Earlier this month, IndustryWeek published the results of its annual Census of U.S. Manufacturers survey to determine what kinds of improvement methodologies companies are adopting. This year's survey found that nearly 70 percent of respondents have adopted lean manufacturing practices as a way to improve performance. In fact, lean manufacturing is more than twice as popular as the second-place practice, Total Quality Management, which only generated 34 percent adoption.

James Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute, told IndustryWeek: "Lean management is not a quick solution for cost reduction. It's a fundamentally different system than traditional management for organizing and managing employees, suppliers, customer relationships, product development, production and the overall enterprise."

A whitepaper from SAP hints at similar lean themes and how the methodology involves much more than cost cutting:

Lean manufacturing principles provide a strong foundation to support many manufacturing methods, including make to order, assemble to order, repetitive manufacturing, and a host of other methods. However, lean manufacturing by itself is not enough for success. With today's volatile demand and fragmented supply environments, you must combine lean manufacturing principles with the principles of six sigma so you can understand and address the causes of variability and better manage exceptions.

And therein lies one challenge: addressing the causes of variability to better manage exceptions. Are any manufacturers out there really using lean principles to better understand supply chain complexities?

You betcha.

According to a recent announcement, Lear Corporation's lean manufacturing system hikes productivity and reduces costs." Tony Coomer, the Fortune 500 automotive systems supplier's vice president of Advanced Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement-Seating Systems, said lean manufacturing techniques have been deployed throughout the company's global manufacturing network.

"Lear's commitment to 'Total Lean Behavior' produces high-quality products more efficiently," Coomer said, adding that Lear's manufacturing system relies on employee involvement and a commitment to efficient product design.

Product design and plant layout play into Lear's lean strategies, and attention to packaging, material flow and storage systems are also important attributes. Here's why:

By reducing unnecessary corrugated pads used to ship certain back panels, Lear reduced shipping costs for the panels by more than 30 percent. By switching from "expendable" to re-usable containers for some metal parts, the company realized a first-year package cost reduction of nearly 40 percent and a program package-cost reduction of even more at one factory alone.

According to the announcement, Lear employees are trained on LMS during a three-week workshop. The training is conducted at all Lear plants by a "lean manufacturing leader," and employees receive LMS certification upon successful understanding of LMS principles and validation of model line projects that deploy LMS.

"Our training program is designed to develop synergy between plants, empower people to make changes and create value for customers and shareholders," Coomer explained. "It has enabled us to establish a common and consistent lean manufacturing strategy throughout the company."

That's great. But, of course, three weeks of training is hardly enough to be lean. It takes long-term commitment and leadership. Unfortunately, as one IMT reader named Tim recently commented:

There have been innumerable euphuistic titles for repackaged stuff, all based on TWI [Training Within Industry] from 70 years ago. There is no reason, and no emergency that will force any of these so-called improvements on any company because the powers-that-be are only interested in a very narrow definition of a successful company; one that relates to quarterly goals and their bonuses. There is no understanding of quality or improvement.

From IndustryWeek:

A lean supply chain is a great enabler for any organization that strives to become more lean and efficient. Organizations within a lean supply chain are able to leverage their own lean journey more easily, delivering better customer value by responding more efficiently, quickly, and predictably to customer needs. That, in turn, facilitates the operation of the lean supply chain, creating a virtuous cycle that ultimately translates to superior financial performance for these organizations.

The book Streamlined: 14 Principles for Building and Managing the Lean Supply Chain presents seven steps to help organizations develop lean supply chains, even as they proceed on their own lean journey. These steps, as discussed in depth by IndustryWeek, are as follows:

1) Develop systems thinking;
2) Understand customer value;
3) Value stream mapping;
4) Benchmark best practices;
5) Design to manage demand volatility;
6) Create flow; and
7) Performance metrics.

Implementation at Lear involves a focus on improving work environment ("housekeeping"), overall quality ("quality first"), plant layouts and material flow.

To determine whether your lean is lame, check out July's Is Your Lean LAME?

Resources

Census of U.S. Manufacturers -- Lean Green and Low Cost
by David Blanchard
IndustryWeek, Oct. 1, 2007

Adaptive Manufacturing: Enabling the Lean Six Sigma Enterprise
by SAP (via The Register), October 2007

The Goal of the Lean Supply Chain
by Mandyam M. Srinivasan (The University of Tennessee)
IndustryWeek, Sept. 12, 2007

Lear Corporation's Lean Manufacturing System Hikes Productivity and Reduces Costs
Lear Corporation (via The Auto Channel), Oct. 3, 2007