Industry Forum

4 Steps to Create The Ultimate Lean LayoutThere are big benefits to be had whether you are redesigning an existing work area or planning a new site.

Toyota’s new generation factories are planned to be 25% smaller, require 40% less investment and use 40% less energy to run than their current plants. On an environmental note, this means 55% less CO2 emissions!

At the other end of the scale, when redesigning existing manufacturing areas, we would expect to achieve productivity increases of between 15% – 40%, as well as 50% reduction in lead time and work in progress. Further improvement to the bottom line is made by either selling off or making more goods in the space you free up. This level of improvement is typically achieved by teams of operators and engineers from the area, in a Kaizen style event.

So how do we go about a redesign? Below are 4 steps learned from a Nissan Master Engineer.

Note that their order is all important – any deviation will result in a line with wastes. Learning the painful way meant that when a shortcut was attempted, the team were commanded to return to step 1 and start again!

  1. Start with a blank piece of paper

Always! Don’t even look at a floor plan of the existing area.

Although it’s tempting to start by fitting equipment into the available space, don’t do it. You inevitably start working around existing pillars and walls and placing items near utility connection points. This rarely results in a waste free layout.

  1. Define the process

List the operations in the order they take place, to build the product. You may already have this if you have done a line balance activity.

Make sure you understand which products can be made using the same pieces of equipment. A process matrix is one way of doing this.

  1. Flow the operations

This is where you design the ultimate lean layout.

Use scale cut outs, or models, and lay them out on a blank surface. Don’t use a scale layout of the area yet!

Aim to minimise the movement of parts, movement of people and movement of information. Again, the order is important.

4 Steps to Create The Ultimate Lean Layout

 

Tip: Improve flow by introducing chutes, ejectors, channels or roller tracking between equipment load and unload points.

         4. Fit your ideal layout into the building plan

Now that you have created the ideal, waste free layout, you can start to fit it into the space you have.

Transfer your scale pieces on to a same scale layout of the building, maintaining your ideal layout as far as possible.

Tip: Make sure you consider:

  • Space for the flow of materials in and out of the cell.
  • Easy access and storage for frequently used tooling.
  • Space for standard in process stock and any WIP required.
  • Access for maintenance.

This is the point where compromises may have to be made and some waste may creep back in. However, play with your layout plan to minimise the waste as much as possible.

Once you have used the four steps to plan your lean layout, it is recommended to simulate a trial before making expensive physical changes.

4 Steps to Create The Ultimate Lean Layout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A favourable way is to make full scale card cut outs of equipment footprints. Although, one time an overenthusiastic team also chalked out a body outline in the cell, just before we presented it to the senior team!

Finally, ensure you document the improved process and layout using Standardised Work documents.

Good luck creating your ultimate lean layouts!

– November 2015 authored by a Senior Consultant at Industry Forum

Update
A great reflection on the process to design cells, in particular, the advice not to constrain your thinking when beginning the design process. Design what the ideal layout would be first – regardless of physical constraints such as walls, pillars etc. then work back from this.

The layout should be driven by the line balance, as indicated in point 2. The line balance ensures the cell is designed to meet customer demand, and that the cell manning is correct. The distribution of workload across cell team members is essential to know when designing each workstation. This should take into consideration the position of the work piece and tools required, and also the line side logistics. By logistics, this is not just how the work piece moves into and out of the work station, but also what components need to be available, and how the pick face should be designed to enable the work station to operate efficiently. This can become quite complex, particularly if the cell is producing mixed model. Getting this right is essential for highly repetitive assembly cycles.

If you want to understand more about lean techniques, visit our Lean Transformation page or Line Balance blog or click here to get in touch with Principal Lean Consultant , Mike Scull. You can also give us a call on +44 (0)121 717 6600.

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