Importance of Flow in Lean Thinking
Learning Objectives
After studying this resource, students should be able to
- Distinguish the core features of batch production and one-piece production flow by relating them to the seven waste categories in lean manufacturing methodology.
- Estimate and benchmark the key performance indicators in batch production and one-piece production flow to determine the benefits of one-piece flow.
- Elaborate on why higher levels of inventory are not desired from a lean management perspective.
Introduction
Lean thinking (“lean” for short) can be described as a customer-centric management philosophy that focuses on eliminating waste from production processes. Waste is defined as any activity or design element that does not add value (as defined by the customers) to the products or services the organization offers. There are seven main waste categories[1] in lean, which were introduced by Taichi Ohno[2], and which are commonly referred to using the acronym TIMWOOD: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects.
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In this resource, we will focus on flow, one of the main techniques in lean manufacturing that reduces waste in several of the TIMWOOD categories (some indirectly) when applied effectively. Flow, in simple terms, is the opposite of batching between production processes, and the ideal situation is the one-piece flow, in which there is no work-in-process inventory between processes. As we learn more about why lean favours flow over batching, we will explore flow achieves reductions in most waste categories. Let’s start with batching.
- Monden, Y. (1998). Toyota Production System: An integrated approach to just-in-time. Chapman & Hall. ↵
- Ohno Taiichi (1912-1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which inspired lean manufacturing. (See Toyota Production System on Wikipedia.) ↵
a customer-centric management approach that eliminates waste from production processes
any activity or element that does not add value to a product or service
transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, defects
the movement of raw materials and parts within a manufacturing facility as they are assembled to generate the final products
a kind of production flow in which parts are processed and moved one by one from station to station with no work-in-process inventories between workstations
