Using Discrete System Simulation to Model and Illustrate Lean Production Concepts

Abstract

Lean production systems are certainly not a new concept in the manufacturing industry. However, there are still a great number of production associates that do not yet have a true understanding of lean because the lean concepts have never been adequately demonstrated to them. Instead, lean training is often reserved for production management, and the results are merely forced upon production operators during lean implementation events. Lack of proper training causes a lack of understanding, which prevents the associate from buying in to the implementation. Without associate buy-in, a worthy project can easily fall short of its potential. Organizations must find a balance somewhere between sending every production associate to a full lean training course, which would be cost prohibitive, and the opposite extreme of imposing lean processes without providing any explanation whatsoever. A solution must be found that can convey the key tenets of lean quickly and effectively. Written or oral training will not always get the complete message across, or if it is fully expounding, then it is not typically concise. For this reason, the prospect of developing a set of animated simulations that would demonstrate lean concepts both quantitatively and visually was investigated. The purpose of this research project, and for that matter this paper, is not to serve in itself as a comprehensive introduction to lean manufacturing concepts, but rather to provide a means to better illustrate some of the waste elimination principles of lean to production associates to encourage understanding and buy-in. For the purposes of this paper, it will be assumed that the reader has already had an introduction to lean manufacturing concepts.