The Myths and Truths of Lean Transformations

Chapter 3

Lean – Lean Building Blocks – How To

I will discuss a few of the “Lean building blocks” and I’ll add a bit of “how‑to” to assist you in your journey (Figure 3.1).

 

Figure 3.1 The Lean building blocks.

Flow

The importance of flow within a manufacturing environment was first recognized back in 1913 by Henry Ford at his Highland Park, Michigan facility. He had been producing his Ford cars for a few years when he realized that to reduce the cost, he need continuous-flow production. He was supposedly inspired by the continuous-flow production methods used by flour mills, breweries, canneries, etc. So, in 1913, he introduced his first ...