Relevance of the methodology of lean manufacturing in the global economic crisis

As a result, the current economic crisis the world economy, most industries were in very poor condition. Particularly hard hit by the crisis construction and manufacturing. In particular, all the world's automakers are suffering huge losses and significantly reduce the amount of output because of the sharp fall in demand. For example, only the domestic auto industry has released the first quarter of 2009 cars is almost 3 times lower (123 000 units) over the same period in 2008. And the situation in early 2010 - not much better. Increasingly, top government talk about the need to change the model of organization of production, reducing costs and increasing productivity, and it is in a crisis is vital. To achieve these goals is possible, using the concept of lean production. Note that this concept originated in the late 80s of the twentieth century as a result of studies of the production system of "Toyota» (TPS) of the International Programme "Cars" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, conducted by James Womack, D. Jones and D. Roos. At the present time, based on the opinions of domestic and foreign specialists can formulate a definition of lean manufacturing, as the modern concept of organization, aimed at awareness of the value of production, reduction of losses of different types (not adding value: overproduction, delays, unnecessary movement, processing, inventory, defects , unrealized potential employees), through the introduction of new production and management technologies, continuous improvement of primary and secondary processes, ultimately ensuring long-term competitiveness of the organization. Lean Manufacturing includes basic components such as value stream mapping (VSM), Systems: organization of the workplace «5S», general equipment maintenance (TPM), «Kanban" quick changeover (); continuous improvement "Kaizen "Visual, sound control and prevention of errors, which ultimately allows to organize production on a" just in time. " At first glance it might seem that the global crisis - a very bad time for a system of lean manufacturing or implementation of its individual components. But it must be recalled that the TPS was created in 60-70s of the twentieth century, under conditions typical for the current economic crisis. In particular, the company "Toyota" has experienced a permanent shortage of resources, worked on a limited domestic market in Japan, and the fuel crisis of the 70s led to a significant reduction in sales volumes and something like we see today. If the earlier guidance of domestic enterprises in relatively good years could still turn a blind eye to some industrial and organizational problems, but now they come to the fore and threaten the very survival of companies. Crisis conditions create significant additional motivation for change, both for managers and for ordinary employees to whom the threatened layoffs and this feature should be used. In addition, the downtime in many companies, reducing shifts also useful for staff training and implementation of lean changes. The more the company can count on state support in the event that will present their own anti-crisis program. Note that just using the principles and techniques of lean manufacturing can enable them to achieve the following results: To reduce the duration of product development at 50-100% and the production cycle (80-90%) increase productivity by 30 - 70%, reduce inventory to WIP 70-80%, significantly improving product quality and reduce the% of wedlock, to reduce the footprint by 30 - 50%, reduce working capital turnover by 70-80% and conversion time of 3-7 times, reduce wear and tear, the cost of its restoration and improve its use. Note that the Russian companies on a path to lean more use of its components such as a system of rational organization of jobs and general maintenance of equipment, which is confirmed by studies of BP in domestic enterprises for the period from 2006 to 2008, conducted by ICSI and Graduate School of Business at MSU. In many respects this is also due to the fact that these components when creating BP introduced one of the first, and the system is very versatile 5S, and can be used in non-manufacturing units and offices. TPM system is relevant and because of the significant depreciation of fixed assets and the use of increasingly complex to operate and expensive equipment. When creating a lean enterprise implementation or its individual components, it is recommended to note the following apparent difficulties: the first - is the need for significant organizational change and the willingness of staff to these changes, lean manufacturing requires special organizational culture, in particular, where each employee is doing his job enthusiastic, committed to continuous improvement, etc. - need to work closely with suppliers, customers, suppliers and the ability to supply products of good quality for a fixed time, can not be excluded significant material costs, and last - at the present time in our country an insufficient state support for such of transformations. To summarize, we note that the ideas and methods of lean production could play a significant role in the transformation of individual sectors of Russian industry and help bring it to the level of modern developed countries, to enable enterprises to survive in times of crisis, providing conditions for the further successful development.