Embrace a Manufacturing Process That’s Lean and Green

Lean manufacturing, now considered the standard in manufacturing, is the process in which companies focus on becoming more efficient in order to improve productivity and reduce waste when producing a product or service. It is based on a company culture that aims for continuous improvement. Every manufacturer should strive to achieve this, and we have some tips that can help:

Defining Lean Manufacturing

The lean manufacturing philosophy is largely credited to the Toyota Production System. Toyota “shifted its focus on individual production steps to a more holistic view, looking at the product flow through its entire process, making that process more efficient and more adaptable to production needs. Because of this, Toyota was able to converge quality and variety with speed and low costs.” (Source)

Rising Costs Contribute to Lean Manufacturing’s Popularity

Due to the rising costs of manufacturing materials and competition faced from companies across the world, many manufacturers have adopted a lean manufacturing philosophy. When a manufacturer goes lean, they typically are also going “green”. To achieve true production efficiency, a company must cut down on environmental waste including raw material consumption, energy and water use, and pollution. “Eco-friendly” is now analogous to “profitable”, shattering prior misconceptions that going green comes with a price tag. (Source)

Living in a Zero Waste World

This steady movement towards lean and green manufacturing has also spurred on another green initiative, a circular economy or a “zero waste world” described by writer Marc Gunther in an article as “an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. Inspired by nature, a circular economy aspires not merely to limit waste but to eliminate the very idea of waste: Everything, at the end of its life, should be made into something else, just as in the natural world, one species’ waste is another’s food.” An industrial complex in Denmark is an excellent example of the “zero waste movement”. Heat, water and a host of other resources that would otherwise be treated as waste supply some of the energy and many of the feedstocks to these operations and to the surrounding municipality, including farms.

Lean and green manufacturing hasn’t solved the problem of the environmental impact of the manufacturing process. Yet, it’s a step in the right direction.

How Manufacturers Can Go Lean and Green

Leanovations has published an 8 Step Guide for going Lean and Green:

1. Know what Lean and Green really means. It is a process where you use more eco-friendly processes and products that help reduce or eliminate the 7 wastes in Manufacturing processes plus the 8 wastes of Environmental.
2. Identify, assess and manage risks to employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, visitors and the environment.
3. Conduct operations in compliance with all relevant legislation & other requirements as a minimum condition.
4. Consult and communicate regularly with employees about Lean Environmental Health & Safety (LEH&S) issues, improvements and about individual responsibilities.
5. Develop improvement strategies and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a continual basis, with appropriate targets, which aim to eliminate unsafe conditions, reduce non-value wastes and prevent environmental pollution.
6. Prepare and provide the necessary resources and investment in time to meet the targets.
7. Continually conduct a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) review on performance and reassess the goals.
8. Develop procedures, work instructions, and training material to assist the workforce to develop;
• A Safer place to work
• Lean Systems to reduce non-value steps
• Processes that eliminate environmental pollution and energy wastes