by Tong Ping
Fellow members, today let's start from a popular word in p.a.s: lean.
Anyboby heard about lean? Please raise your hand.
Anybody heard about lean manufacture?
精益生产, in Chinese. That's it.
Lean in p.a.s means mainly means
agile software development, as far as I understand. While let's see
what is lean manufacture and what we can learn in addition to this
phrase itself.
What is lean manufacture?
There are many aspects
of lean manufacture. E.g. with value chain analysis, lean manufacture
can optimize production procedure to reduce waste; with transition from
function-oriented organization structure to project-oriented structure,
lean manufacture can decreases bureacracy and promote communication and
collaboration.
While let's focus on the transformation of the driving mode of the
production flow, from tranditional manufacture to lean manufacture.
See the first picutre. What's the case in traditional manufacture?
On the left is the market; on the right is one factory.
There
is a factory planner. All the story starts from the planner's central
estimation of deman, for a comparative long period. And then the
planner gives orders to different steps of the product line. The
successor steps need to wait for the intermediate products from the
predecessors. In the end, the products are pushed to the customer - if
there is demand.
Here is another picture. What happens in lean manufacture?
All
the things start from the end customer. The customer raises direct
demand. The end step of the product line responds to the demand request
at first. It requests intermediate products from the buffer. The
predecessor step detects the buffer change and supplements the consumed
intermediate products. In this way, the market demand is passed from
the end to the beginning of the product line.
What have been changed? There is no planner, there is no central
estimation, and there is no ordering. The task of the factory
management changes - from the planning and ordering to coordinating and
guiding.
What have we seen?
1st, in traditional manufacture, the production is pushed starting
from the planner; in lean manufacture, the production is pulled
starting from the customer.
2nd, the driving force changes - from the planner's estimation of the demand to the customer's direct demand.
So far, do you recall some similar things?
Go back to the picture of traditional manufacture.
Imagine, the factory planner as the government.
Imagine, the factory - its departments and production links - as all the producers and dealers in the whole market.
What's that? That's the planning economy!
What's the same
between the planning economy and traditional manufacture? The visible
orders drive the production in both cases, no matter whether the orders
are from the government or from the factory planner.
How about the case in lean manufacture? Have a look at its picture.
Imagine, the factory management as the government, who gives guidance only other than ordering.
Still, imagine, the factory - its departments and production links - as all the producers and dealers in the whole market.
What's that? That's the market economy.
What's the same
between the market economy and lean manufacture? The invisible hand -
market demand - drives and regulates all the production!
Amazing similarity!?
We talked about traditional manufacture and lean manufacture. We talked about the planning economy and the market economy.
Which is better? Which is worse?
The planning economy, or the market economy?
We even needn't answer this question. Today, it's common knowledge: almost all the markets are practising the market economy.
In fact, it's one principle accepted and applied by people on the MACRO level.
On the other hand, there is traditional manufacture in most
factories; there is lean manufacture in more and more leading
enterprises. Aren't they reflecting similar transformation on MICRO level as economies?
The difference is: people are still exploring how to use lean well.
Then, keep thinking - you, may find more new things from lean! | 
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