Lean Manufacturing

[40040009]

Hi,

Regarding lean manufacturing within small-medium sized enterprises in the UK. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what it will look like in 10 years? Will companies still be lean? What will improve/disappear? Just curious as to what fellow manufacturing engineers/managers thoughts are.

Thanks!

[Prudie]

I work in an engineering environment and we have been using a variety of lean techniques for the last 15 years - the problem is it's a continuous need. What happens is lean, CI, Theory of constraints, Japanese methods etc etc all tend to tail off because no-one embeds them permanently. Then a new team of consultants come in and we go through it all again - so in 10 years not much different unless the company truly embraces it.

[seadogg]

Just as I remember Prudie from my days in a medium sized engineering company. Management will never change their aims as competition is fierce and will remain so. Sales will promise the Moon to secure an order and costs have to be minimised as a result.

[40040009]

Excellent, thank you for your responses. Does anyone have experience with lean implementation within a family-run manufacturing business?

[Hypognosis]

@Seadogg

"Sales will promise the Moon to secure an order and costs have to be minimised as a result."

That would be good as a wall poster. ;-)

If only sales bonuses were based on jobs saved, not straightforward commission. Less of a conflict of interest, then. Staff morale and all that.