Written by: M. Shalini, R. Geetharani & Dr. G. Ramakrishnan
Abstract
Manufacturers
are now a days facing intensive global competition. They are becoming
increasingly aware of the importance of modern management philosophy in
providing them with a competitive advantage in a free market system. Now the key to competing in the international
market place is to simultaneously improve both quality and productivity on
continual basis. The major purposes of
the use of lean production are to increase productivity, improve product
quality and manufacturing cycle time, reduce inventory, reduce lead time and
eliminate manufacturing waste. To achieve these, the lean production philosophy
uses several concepts like Kaizen, Kanban, 5s, OEE, JIT etc. This paper
clearly explains the lean concepts, its principle, importance and benefits. A
clear study of different lean tools has been depicted. This paper also
addresses the approaches to implement lean practices in apparel industry.
Lean Manufacturing
Lean Manufacturing is a systematic approach for achieving the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating the process waste through continuous improvement. Thus making the operation very efficient and only consisting of value adding steps from start to finish. In simple words lean is manufacturing without waste.
The authors are associated with the Department of Fashion Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore.
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