By Paul V. Arnold

For the past six years, MRO Today has promoted the benefits of lean manufacturing practices through magazine articles (cover stories, features and columns) and educational events (our “Lean Manufacturing University” series).

Why do we push lean so much?

1) We know it works. Best-in-class plants around the country tell us so and invite us in to see lean’s impact on their operations. The success of these companies inspired Pfingsten Publishing, my employer, to roll out a full-scale lean/Continuous Improvement program in early 2003. We can say first-hand that the methodology works.

2) Industry continues to sit and wait. Most U.S. manufacturing companies still do not incorporate lean thinking and initiatives into their plants. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers recently completed a study on the needs of Northeast U.S. manufacturers. In surveying small, mid-sized and large organizations from a variety of manufacturing disciplines, SME revealed some startling facts. Among them . . .

• While most small to mid-sized manufacturers identify ways they could benefit from applying lean manufacturing, only one in four are pursuing it.

• About half of the respondents from small and mid-sized organizations said they were either not aware of the advantages presented by lean, not interested or do not believe they can use the principles of lean to help their organizations. Yet, when asked to prioritize where they had problems in their operations, they identified waste in areas that lean manufacturing specifically targets, including manufacturing processes, equipment effectiveness, setup/cycle time, general business planning, workforce development, production scheduling and inventory management.

• Distinct differences exist between what professionals at various levels and various disciplines know about lean manufacturing and the problems that lean manufacturing would help them solve. For instance, job shop owners and corporate executives are less familiar with lean concepts than manufacturing engineers or quality managers.

If your company or plant hasn’t gone lean, what are you waiting for?

If you need an extra push, read “Visibly better,” our April/May 2004 cover story on Parker Aerospace. Also, click here and see how our May 24-26 national lean conference in Cleveland can help you.

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