be influenced during ongoing production operations. Ideally, optimization should start in the planning phase. This potential is insufficiently exploited, especially in medium-sized companies. Lean factory design is a holistic approach to making production and logistics more competitive. Always with an eye on the value stream.
The fact is that many optimization projects and lean implementations in companies fail or do not deliver the expected results. There are many reasons for this. On the one hand, the failure may be due to the fact that lean is not systematically documented in the sense of a scientific theory. Because the basis for knowledge management is missing as a result, experience has shown that it is difficult to bring those involved in the project up to a common level in their way of thinking and use of methods. To solve this problem, a "lean production system" would be necessary, but many SMEs cannot afford the time-consuming and know-how-intensive development of such a methodological toolkit themselves.
Selective improvement measures driven by individual specialist departments are a common phenomenon. However, they often prove to be a further shortcoming because they are approached without the necessary interdisciplinary understanding of the entire system. Methods are used in combination that lead to contradictory results, are not compatible with the lean concept and therefore create seemingly unsolvable conflicts of objectives, usually at departmental boundaries.
The best time for optimization
Many optimization projects are often carried out during ongoing series production, i.e. after the start of production. In these cases, a number of restrictions can have a negative impact on the expected result. Factors such as available space, tools and machines that have already been procured, customer approvals granted for processes, certifications, established processes and much more make changes difficult. Studies show that only around a fifth of the costs can be influenced during ongoing operations when change costs are high. The big lever for optimization therefore lies in the planning phase, before the start of production.
However, this potential is insufficiently exploited, particularly in SMEs, due to a lack of planning capacity. Optimization measures are also often implemented too quickly without having identified the actual cause of the problem: it is sometimes difficult to identify where in the overall system optimization should be applied and which levers can be used to achieve the desired effects. As a result, only "symptoms" are cured.
Lean Factory Design - what is it?
The findings from practical experience and research activities in the optimization of production and logistics systems were incorporated into the "Lean Factory Design" optimization concept. LFD is an interdisciplinary optimization concept for manufacturing organizational units with 100 to 2,000 employees. The "Landshut Production System" forms the core of the approach. This systematically builds on around 100 lean principles and the necessary methods. This forms the basis for knowledge management and serves as a "guard rail" for the planners in their actions.
LFD looks at a complete factory - from incoming goods to outgoing goods with all the value streams for products. These are examined holistically from the three dimensions of process, technology and people. The concept is deliberately designed to be interdisciplinary and helps to resolve conflicts of objectives between production and logistics, but also purchasing, technical development, IT and, above all, controlling, and to develop the entire factory in a targeted manner in one direction.
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 to 80 percent of subsequent costs can be influenced with comparatively little effort. However, design also means consciously shaping the system. This requires knowledge of the right levers for optimizing production, which often only have an indirect effect on the overall system. 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.
"Lean audit system" measures the degree of maturity
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 production optimization 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 a basis for planning further steps.
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.
"Value stream-oriented material flow planning": combined lean methods
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 traditional factory planning procedures and factory planning software. This provides users with 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 onion-like 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.
The human challenge
Dimension technology is currently an important driver of innovation, particularly due to digitalization and Industry 4.0. The basis for a process-oriented technology selection is the "Intelligent Production Logistics" model factory of the PULS (Production and Logistics Systems) technology center in Dingolfing and a catalog in which over 170 technologies for production logistics are recorded in a structured manner. The "technology scouting" workshop concept also provides a complete overview of the available options in a short space of time. 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: The best plan is useless if the employees do not accept the ideas, do not understand the why and do not live the processes.
Prof. Dr. Markus Schneider, Professor of Logistics, Materials and Manufacturing Management at Landshut University of Applied Sciences and Scientific Director of the PULS Technology Center, founder and Managing Director of PuLL Beratung GmbH / ag
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