Lean management

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Context of the problem:

Currently, about 150 companies in the contruction industry use lean manufacturing, but it is yet to permeate other areas. The manufacturing industry must also look to leverage its advantages, its large domestic market, good conditions in terms of raw materials and skilled labour, and the quality focus. The construction industry is one of the most growing and contributing sectors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India, directly or indirectly. It employs over a staggering 33 million people, and any changes in the construction sector influence various related enterprises, for example, concrete, steel and technology. At the same time, the construction sector is stumbling under a serious deficiency of talented workforce, and in numerous places, lack of construction sand, raw materials, and political influences are additionally going about as development obstacles. I think that the pace at which the technologies are being developed will play a major role in the rise of the construction industry again.

                        Apart from the Smart Cities project, the Government's ‘Housing for All by 2022’ will be a major game changer for the industry. Increased impetus to the creation of affordable housing mission, along with quicker approvals and other supportive policy changes will soon result in an increase in construction activity. Likewise, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) will bring in increased activity in infrastructure and related sectors.Until, November 10^th of 2015 there were many restrictions placed on the foreign companies to invest in real estatein India. Now there is an ease to the foreign companies to invest in India. There is no restriction to the size and the minimumcapitalization of the projects that the companies from abroad can invest in. The lock-in periods have also been removed which gives the foreign companies more freedom and flexibility to act.

                      "This will have a huge positive impact on the housing sector as a whole, but much more so on the affordable housing segment, which was so far not a beneficiary of FDI in any significant manner".It is said that 10% of India’s GDP is contributed by the construction sector. However, the construction companies have a public image where the products do not have a higher quality, poor working conditions on the site where no safety measures are not followed, and the process also yields very low margin of profit. Due to this, it dawned on me to introduce Lean Production methods into construction.

1.2 Statement of the problem:

Quality of the product denotes the better durability and workability of the products. Standardized work mean documenting the work process and maintaining the standards in work. Total Productive maintenance includes regular inspections, cleaning, lubricating and tightening of the products. Ability of the manager to react to a problem occurring in the manufacturing  process. Any part of the work in manufacturing process would be moved without interference of work in between that would disturb the flow of production process On going work in manufacturing process which yet to be delivered. Storage or stock of raw materials for manufacturing the finished goods. Purchasing of raw materials only what and when it is needed in the production process. Jidoka is invented by Sakichi Toyoda, Founder of the Toyota Group, which denotes identifying and rectifying the problems quickly by use of labors. Maximum time to produce the product to satisfy the customer needs. Heijunka mean leveling the production and reducing the waste in the production. Total time taken for the manufacturing of product from the beginning to end of the process. Labors are given extra work to reach the production rate along the production line. Giving special training to the new employees to achieve the company vision. Arrangement of work process and removal of unnecessary items in workplace. Necessary items should be arranged in the proper order so that the items can be easily selected for use. Keeping the workplace clean which raise the employees spirit. Ensuring the common standards to all the employees in all way of working. Strengthening the employees about their work that they do everyday.

                       Toyota Production Systems (TPS) was designed by Taiichi Ohno during the 1950s, who was a Toyota Motor Corporation engineer to reduce the wastes that was carried out in a production process.Toyota Production Systems helped Toyota to change from a small truck manufacturer to the worlds largest automobile producers by 2007. This system has helped Toyota to maintain a great continuous improvement environment and it also has innovated keeping up with the technologies that has been improved over the years. It also gave Toyota an edge over their rivals, since TPS also gave a strategic advantage by improving their quality, reliability, productivity, cost reduction, sales and market share growth, and market capitalization. Many other companies have implemented Lean. Lean has also made its way to Healthcare and the construction company. The Toyota Production System helps the construction firms to solve their problems and to make the construction firms public image look better. I think that the this study will help in implementing Lean in a particular company and will also make sure that they follow it rigorously.

1.3 Objectives of study:

                      A quality policy is a document jointly developed by management and quality experts to express the quality objectives of the organization, the acceptable level of quality and the duties of specific departments to ensure quality.Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools rdized work: tandardized work is defined as work in which the. sequence of job elements has been efficiently organized, and is repeatedly followed by a team member     .

                     Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a system of maintaining and improving the integrity of production and quality systems through the machines, equipment, processes, and employees that add business value to an organization.The process of working through details of a problem to search a solution . Single piece flow is the ideal state  where parts are manufactured one  at a time and the same time is opposite or contrasted .Work in process, is the sum of all costs put into the production process to manufacture products that are partially completed.Storage or stock of raw materials for manufacturing the Just-in-time (JIT) is an inventory strategy companies employ to increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process, thereby reducing inventory costs.The term jidoka used in the TPS (Toyota Production System) can be defined as "automation with a human touch." Takt time may be thought of as a measurable “beat time,” “rate time” or “heartbeat.” In Lean, takt time is the rate at which a finished product needs to be completed in order to meet customer demand.\

The following are the objective of the project:

·         Access lean construction from the view point of various project participants.

·         Identify the benefits and barriers associated with lean implementation.

·         Identify the requirements for improvement of lean implementation. 

·         To improve the quality of the project and profit by minimizing the waste.

The following are the scope of the project:

·         Just in time construction

·         Delivery system

·         Improve the quality, reduces rework and implementation time.

·         Identification of waste in construction process

·         Deliver a custom product instantly, without waste.

1.4 Significance of the study:

                                    It is a technique for reducing the unevenness which in turn reduces waste .Cycle time, also called throughput time, is the amount of time required to produce a product or service.It is defined as the process of assigning tasks to workstations, so that workstations have approximately equal time requirements. A training system is a group or family of coursework that will achieve a stated series of training objectives. It defined as sthe arrangement of data in a prescribed sequence.         

                                    It represents a way of focusing and thinking in order to better organize and manage workspace, specifically by eliminating the 7 Wastes as defined by the Lean Manufacturing system.Shine define as the workplaces must be clean so it can improve the employees spirit.It define that all the employees have the common standards and the way of working.It is defined as the process where employees need not be briefed about the work that they have to everyday.Products used in the construction site like cement, steel, aggregates are ensured that having better workability and durability.All the work done in the construction site are documented and standards of work is maintained all over the project.

                                    The regular inspections, cleaning, lubricating and tightening of the products are done for once in a week.           Problem occurring in the construction site is analyzed and rectified regularly in the work process.Regular check is done when the production is carried out with single piece flow.Mainly concreting work will be the on going process in the construction site.Cement, aggregates, steel and wood are the main raw materials stock in the construction site.

                                    Plumbing and electrical materials are purchased only when it is needed. Every problems occurring the construction site are identified and rectified by the use of labor in the construction site.Maximum time to construct the building is assessed by use of critical path method.

                                    Leveling and reducing the waste in the construction is done by educating labor.Cycle time to construct the building is assessed by use of critical path method.Labors are given extra work to reach the production rate along the production line.New employees are trained to do their work in the proper manner.Arrangement of work process is done in construction process and removal of unnecessary work is done.Arrangement of work process is done in construction process and removal of unnecessary work is done.

1.5 Assumptions of limitations:

                                    The Construction site is kept clean which raise the employees spirit.All the employees are treated in perfect standard in construction site in all the way of working.All labors are Strengthened and educated about their work that they do everyday.     The Quality of the product denotes the better durability and workability of the products.

                                    Standardized work means documenting the work process and maintaining the standards in work.           Total Productive maintenance includes regular inspections, cleaning, lubricating and tightening of the products.Ability of the manager to react to a problem occurring in the manufacturing  process.Any part of the work in manufacturing process would be moved without interference of work in between that would disturb the flow of the production process.Ongoing work in manufacturing process which yet to be delivered.Storage or stock of raw materials for manufacturing the finished goods.

                                    Purchasing of raw materials only what and when it is needed in the production process.            Jidoka is invented by Sakichi Toyoda, Founder of the Toyota Group, which denotes identifying and rectifying the problems quickly by use of the labors. Maximum time to produce the product to satisfy the customer needs.          Heijunka mean leveling the production and reducing the waste in the production.

                                    Total time taken for the manufacturing of product from the beginning to end of the process.Labors are given extra work to reach the production rate along the production line.Giving special training to the new employees to achieve the company vision.Arrangement of work process and removal of unnecessary items in the workplace.

                                    Necessary items should be arranged in the proper order so that the items can be easily selected for use.Keeping the workplace clean which raise the employee’s spirit.      Ensuring the common standards to all the employees in all way of working.Strengthening the employees about their work that they do everyday.        Construction materials  like cement, steel, aggregates ensure the better workability and durability it will make the building strong and safe.

1.6 Definition of terms:

a quality policy is a document jointly developed by management and quality experts to express the quality objectives of the organization, the acceptable level of quality and the duties of specific departments to ensure quality. Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools rdized work: tandardized work is defined as work in which the. sequence of job elements has been efficiently organized, and is repeatedly followed by a team member.  Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a system of maintaining and improving the integrity of production and quality systems through the machines, equipment, processes, and employees that add business value to an organization. Single piece flow is the ideal state  where parts are manufactured one  at a time and the same time is opposite or contrasted. Work in process, is the sum of all costs put into the production process to manufacture products that are partially completed. Just-in-time (JIT) is an inventory strategy companies employ to increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process, thereby reducing inventory costs. The term jidoka used in the TPS (Toyota Production System) can be defined as "automation with a human touch".  Takt time may be thought of as a measurable “beat time,” “rate time” or “heartbeat.” In Lean, takt time is the rate at which a finished product needs to be completed in order to meet customer demand. Heijunka is a technique for reducing the unevenness which in turn reduces waste. Cycle time, also called throughput time, is the amount of time required to produce a product or service.. Line balancing is defined as the process of assigning tasks to workstations, so that workstations have. approximately equal time requirements. A training system is a group or family of coursework that will achieve a stated series of training objectives. Sort defined as sthe arrangement of data in a prescribed sequence. Set of order represents a way of focusing and thinking in order to better organize and manage workspace, specifically by eliminating the 7 Wastes as defined by the Lean Manufacturing system. Shine define as the workplaces must be clean so it can improve the employees spirit. Standard define that all the employees have the common standards and the way of working. Sustain Defined as process where the employees need not be briefed about the work that they have to everyday.

                     The construction industry in India as said before is one of the most important factors towards the growth of the Indian economy, it has been developing at a very rapid force during the recent years. The hosting of commonwealth games gave the government helped to create an attention to the industry. While there are beautiful and majestic projects that are being constructed all over India there is still a need for high quality products, higher work efficiency from the employees, lower budget on small projects and the most important of all, there should be less frequency of accidents on the construction sites. Even though the government has asked the companies to make sure these factors mentioned above must be improved there is hardly any progress towards it because the companies don’t share a common goal. The Ministry of Housing and poverty alleviation has begun to recognize these problems with companies and have taken steps towards improving the productivity to all the government projects that have been tendered.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 

2.1 HISTORY OF THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM

               The oldest part of the production system is the concept of Jidoka which was created in 1902 by Toyoda founder Sakichi Toyoda.  This concept pertains to notion of building in quality at the production process as well as enabling separation of man and machine for multi-process handling.  The origins of this notion began in the Toyoda Spinning and Weaving company which was started by Sakichi Toyoda.  Sakichi invented a loom that automatically stopped whenever it detected that a thread was broken.  This stopped the process from created defective material. Later on in 1924 he created an automatic loom that allowed one person to operate multiple machines.  The rights to manufacture the loom outside of Japan for were eventually sold to the Platt Brothers Ltd. in England.  This money was then partially used to start an automotive division that was later spun off in 1937 as a separate business and company under Kiichiro Toyoda the son of Sakichi.

2.1.1 TOTAL PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM(TPS)

The Toyota Production System (TPS) arose out of necessity in response to the circumstances surrounding the company. Many of the foundational concepts are old and unique to Toyota while others have their roots in more traditional sources. The most famous element of the TPS is no doubt the Just-in-Time pillar of the production system.  The phrase Just-in-Time was coined by Kiichiro Toyota in 1937 after the start of Toyota Motor Corporation.  The company was quite poor and could not afford to waste money on excess equipment or materials in production.  Everything was expected to be procured just in time and not too early or too late.  Later elements developed in the 1950’s including takt time,. standardized work, kanban, and supermarkets added to the basis for JIT.

After World War II Taiichi Ohno a promising engineer in the Toyoda Spinning and Weaving Corporation was brought over to the automotive side of the business.  He was given the task of improving operational productivity and driving in the concepts of Just-In-Time and Jidoka.  He was eventually appointed machine shop manager of an engine plant and experimented with many concepts in production between the years of 1945-1955.

 2.1.2 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

There are also many other tools and techniques that were developed in Toyota such as 7 Wastes, Standardized Work, 5S, SMED, Visual Control, Error Proofing, as well as many others.   The concepts will be explained in the latter sections of this handbook.  Other influences such as Henry Ford, Fredrick Taylor, and Dr. W. Edwards Demming are outside the scope of this short document.

 2.1.3 GOALS OF TPS

The goal of the Toyota Production System is to provide products at world class quality levels to meet the expectations of customers, and to be a model of corporate responsibility within industry and the surrounding community.

The Toyota Production System historically has had four basic aims that are consistent with these values and objectives:  The four goals are as follows:

1.        Provide world class quality and service to the customer.

2. Develop each employee’s potential, based on mutual respect, trust and cooperation.

3.        Reduce cost through the elimination of waste and maximize profit

4.        Develop flexible production standards based on market demand.

2.1.4 THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM MODEL

The production system philosophy of Toyota embodies a manufacturing culture of continuous improvement based on setting standards aimed at eliminating waste through participation of all employees.  The goal of the system is to reduce the timeline from the time an order is received until the time it is delivered to the actual customer.

There are two primary pillars of the system.  The first and most famous pillar of the system is Just In Time (JIT). The JIT concepts aims to produce and deliver the right parts, in the right amount, at the right time using the minimum necessary resources. This system reduces inventory, and strives to prevents both early and over production.  Producing in a JIT fashion exposes problems quickly.  With less inventory in a system the “rocks” are quickly exposed in production that are disrupting flow.   Most companies shy away problems and use inventory to hide these problem and avoid potential disruptions.  In Toyota however the opposite logic is applied.  By reducing inventory you expose the real problems in a production process quickly and focus need for improvement.  This notion of surfacing problems and abnormalities is a critical concept in TPS. There are several important components to TPS: takt time, flow production, pulls via kanban, and leveling (heijunka).  These items will be describe in more detail later in this handbook.

Jidoka (Build in quality) is the second pillar of the system. There are two parts to Jidoka –

1) Building in quality at the process and 2) Enabling separation of man from machine in work environments.  Jidoka is a Japanese work that ordinarily mean automatic or automation. However Toyota puts a specific twist on this word by adding a what is known as a “radical” in depicting kanji characters.  The radical added to the left of one of the kanji characters in Jidoka means “human”.  In other words TPS aspires for processes that are capable of making intelligent decisions and shutting down automatically at the first sign of an abnormal condition such as a defect, or other problem.   The goal is not to run continuously but in other words to stop running automatically when trouble arises.  This automatic stop function helps stop defects from escaping downstream, prevents injury, limits machine damage, and enables a better look at the current condition whenever there is a problem.

2.1.5 FOCUS AREAS OF TPS

The driving force of the Toyota Production system is the elimination of waste aimed at ever improving quality, cost, productivity, safety and morale. The result is greater satisfaction for our major constituents: our customers, our employees and our investors.

In promoting the Toyota Production System and the concept of continuous improvement, it is necessary to properly understand the meaning of “complete elimination of waste.” Waste encompasses all factors that do not add value to the product or service, whether in parts, labor or production process. Continuous improvement efforts are not limited to the production floor. All Toyota employees and teams search for ways to continuously improve their product, process or service.

2.2  Relevant theory of Lean Management

         ‘Lean’ has been a hot topic in management science in the second decade of the 21st  century  and  continues  to  remain  so.  Garment  manufacturers  of  developing countries  are now a days facing an intensive  global competition  as the developed countries are on the lookout for new sourcing countries except China. This search offers a wide opportunity for the third world countries to compete and gain business. The key to compete in the international market place is to simultaneously bring about innovative products and improve both the quality and the productivit y on continual basis. But, as most of the Indian garment industries are small scale and traditional in their  operations,  they  face problems  like  low  productivity,  longer  production  lead time,  high  rework  and  rejection,   poor  line  balancing,   low  flexibility  of  style changeover, labour issues, and price pressures (Nayas,2012). Moreover, due to short span of apparel style, uniqueness of each product development and technology, it has become more crucial to perform better as well as fast to compete

2.2.1    Meaning and definitions of lean.

"If  you  understand  only  one  thing  about  Lean,  it  should  be  that  Lean  is about removing waste."

The concept of lean manufacturing was developed by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota Motor Company in the 1950’s as “an innovative  technique based on the mind and hand philosophy of the craftsmen era, merging it with the work standardization and assembly line of the Fordism, and adding the glue of teamwork for good measure” . Lean manufacturing is an assembly-line manufacturing methodology developed originally for Toyota and for the manufacturing of the automobiles. This business philosophy goes by different names like the Agile manufacturing, Just In Time manufacturing, Synchronous manufacturing, Repetitive manufacturing, Stockless manufacturing, Toyota Production System, World Class manufacturing, and Continuous Flow manufacturing. All the terms are used in parallel with lean manufacturing .  Lean focuses on abolishing or reducing wastes and on maximizing or fully utilizing the activities that add the value from the customer’s perspective. There are sets of tools that were developed at Toyota and those can be utilized to eliminate or at least reduce the sources of waste

  Based  on  this  definition,  the  emphasis  of  lean manufacturing is given on the customer and products or services are provided at truly economical rates by streamlining all involved processes, ensuring better coordination among them,  ensuring better participation  of employees  and thereby reducing and eliminating the wastage of all types of resources in the organization

a)   The term “lean” as   it denotes a system that utilizes less, in terms of all inputs, to create the same outputs as those created by a traditional mass production system, while contributing increased varieties for the end customers. Lean is to manufacture only what is needed by the customer, when it is needed and in the quantities ordered. The manufacturing of goods is done in a way that minimizes the time taken to deliver  the finished goods, the amount of labour required, and the floor-space required, and it is done with the highest quality, and usually, at the low cost

b) “Researchers of the Lean Aerospace     Initiative (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)   describes  lean  as  adding  value  by  eliminating   waste,  being responsive  to change, focusing on quality, and enhancing the effectiveness of the workforce

c) The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension  Partnership’s  Lean Network offers the following definition of lean manufacturing: “A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating the waste through  continuous  improvement,   flowing  the  product  at  the  pull  of  the customer  in pursuit  of perfection.”

2.2.2 Lean  production

            Lean  production  is  a  multi-dimensional  approach  that  encompasses  a  wide variety of management practices, including Just in Time, quality systems, work teams,  cellular  manufacturing,   and  supplier  management   in  an  integrated system.  The  core  thrust  of lean  production  is that  these  practices  can work synergistically  to  create  a  streamlined,  high  quality  system  that  produces finished  products  at  the  pace  of  customer  demand  with  little  or  no  waste Its aim is “to get the right things to the right place at the right time, the first time, whilst minimizing waste and facilitating change openly.”

2.2.3 Lean  Manufacturing

“Lean manufacturing is the production of the product for the customers’ maximum daily demand in a balanced sequenced flow process with minimal lead time using only the value-added elements of that process. All non –value added activities such as material handling, changeover,  waiting,  moving and defects manufacturing are either eliminated or minimized in the lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing  is visualized  as a house  where  each element  plays  an important  role  to  the  entire  structure.  The  house  of  lean  is a metaphor  that  was designed by Ohno to fit objectives, strategy, tactics, skills and foundational elements of lean togethe

2.2.4 Foundation Elements

The strong  foundation  of the  house  is the  constitution  of  four elements  – philosophy, visual management, stability and standardization, implying its importance or presence before any other part of the structure could be made. The first element of lean is its organization’s ‘philosophy’ providing guidance for everyone regarding the direction the organization  is taking and the way the organization wants to reach its goals.   The   second   foundational   element,   ‘Visual   Management’,   indicates   that everything that is being done within the organization should be visualized so that the current state of any process becomes instantly clear and transparent. Elements 3 and 4 are referred to as

‘Heijunka’ and ‘stability and standardization’ stating that processes are made reliable and leveled in both volume and variety, so that inventories are made limited. The two pillars of the house are ‘Just in Time (JIT)’ production on one side and ‘automation with human interaction (Jidoka)’ on the other side. Just-in-time production  means  that  only the  parts  in the  quantity  needed  at  a  given  time  are processed, thereby reducing inventory to the minimum as per the need. Automation prevents the production of defective parts as the autonomous machines detect defects as they occur  through  the ongoing  inspection  and  hence  stop  automatically  when non-conformance is detected.

2.3 Current literature of lean management:

2.3.1    Principles of lean.

“Our business practices  and activities  based on the core principle  created  alues, beliefs and business methods that over the years have become a source of competitive advantage.

    There are many principles, ideas and tools that are being used to make up lean manufacturing system, and all of which have the same ultimate goal of eliminating waste and non-value added activities at every production or service process in order to bring the most satisfaction to the customer. In the book “The Machine that Changed the World” five lean principles  were given which literally meant life or death for a company. These principles were renewed in the book Lean Thinking, emphasising on many different ways in which a manufacturing unit can become more efficient by working smarter and not harder. As these  principles  are  fundamentally  customer  value  driven,  they  are  suitable  for application in any of the manufacturing environments.

These five Lean principles are described as follows:

Principle 1. Accurately specify the value of the products or services.Value of the product must be specified according to the customer in terms of a customer requirement of a specific product, price, place and time, it is as simple as the old expression “give the customer what they want” and not what is convenient for the manufactures.

Principle 2. Identify the value stream for each product or service and remove asted actions. Each and every step in the entire process of making a product is specified very clearly without any ambiguity so that the unnecessary steps and other forms of waste are continuously identified and reduced.

Principle 3. Make the product or service value flow without interruptions. Components  of  the  final  product  must  flow  smoothly  through  the  plant, starting from one station to other stations without waiting of time in between, hence creating a smooth one piece flow.

Principle 4. Let customers pull products or services from the producer. Production of the product must be tied to the demand; no products are manufactured until downstream demand for it occurs. The idea with lean is to push this point as long upstream in the product making process as possible, wait  for a demand and then make the product fast and with high quality. So, if the delivered products have any defect, only a small batch of products gets affected.

Principle 5. Pursue perfection and continuously improve. The   last   principle   seems   more   possible   after   the   other   4   principles. Manufacturing  units  must  always  strive  for  improving  their  efficiencies,  cutting costs, and improve the quality of their products. Transparency must be created in a lean system where it becomes easier to discover better ways at doing the daily things in order to create value for the customer.

These five lean principles work together and are the fundamental to the elimination of waste. These principles are also accepted by such organizations which require complete transformation and successful lean implementation  in their current business system.

 All these principles  categorized  into four sections and all are beginning with letter ‘P’ namely philosophy, process, people and partners and hence it’s called the ‘4P model of the Toyota Way’. The 4P model is shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.1  Model of the Toyota way. Adapted from “The Toyota way,”

Most of the five Lean principles coined are found in Liker’s second category of Processes. Most of the manufacturing companies in  their  journey  to  be  lean,  successfully  implement  the  principles  of  the  right processes to achieve flow throughout their processes and pull systems to avoid overproduction. But to become lean, specific way of thinking is required, and without adopting   all 4P’s,   the sustainable   development   is not possible.   Most of the

Manufacturing units just concentrate on only one level that is the process level; hence lag behind those companies that adopt culture of continuous improvement. Principles of lean production can be applied equally in every industry across the globe and the conversion  to  lean  production  has  a  profound  effect  on  the  human  society, truly changing the world .Importance  of following all 14 principles for the complete lean success can be judged by words of    Fujio Cho , President of Toyota Motor Company ,“The Key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements..But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner –not in spurts”.

2.3.2  Research Aim, Objectives and Hypotheses

Lean  system   aims   at   half   the   human   effort   in  the   factory,   half  the manufacturing space, and half the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time.  Also  it requires keeping  far  less than half the  needed  inventory on site, resulting in many fewer defects, and producing a greater and ever growing variety of products .

Methodology

In order to achieve the benefits of lean manufacturing, we are going to follow certain methodologies.  Lean manufacturing can be achieved by listing the problem and preparation of research design. Lean consultant has to inspect the company, where the lean in implemented and lean elements are analyzed in the company. Analyzed data is graded as excellent, good, poor and very poor, and then the company members are trained on the basis of their grade in each element.

3.1 Restatement of the problem:

Quality of the product denotes the better durability and workability of the products. Standardized work means documenting the work process and maintaining the standards in work. Total Productive maintenance includes regular inspections, cleaning, lubricating and tightening of the products. Ability of the manager to react to a problem occurring in the manufacturing process. Any part of the work in manufacturing process would be moved without interference of work in between that would disturb the flow of production process On going work in manufacturing process which yet to be delivered. Storage or stock of raw materials for manufacturing the finished goods. Purchasing of raw materials only what and when it is needed in the production process. Jidoka is invented by Sakichi Toyoda, Founder of the Toyota Group, which denotes identifying and rectifying the problems quickly by use of labors. Maximum time to produce the product to satisfy the customer needs. Heijunka mean leveling the production and reducing the waste in the production. Total time taken for the manufacturing of product from the beginning to end of the process. Labors are given extra work to reach the production rate along the production line. Giving special training to the new employees to achieve the company vision. Arrangement of work process and removal of unnecessary items in workplace. Necessary items should be arranged in the proper order so that the items can be easily selected for use. Keeping the workplace clean which raises the employees spirit. Ensuring the common standards to all the employees in all way of working. Strengthening the employees about their work that they do every day.

                       Toyota Production Systems (TPS) was designed by Taiichi Ohno during the 1950s, who was a Toyota Motor Corporation engineer to reduce the wastes that was carried out in a production process. Toyota Production Systems helped Toyota to change from a small truck manufacturer to the world’s largest automobile producers by 2007. This system has helped Toyota to maintain a great continuous improvement environment and it also has innovated keeping up with the technologies that has been improved over the years. It also gave Toyota an edge over their rivals, since TPS also gave a strategic advantage by improving their quality, reliability, productivity, cost reduction, sales and market share growth, and market capitalization. Many other companies have implemented Lean. Lean has also made its way to Healthcare and the construction company. The Toyota Production System helps the construction firms to solve their problems and to make the construction firms public image look better. I think that the this study will help in implementing Lean in a particular company and will also make sure that they follow it rigorously.

3.2 Research design:

            Research on lean manufacture is mainly designed by Customer Satisfaction, Cost and Profit, Cash Flow, Inventory and Carrying Cost, Velocity, Throughput, and Lead Time, Batch and Queue vs. Lean Flow, Waste, Value Added, Non-Value-Added, Required Non-Value-Added.

3.2.1Customer Satisfaction:

            Construction Company wants to make sure that customer is satisfied with their product. Main importance of customer satisfaction is to sell construction product to someone for more money than it cost the company to make it. A customer who is willing to buy our product is very important component and it is the heart of the lean manufacture. At the center of the lean philosophy is measuring all activity from the customer’s point of view. I do run into some interesting examples in my travels. I recently spent a few months with a client doing an extensive lean-engineering analysis of construction company’s main assembly areas. As I learned more about the business, I kept hearing comments that lowest cost and best lead time (quality is a given) did not always mean being awarded a project in this industry. The claim was that a lot of politics were involved in awarding a project and that performance was not always the deciding factor. As I became privy to more of the details surrounding these comments, it became clear that the company had lost a major job that it had bid on to a competitor whose price was significantly higher and that did indeed have a longer lead time. In talking to some of the engineering types, I learned that a major characteristic of the product had changed, and that the customer had specified this new feature as a requirement in its product quotation process. Every client is doing a considerable amount of engineering design work and process redesign to accommodate this new characteristic. Eveny client chose to take the position that the product as it was currently produced was better, and it submitted a bid that ignored the newly specified characteristic. Its price was lower, its lead time was better, and its quality was excellent. The job was awarded to a competitor with a higher price and longer leads times because of a political issue. Even though the company had completely ignored the customer’s specific description of the desired product, when it failed to get the job, the reason was politics, not the fact that the company had submitted a quotation on a product design that the customer clearly was not interested in.

3.2.2 Cost and Profit:

Let’s talk about Profit in a construction firm. You have a great product that everyone wants to buy. All you have to do is buy some material, rent a factory, hire and train some employees, start making your product and selling it to customers, and start accumulating some Profit. In order to make a Profit, you need to establish a couple of things: Your Profit (or loss) will be the difference between your cost and your selling price. Cost is the expense that a business incurs in bringing a product or service to market. Price is the amount a customer pays for that product or service. Profit is difference between price and cost. However, this is not really the case. Unless you have no competition, your selling price is actually set by the marketplace. To test this hypothesis, we have to identify a competitor who produces the same product as us, with comparable quality and lead times, and raise your price to twice that competitor’s. Then track market share. Profit can be achieved by determining real cost of the product and cost of overproduction.

Real cost of the product includes lights, gas, water, real estate, raw materials ect,. Whatever it is that we need in order to operate and make your product. If we can get these raw materials cheaper than other manufacturers, we sell our product cheaper than other customer. Next, the company has to fix the average real cost. If we get into the company we inspected, everything moving very fast. People are working; there are batches of material and parts in front of every station and batches of parts after every station; forklifts are busy taking parts from one area to the next area; expeditors are moving and tracking materials everything is busy. But before that we have two rules to be considered, everybody need to buy our product and every equipment has work in all working hours. This can be achieved only by calculating real cost of the product accurately.

 If we continuously build our construction product that is, nobody has ordered any of this stuff yet you need a place to store it until the orders for these particular items come flooding in. If you leave this product on your manufacturing floor, it will get in the way of future production, so let’s add a stockroom to your operation. Now we need a way to get the product to the stockroom and someone to put it away. Let’s hire a person to move materials and buy him a forklift. If the amount of inventory in your storage space increases, we will need to hire people to count it, track its location; add systems and computers to manage the information, and so on. The people involved in these newly developed tasks need to be paid, we’ll have to buy the machines, and in the end the additional costs for space, people, and equipment will be counted as part of the cost of these products. In addition, the materials used are already paid for. If we paid cash, we are losing the opportunity to invest this money where we would receive a return. If we borrowed the money, there is an interest charge accumulating on this idle product. We can also get a leak in our storeroom roof, and some of our product becomes rusty. Our material handler drops a skid, and product is broken.

3.2.3 Cash flow:

Cash flow is a term we will hear frequently in the company office and rarely on the manufacturing floor. If it’s important to the owner and also to the production manager, he considers it equally important, we might ask. This question takes us back to standard costing systems and how and what we measure in various areas of the business. It’s curious how everything ties together. There are two important adjectives used in connection with the term cash flow: positive and negative. As we might guess, positive is good and negative is not so good. Here’s the way it works: I spend money; I get money. The riddle is in the timing. The things that a company needs in order to do business materials, payroll for people, taxes, supplies, heat, lights, and so on –must be paid for within a certain amount of time. When a company ships an order to a customer, that customer must pay within an agreed-upon time frame. The difference in the time frames defines our cash flow position. The question is, how much cash is going out and how much cash is coming in and, more importantly, when we buy something, you have created what is called a pay.

3.2.4 Inventory cost:

In construction industry inventory means ‘stock of goods’. Inventory is an idle resource having an economic value awaiting consumption or resale. Thus they are held primarily for some transaction. ‘Today’s inventory is tomorrow’s production’. To the finance manager, inventory connotes the value of raw materials, consumables, spares, work goods and scrap in which a company’s funds have been invested. He considers inventory as locked up capital. On the opposite side are the user departments, which clamor for more. To satisfy both sides, the inventory is to be controlled manager exercises control over inventory. Inventory management covers a large number of issues including determining the size of the inventory to be carried; set receipt and inspection procedure; determining the economic order quantity; providing proper storage facilities; keeping check on obsolescence and setting up effective information system with regard to the inventories. Inventories should neither be excessive nor inadequate. If inventories are kept at a high level, higher storage costs would be incurred. A low level of inventories may result in underutilization of capacity and lower sales In industry inventory means ‘stock of goods’. Inventory is an idle resource having an economic value awaiting conversion, sale. Thus they are held primarily for some transaction. ‘Today’s inventory is tomorrow’s production’. To e manager, inventory connotes the value of raw-in-progress, finished goods and scrap in which a company’s funds have been invested. He considers inventory as locked up capital. To satisfy both sides, the inventory is to be controlled. Finance manager exercises control over inventory. Inventory management covers a large number of issues including determining the size of the inventory to be carried; setting up receipt and inspection procedure; determining the economic order quantity; providing proper storage facilities; keeping check on obsolescence and setting up effective information system with regard to the inventories. Inventories should neither be excessive nor inadequate. If inventories are kept at a high level, higher storage costs would be incurred. A low level of  inventories may result in underutilization of capacity and lower.

3.3 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDY POPULATION

Construction work also provides a traditional point of entry into the urban labour market for migrant workers from the countryside. It is often the only significant alternative to farm labour and has special significance for the landless. The majority of construction workers around the world are men. But in the countries of South Asia women are integrated into the industry at the bottom end as ‘helpers’, performing the heaviest work for the lowest pay.

3.3.1 GENERAL TERMS

Population Size

It is the number of individuals in a population at a given time. Even when the population size appears to be stable overtime, changes can occur from year to year or from place to place. Population size varies from one habitat to another.

Population Density

It is a measure of the number of individuals in ascertain space at a particular time. Population density is related to population size. If a population’s size increases and all of the individuals remain in the same area, then population density increases, too. There are more individuals living in the same amount of space. If the size of a population in a particular area decreases, density also decreases. Density can change over time and over the entire area of the population.

Life over Time

The distribution of a population across a large geographic area is its range. Within that range, population density may vary. The population density tends to be higher are more resources are available. Habitats located in the middle of a population range tend to have a greater population density than habitats located at the edges.

Population Spacing

The pattern in which the people growth is an example of population spacing. Scientists have observed three distinct patterns of spacing: clumped, uniform, and random.In clumped spacing, individuals form small groups. Population spacing describes how individuals arrange themselves within a population. A population can change in response to its surroundings.

 The demand for labor in the construction industry changes from day to day. It has always been customary to employ a proportion of the construction workforce on a casual and temporary basis to cope with variations in the contractor’s workload and demand for different skills.

 But there is evidence to show that the number employed in this way has grown substantially in recent years as construction enterprises around the world (in common with enterprises in other sectors) have shed their permanent labour force in favor of employing workers on a casual (often daily) basis, or of outsourcing their labour supply through intermediaries.

Throughout the world, workers who are employed on a casual basis suffer job insecurity, low wages and poor working conditions and they are not protected by social insurance

3. 3.2 Requirements for economic security

The developments in employment relationships described above have impacted negatively on the economic security of construction workers. There are two basic considerations affecting 3

Quantity of work:

By definition, casual and short-term employment means that there will be frequent changes of job this inevitably will mean periods without work. The number of jobs in construction is dependent on the level of investment in construction activity, which is notoriously subject to wide variations Unsurprisingly, the urgent need to increase opportunities for employment is the main concern expressed by construction workers almost everywhere. While construction workers would like higher wages, their main aspiration is to get more regular work.

Quality of work:

As collective agreements (where they existed) have been undermined and apply only to a diminishing core of workers a two-tier wage structure has emerged in many countries, with both wages and fringe benefits for core workers well above those of the rest of the workforce. For the bulk of the workers on temporary contracts wages reflect demand and supply in the labour market and fluctuate in line with variations in construction output and the negotiating power of the workers. When construction activity is booming, shortages can emerge with upward pressure on wages especially for skilled workers. But in the majority of low-income countries the supply of unskilled and semi-skilled labour is far in excess of the demand and earnings for the majority of construction workers, even in boom times, are only around the level of the minimum wage and very often below it. This is particularly well documented in India where wages for women are always less than for men for similar work and women fill only the lowest jobs in the labour hierarchy. Even more serious than low wages is the widespread practice of delayed payment, which may be because the labour contractors themselves have not been paid but can equally be a deliberate tactic to keep the workers tied to the contractor.

In this context two objectives of policy must be first to expand the number of jobs available for construction workers and secondly to improve the wages and working conditions associated with these jobs.

3.3.3. Measurement of labor workforce

In many countries the possibilities for unskilled workers to find work in other sectors of the economy are often limited. The main objective should therefore be to increase employment opportunities in the construction sector.

3.4 Data collection instruments:

Data collection is the main aspects on lean manufacturing. There are many steps in collecting data for lean. To reduce waste, time and cost in construction industry, all data has to be analyzed. So data had to be collected on every corner of the construction site. There are many data collection instrument in lean manufacturing,

3.4.1 Identify the Questions:

Our data must be relevant to the project. What is your project’s hypothesis? What are we trying to answer? The entire reason to have a construction project is to improve a process so these questions should be centered on what is the reality of our process and the current state. What happens if we just gather data? Data collection begins and ends with people. The list of question has to be prepared. Identified questions are listed and asked to the workers.

3.4.2 Kind of data available:

Now we break those questions down into their parts. What data exists that can give us these answers or part of these answers. Sometimes a particular piece of data can give us multiple answers. Sometimes we need to explore that data in relation to other data. Make a list of all of the data that is needed to answer the questions the project is centered on.

3.4.3 Amount of data we need:

We want to get enough data so what we can see patterns and trends. For each data element on the list write down how much is needed. The data available can be affordable for the data analysis.

3.4.4 Measurement of data:

Data can be measured in different ways; check sheets, survey answers, etc. The way we measure will be dependent upon the kind of data we seek. Decided on an operational definition for each measurement. Identify the specification of the measurement. It should be based on the customer’s limits of acceptability. Define the target values and what direction do we want the process to go in? Put a real, objective value for each target.

3.4.5 Display of data:

We can display data in many ways; control charts, Pareto diagrams, run charts, etc.  Which graphical display tool is best suited to answer our questions. Proceed to the next tollgate, Baseline Sigma.

3.5 Pretesting the data collection instrument:

Pretesting of data collection mean that data collected above like identify the questions, kind of data available, amount of data we need, measurement of data, display of data Is pretested on every action before it is implemented. One important objective of pre-testing questionnaires is to get at the thinking behind the answers so that the lean consultant can accurately assess whether the questionnaire is being filled out properly, whether the questions are actually understood by respondents, and whether the questions ask what the lean consultant thinks they are asking. Pre-testing also helps assess whether respondents are able and willing to provide the needed information.

In pre-testing, the respondents should actually fill out the questionnaire, giving their views along the way or afterward. One approach is to give the questionnaire as an interview, asking for clarification of answers and clarifying questions along the way. The respondents' views can also be obtained during a post-questionnaire interview or in a focus group. Another common approach is to have respondents think out loud as they answer.

Pre-testing allows the responsible lean consultant to test solutions to problems with the questionnaire. For example, if considering different wordings for a question, one wording can be used with half the pre-test sample and a second wording with the remaining sample to see which works best.

Let’s collect some pretesting data. Our team have gathered all available information on the following:

1. Area layout. You’ll need several CAD drawings, to scale, of all areas covered by the analysis.

2. Process maps, flow charts, and any descriptive detail on the following processes:

a. Customer contact activity

b. Engineering activity

c. Sales activity

d. Purchasing and scheduling

e. Work order and work package development and release

f. Manufacturing process detail, to include setup and changeover data

g. Examples and copies of all paperwork used in these processes

3. Current schedule

4. Current forecast

5. Financial and systems data on:

a. Direct labor

b. Indirect labor

c. Overtime

d. Inventory dollar amounts: raw, work in process, and finished goods

e. Rework

f. Scrap

g. Lead time through the various areas and in total

6. Organizational data—a current organization chart showing all employees, salaried and hourly. This is different from the conventional chart, which shows only salaried employees. We want to know where everybody on the payroll is and what they do.

7. Materials. Details on the components used in the target process—parts purchased, vendor lead times, and annual dollars spent.

8. A PPQ (product, process, quantity) matrix of all product in the target area. This is a listing of all the work centers, machines, and process points in the system and the product that flow through each area, with monthly quantities produced, across a sample year.

3.6 Procedures of data analysis:

As a lean consultant, I spend my time working with construction companies that have decided they are going to change from a conventional batch operation to a lean-flow operation. At a typical company that contacts us, management has read a lot of books and talked to a lot of people. Sometimes the managers have visited other companies that are already in transition; quite often they have had one or two of the large consulting firms in to conduct training in various areas of lean theory. The one common factor I see in all these firms is this: When they leave the conference room and go to the shop floor, they still don’t know exactly how or where to start doing the work. So I have decided to inspect their company for one full day, and then I will give training to the worker where they are weak.

3.6.1 Inspection of the company:

The tool we use to begin the lean journey is a baseline. Some people may call it a value-stream mapping event. The intent is to defines your current state of operations, analyze it for waste, and create a desired future state and a highly detailed plan of execution to get there. This is typically done at the site level for best results. I have seen this tool applied to a multiple business unit system with a deploy down strategy, with vague and unmanageable results. The site level is much more practical in that a facility typically has discrete products that are being delivered to customers, usually all functions are represented, and a clean value stream model that is under the control of the functions present in the facility can be constructed. This tool is an event based process, meaning that a cross functional team gets locked up for typically five days to deliver the goods. No interruptions, no escape. The common reaction to this requirement is: ‘‘Good heavens, my key people are far too busy to be sidelined for an entire week. It simply cannot be done.’’ I’ve done countless baselines, and I have yet to see a company go under because several of its key people were sequestered for a few days. I’ve seen companies attempt this process with the conventional ‘‘we’ll meet for two hours a day’’ approach, and the results have been sadly disappointing. This process is driven by the objective of eliminating waste, with all activity being categorized from the customers’ viewpoint.

So, we have to inspect the company completely on the basics of 14 elements we spoke in before chapters. Then all workers are trained on the basics of their talent. There are a couple of assumptions, namely: Your Company has a basically sound business strategy. The top managers in your organization recognize that a change in operating philosophy is needed if the company is to improve and see different results from those you have been experiencing. The top managers are prepared to support the change and provide the resources needed to make it happen.

3.6.2 Baseline Basics:

A typical baseline is a five day event preceded by some preparatory data collection, organizational discussions to define a good cross functional team, and, depending on the client, a little training for the management team and key players. And so, these are the key steps in the implementation path.

Step 1: Top management has decided that it is going to embrace a new operating philosophy. The organization will be ‘‘lean’’ driven, and management is ready to pull the trigger. Deployment of any strategy or policy must come from the top of the organization and be driven down, since all changes must be cross-functional to be truly effective, and the CEO, president, or owner’s office is where all these functions intersect and receive direction.

Step 2: Choose a pilot area to analyze. This is usually a difficult choice the first time. It gets easier as we go along because we come to know what to expect and how the process works. The important point here is, does it! Get going! My suggestion is to pick a product line or family of products that represents a respectable percentage of your sales mix, is relatively straightforward, and can be expected to provide a good financial gain to our bottom line if optimized. More specifically, don’t pick your easiest area and don’t pick your hardest. The first baseline is not only an analysis of a portion of your business, but also the initial model to change your company culture. That’s easier said than done.

Step 3: Pick a good cross-functional team to engage in the event. I find this step to be the most treacherous. The first impulse of many top managers is to staff the team with their high-potential managers. The thought is, get my best and brightest together and we’ll have a sure win. In most cases, this is not true. At the risk of being presumptuous, managers have an in-depth understanding of the standard data, the information that is in the system, but they rarely understand the details of the actual process. I spend a great deal of time performing lean-engineering analysis of various processes to provide companies with the foundation data to recombine and balance their floor activity. The real-life processes as performed on the floor are never the same as the standard data portray them to be. The people who understand the details of what the work really is are the folks who do the job every day. Curious, but true. That being said, your team should be composed of a mix of managers, technical support, and actual assembly and machine shop floor people. And here’s where the first ego speed bump comes into play. Managers are paid to know what’s going on, to be on top of things. Its difficult, if not impossible, to get them to admit that they really are not in touch with their processes at the task level. The message here is, ‘‘Get over it, leave your ego at the door.’’ We need real facts, not ‘‘data,’’ if we are to successfully analyze our process for waste.

3.7 Protection of human subjects:

3.7.1 Review the Office of Human Research Protections:

OHRP provides leadership and oversight on all matters related to the protection of human subjects participating in research conducted or supported by the Department of Health and Human Services. OHRP helps ensure that such research is carried out with the highest ethical standards and in an environment where all who are involved in the conduct of oversight of human subject’s research understand their primary responsibility for protecting the rights, welfare, and well-being of subjects. The OHRP offers much important information and will introduce applicable Federal regulations and guidance. Further, Decision Charts are presented that are helpful in thinking through relevant human subject protections issues.

3.7.2 Consult with your IRB: 

When your protocol is ready and you think you have done a thorough and thoughtful job of addressing the Protection of Human Subjects issues, you may want to meet informally with your Institutional Review Board (IRB) chair or administrator. Ask what the IRB has been concerned about lately. Ask for a “quick read” of the Human Subjects Protection section of your protocol.

3.7.3 Determine your own institutional policy:

AHRQ no longer requires that IRB approval and certification prior to review. However, it is recommended that you check with your own IRB, academic institution, or sponsor, regarding their policies regarding IRB review and submission. AHRQ permits you to wait until you are notified of funding before submitting the protocol to your IRB. However, any modification of the research plan section of the application required by the IRB or to address human subjects concerns raised during peer review, must be submitted to the Agency for approval before an award will be made. For more information about “Just in Time” policies.

3.7.4 Understand Peer Reviewers: 

Peer reviewers assess research protocols for issues related to human subject protections and then assign each application a Human Subjects Protection code. The Scientific Review Group will assess the adequacy of safeguards of the rights and welfare of research participants, and the appropriate inclusion of women, minorities, and children, based on the information in the application. They will evaluate the involvement of human subjects and proposed protections according to the following review criteria:

1. Risk to subjects.
2. Adequacy of protection against risks.
3. Potential benefits of the proposed research to the subjects and others.
4. Importance of the knowledge to be gained.
5. Data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

This evaluation will be part of the Approach criterion and will be factored into the overall score for scientific and technical merit of the application.