Advantages of Lean Manufacturing

Manufacturing Facility
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International operations executive Richard McCorry is a resident of Rochester Hills, Michigan. The president of Production Spring in Michigan, Richard McCorry is an advocate for lean manufacturing. 

Lean manufacturing, also called lean production, is a model that emphasizes maximum productivity with minimum waste. Lean manufacturing is modeled after Toyota’s legendary manufacturing system that encompasses just-in-time inventory keeping, automated systems, flexible production schedules, and astute quality controls. All of these result in an efficient and less wasteful production system. 

The lean manufacturing model has been adopted by many global companies and is being implemented by American companies seeking a competitive advantage over their Asian counterparts. 

In lean manufacturing, production tasks are aligned neatly with demand so there are no idle workers, excess inventory, or unused equipment. Lean manufacturing production facilities also have no wasted space. This thoughtful utilization of company resources improves the quality of goods, reduces the cost of production, increases operational profitability, and makes management easier. The end result is efficiency across the entire production line.

Kaizen Has a Place in Today’s Manufacturing Environment

An experienced turnaround executive, Richard McCorry resides in Rochester Hills, Michigan. An advocate for lean manufacturing and efficient business operations, Michigan resident Richard McCorry delivered a presentation about the benefits of kaizen earlier in his career. 

Kaizen is a philosophy that originated in Japan after World War II. Derived from the words “kai,” which means change and “zen,” which means good, kaizen refers to the belief that all processes can be improved. It encourages people involved in an organization’s operations, from the executives to floor workers, to continuously seek new ways of improving the organization. 

While some companies have a stick-to-what-works mentality, kaizen promotes continuous improvement in that nothing is ever truly perfect; processes can always be made faster, safer, more economical, more efficient, and less wasteful. 

This philosophy was integral to the rise of many Japanese manufacturers including Toyota, which used it to create continuous improvements across the organization. In modern manufacturing practice, kaizen is employed to reduce forms of waste such as materials that do not add value, time wastage, product or service defects, over-processing, and unwarranted variations. 

Because kaizen is a philosophy, there are many ways in which it can be put in practice. A commonly used strategy involves the following steps: identify areas requiring improvement, develop hypotheses, run experiments, evaluate results, refine the experiments, and then continuously monitor and improve.

Understanding the 3 Types of Patents Under U.S. Law

Richard McCorry serves as president and co-owner of Production Spring, a Rochester Hills, Michigan, supplier of fasteners and components for automobile manufacturers. Richard McCorry brings experience as former president and CEO of GKN Sinter Metals, a publicly traded company serving transportation-oriented markets from its base in Britain. The Michigan man also holds three patents.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) defines a patent for an invention as the grant to an inventor of a property right. For inventors, this means a patent is a way to protect intellectual property. To successfully receive a patent requires meeting the USPTO's qualifications.

Under U.S. law, an invention falls under one of three patent categories: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. These patent types break down as such:

1. Utility patents: a discovery or invention of a novel, useful composition of matter, article of manufacture, machine, or process. Improvements to any of the above also qualify for this type of patent.
2. Design patents: an invention of an ornamental, original, and new design for a manufactured article.
3. Plant patents: a discovery or invention of a new, distinct plant variety that can be replicated by asexual reproduction.

To find the complete requirements for applying for a patent, visit the official site of the USPTO, uspto.gov.

The Basics of Lean Manufacturing

Richard McCorry is the president and a co-owner of Production Spring, an automotive parts manufacturer in Rochester Hills, Michigan. He also serves as an advisor to private equity companies in Michigan and beyond. One of Richard McCorry’s areas of professional expertise is lean manufacturing. In the early 1990's, he was an invited guest speaker at the GOAL Quality Consortium presenting the concept of Kaizen in Manufacturing. Utilizing Lean tools, he orchestrated a major plant turnaround at the age of 30. He abandoned traditional manufacturing measuring methods and developed his own set of tools including "APU". Actual Productive Uptime ("APU") is now commonly referred to as OEE. Most recently, General Motors Supplier Quality Directors asked permission to share some of his unique visual management systems with their supply community.

Emphasizing the value of engendering efficient production while using a minimum of resources, lean manufacturing practices are centered on various concepts of waste reduction. This waste reduction can occur at any stage of design, manufacture, distribution, or customer interaction. Specific types of waste monitored and addressed range from overproduction of inventory to wasted time.

The history of lean manufacturing dates back to the early 1900s and assembly line pioneers such as Model T manufacturer Henry Ford who said, “We will not put into our establishment anything that is useless.” Toyota executive Taiichi Ohno refined and coalesced the concept of lean manufacturing during Japan’s post-WWII reconstruction period. Lean manufacturing ultimately rose to widespread popularity in the wake of the 1996 book Lean Thinking by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones.