Lean

Agile methods are extremely useful in solving complex problems. This is particularly beneficial in market environments where the routines of traditional corporate management are constantly being questioned. Agility is closely linked to the core ideas of Lean Management, as evidenced by the focus on processes and people. Lean factories facilitate a hands-on engagement with Lean principles, thereby promoting agile process management in various production contexts.

Volatility in market demand leads to temporary over- and under-utilization of production assets and stocks. Levelling (heijunka) as a lean method aims at de-coupling production from market volatility. The production program is spread as even as possible over time. This achieves high asset utilization, short lead times, and low inventories. There are validated heijunka methods for the manufacturing industry, but for the process industry this remains a research gap. This article describes the Product Wheel and its validation at a building material manufacturer in order to close that gap.

Lean material supply and provision concepts are crucial to an efficient production system. In the automobile production are common supply concepts: in-sequence material provision (JIS), vehicle specific sets and non-mixed provision. For the provision of sets containing different part clusters efficient picking processes are necessary. Picking is usually carried out in supermarkets close to the assembly line, which are replenished by warehouses. A scientific project of MAN Truck & Bus AG and the Technische Universität München aims at streamlining these processes and proposes to merge warehousing and picking stages. Prerequisite of a broad implementation of those one-stage material provision concepts is a change in the material supply and disposition strategy.