Anton: Lean is a Necessity, Not an Option

John Wolz

The goal of lean manufacturing is to eliminate all non-value-added activity between customer order and the check. And lean manufacturing is becoming an “absolute necessity not an option,” Douglas Anton told WireExpo 2004.
“The greatest reason is that you can get double or triple benefits,” estimated Anton, president of AEM Consulting Group.
Anton has watched production costs drop from $2 million to $250,000. He cited one wire & cable company cutting production time from eight weeks to five days and having a goal of getting that down to one day.
“If we hadn”t done it, we would never have believed it possible,” Anton remarked.
Among the benefits are reducing lead times from hours to minutes and gaining valuable floor space.
Anton urged manufacturers to get people involved and earnestly seek their ideas. Employees will appreciate the involvement, he added.
Henry Ford is one of the most famous lean manufacturers. Ford designed a plan to take raw iron ore to a finished car in four days. Ford”s plan was a “best-seller in Japan,” where his initial lean techniques have been taken to a higher level, Anton pointed out.
Today”s supermarkets are an example of lean. “You only take what you want off the shelf, and that triggers replenishment,” Anton pointed out.
Switching to lean manufacturing is not just a one-time decision. “You can”t write a check and be done with it.” It also requires a change in approach. Too many companies are in a “reactionary or firefighting mode.”
Nor is lean manufacturing a single event of changing. “It is a work in progress,” Anton explained. \ �2004 FastenerNews.com