AOS 3: Lean Management

Question 1

What is lean management?

Answer 1

Lean management is an approach where a business reviews all the processes with the aim to maximize customer value while looking to reduce or eliminate wastage created.

Question 2

What are the 4 principles of lean management?

Answer 2

• Pull
• One-piece flow
• Takt
• Zero defects

Question 3

What is pull?

Answer 3

Pull is where production of the good or service only starts when the customer places an order.
- Demands drive production to avoid over production

Question 4

What is one-piece flow?

Answer 4

One-piece flow refers to achieving a steady flow in production without constant starts or stops, focusing on one good or service at a time.
- Removes all wasteful and unnecessary activities.

Question 5

What is zero defects?

Answer 5

Zero defects refers to focusing on continuous improvement to remove errors and defects.
- Issues are resolved quickly and avoid future issues.

Question 6

What is takt?

Answer 6

takt refers to matching production rhythm with customer demand whereby all the steps in the production of the good or service are synchronised.
- Responding flexibility and effortlessly as demand rises or falls to create a ‘continuous flow’

Question 7

What are advantages of lean management?

Answer 7

• Improves efficiency by removing wastage by using less resources
• Improves effectiveness as it provides products customer value
• Increases competitiveness

Question 8

What are disadvantages of lean management?

Answer 8

• Initial time and cost commitment involved with the charging process
• Ongoing commitment of resource from the business
• Can cause inventory problems if process is incorrect or issues with suppliers