The Future of Lean Manufacturing - Leaner, Faster, Simpler

Manufacturing has changed rapidly in the last 200 years. Technology such as the internet have pushed the need for constant innovation as the fifth dimension to success. No longer can factories and warehouses apply a one size fits all as flexibility has become king. Customers want variety, they want it quickly, on time as promised, correct and error free and anything else is unacceptable. If you don't get it right first time, the unforgiving nature of customer demands, means you may not get a shot next time around. 

Customers Demand Variety, Speed and Reliability

Customers want a varied and exciting choice on all fronts. Indeed in todays disposable world, adapting to often conflicting requirements is truly difficult and operationally not cost effective. Manufacturing needs to get close enough to their customers so that they can understand and fulfil customer demands. Sometimes customers compromise and those compromises are your trade-offs.

4 Key Areas in Developing Operational Excellence

Operational excellence means developing internal and external criteria through which you survive, and more so, make a profit. This defines your operational strategy which in turn is the indicator driving operational excellence and efficiency. No point polishing a product that a customer never cares about or even sees. 

Manufacturing needs to be linked to its supply chains and its new product and process innovations. 

  1. Constantly communicating with customers and suppliers
  2. Prioritising new product development, especially in a global economy which is highly volatile and constantly re-shaped by forever changing needs 
  3. Tight Stock Control. Our connected economy links a changeover on the line to the availability and level of stock we hold to ensure a customer is fulfilled 
  4. Investment in tools and machinery. Machine breakdowns, wear and tear and lack of investment can lead to delays that make customers just decide that they will go elsewhere 

Nothing is isolated and yet the barriers and the proverbial brick walls of our functional organisations have yet to acknowledge that process and not function is the answer.

Become Leaner, Faster, and Simpler with WBS Group

After 15 years we have seen those that exceed and those that fall along the wayside. Manufacturing need to focus on

  • Operational strategy as part of their supply chain
  • Operational excellence with a defined strategy in mind
  • Operational efficiency without compromising innovation
  • Leadership and culture to constantly drive change 
  • Correct performance measurement to ensure the drive is monitored
  • Teamwork and communication to break-down barriers and all walk in the same direction

All these things drive the modern day manufacturing plant. We truly live in an agile world where innovation is the driver and operational strategy and excellence is the enabler.

Read our Case Studies

How We Can Help

WBS Group are Lean Manufacturing Consultants that help companies develop their operational strategy in line with other processes as well as help them deliver the excellence programmes to enable efficiency. Our services in manufacturing include:

  • Application of Lean principles
  • Production planning improvement – World class scheduling methods
  • Material and inventory management (method and systems)
  • Forecasting and demand planning
  • Factory simulation (method and systems)
  • Factory design and build
  • Factory relocation and transfer
  • Kaizen events and TPM, SMED, POKE YOKE, 5S
  • Preventative maintenance
  • Lean key performance indicators – OEE%, Build to schedule%, right first time% 
  • Design for manufacture, concurrent engineering
  • Engineering and quality optimisation 
  • Six sigma
  • Automation and robotics
  • Energy cost reduction
  • Production line designs and redesigns
  • Cellular manufacturing
  • TAKT time and standardisation
  • Process and procedure simplification and development
To see if there a good fit between WBS Group and yourselves, start with a FREE no obligation consultation today.
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End-to-End Supply Chain
End-to-End Supply Chain
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