Lean Productivity Enhancements and Waste Elimination Through Emerging Technology
The past three decades have witnessed the concept of lean as a systematic transformation process philosophy gain greater understanding. It is well understood that lean is a systematic philosophy for achieving productivity enhancements through waste elimination.1 Benefits achieved through application of the lean principles, practices, and tools are well documented. Oft-cited benefits attributed to lean applications are lower costs, higher quality, faster order response times, and enhanced transformation process flexibility.2
The true understanding of lean’s originations has been somewhat distorted by some suggesting that the roots of lean emanated from individuals (e.g., Toyoda, Ohno, Shingo, Imai, and others) within Toyota in the 1950s. Rather, lean represents an evolving body of knowledge dedicated to achieving productivity enhancements through waste elimination.
The true roots of the lean body of knowledge go back centuries. Individuals at Toyota acknowledged contributions to the lean body of knowledge by numerous predecessors. For example, the Egyptians used an assembly line (flow) practice and divided labor to enhance productivity and speed in the building of the pyramids.3 The field of ergonomics contributes important lean practices as well. The foundation of ergonomics appears to have emerged in ancient Greece. Evidence indicates that the Hellenic civilization in the fifth century BC used ergonomic principles in the design of their tools, jobs, and workplaces.4 It is estimated that as early as 1104, the Venetian Arsenal utilized a vertically integrated flow process consisting of dedicated workstations to assemble standardized parts into galley ships. This practice of a vertically integrated flow approach combined with standardized parts enhanced ship assembly productivity.
Other contributors prior to the contributions at Toyota include the introduction of interchangeable parts in the United States in approximately 1798 by Eli Whitney. Industrial engineers such as Frederick Taylor and the Gilbreths contributed practices such as standardized work, time and motion studies, and process charting during the scientific management era of the late 1890s and early 1900s. Starting in about 1910 through the 1920s, Henry Ford extended earlier practices by marrying interchangeable parts with standard work and moving conveyance as well as incorporating vertical integration and behavioral concepts such as worker motivation in order to design a more comprehensive lean system.
The contributions emanating from Toyota in the 1950s, often referred to as the Toyota Production System, built upon earlier contributions and focused on waste elimination. Three wastes are typically identified, often referred to as overburden (muri), variation (mura), and waste (muda). Since the work by many at Toyota, numerous additional contributions may be cited. To put it simply, it must be acknowledged that lean is a philosophy of continuous improvement conducted in a systematic manner and dedicated to productivity improvements and waste elimination. In Chapter 1, it was recognized that as a system, lean comprises four integral components: leadership, organizational culture, and teamwork, as well as the practices and tools identified by many predecessors.
Interestingly, the concept of lean as a systematic philosophy for achieving productivity enhancements through waste elimination is quite broad and somewhat vague. For example, one can eliminate waste in a number of ways, including eliminating avoidable non-value-adding activities, reducing unavoidable non-value-adding activities, sharing information in a more timely and accurate manner, using more efficient resources, and so on.
An emerging theme of lean rests on technological change as a means for achieving significant advancement of productivity enhancement and waste elimination objectives. Increasing anecdotal evidence is emerging, which documents the ability of technology to enable productivity enhancement and waste elimination. Technological applications are impacting every industry, including agriculture, automotive, construction, entertainment, health care, and manufacturing, to name a few. This chapter surveys these industries to recognize and document examples as well as identify reported beneficial evidence of these technological contributions. These technological applications are enabling and they will continue to provide future lean achievements.
Lean Technology Capabilities
Productivity enhancements enabled by technology may be best explained, in part, by four laws. Chronologically, they are Moore’s Law, Nielsen’s Law, Butters’ Law, and Kryder’s Law. Moore’s Law, offered in 1965, observes that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every 18 months, dramatically enhancing the effect of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy.5 The capabilities of many digital electronic devices we take for granted these days are strongly linked to Moore’s Law. Nielsen’s Law, observed in 1998, states that the high-end users’ Internet connection speed (bandwidth), and, therefore, the ability to rapidly retrieve or exchange information, doubles approximately every 21 months.6 While Moore’s Law observes that transistors double in speed roughly every 18 months, Butters’ Law observes that the amount of data coming out of an optical fiber is doubling approximately every 9 months, further enhancing the speed of information exchange over the Internet.7 Kryder’s Law observes that memory storage density or capacity (magnetic disk areal storage density at the time) is increasing very quickly, faster than Moore’s Law at times.8
Taken together, these four laws directly contribute to the capabilities of emerging technology and, therefore, the productivity enhancements and waste elimination that will be achieved in coming years. These capabilities are embedded in the emerging technologies impacting every industry. Examples of these technologies as well as cited benefits for industries including agriculture, automotive, construction, entertainment, health care, and manufacturing are discussed in the following subsections.
Agriculture
Technology is promoting lower costs, higher quality, and faster order response times in numerous agricultural applications. Technology has greatly enhanced agricultural practices over the past decade and with the continuing trend for large farms and less labor per acre, it will continue to do so, going forward. One current example is real-time kinematic (RTK) vehicle auto steering capability. RTK provides hands-free steering accuracy measured to the inch for a variety of tasks including listing and bedding up, row crop planting, strip-tilling, ridge-tilling, postemergence spraying, banding fertilizer, side-dressing, and cultivating. This technology provides benefits of repeatability of these tasks day after day or even year after year. It allows one to establish rows in the same spot for several years, promoting controlled traffic systems, drip irrigation, or any other use where one needs to be able to come back to the exact same spot in the field. Benefits cited include significantly reduced driver fatigue, which is best understood after one drives a tractor for several consecutive hours. It offers cost savings over older technology, which can approach $50 per acre through reduced overlap on tillage passes. On a farm of 10,000 acres, that adds up to $500,000 annually.9
A second example is drone technology (unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV), which is making its appearance in many industries including real estate, military, distribution, search and rescue, and agricultural applications. UAVs equipped with a multispectral camera can survey crops to detect water and nutrition issues, insect infestations, and fungal infections. UAV technology is being introduced to capture aerial field views for soil-moisture information for more efficient (location and duration) watering applications. UAVs equipped with appropriate camera filters and ground positioning technology (global positioning system [GPS]) can detect nutrient deficiencies by providing an aerial field view. Overlaying this field view on a soil map can lead to the diagnosis of nutrient deficiencies (e.g., nitrogen or phosphorous) based upon crop coloration.10 The GPS can provide exact field coordinates so that the appropriate treatment can be applied to the corresponding area. This application can be applied during the growing season, promoting yields and avoiding losses. Historically, fertilizer applications are performed before or after the growing season.
UAV technology offers a significant improvement relative to the more common uses of doing it on foot or more expensive and time-consuming airplanes. Human sampling on foot or underground sensors lead to less reliable information, as sampled areas may not be representative of an entire field. UAV information can lead to more efficient fertilizer and water applications, which are particularly appealing for large-scale farms. UAV size, cost, and capabilities promote significant efficiencies, making UAVs useful for a wide range of jobs. One estimate suggests farmers can save $10 to $30 an acre in fertilizers and in related costs by examining the progress of crops while they are still in the ground.11
Automotive
Technology has been applied in the automotive industry for decades and this industry will continue to be a leading innovator and adopter of technology in the future. More than 30,000 people died on U.S. roadways in 2014 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA estimates that traffic crashes cost the economy $299.5 billion annually and that approximately 90 percent of crashes can be attributed to human error. Furthermore, it is estimated that Americans waste about three billion gallons of fuel annually due to congestion.12 These statistics suggest most will agree that safety and traffic congestion are significant issues facing automotive transportation.
One example of emerging technology in the automotive industry is being pursued by Denso, a large, international supplier of advanced technology, systems, and components. The particular innovation is referred to as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) technology. This technology allows vehicles to wirelessly exchange data with other equipped vehicles and roadway infrastructure.13
The Federal Communications Commission intends to allow the use of the 5.850 to 5.925 GHz band of radio frequency spectrum, which the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has set aside, for road safety and traffic management. This portion of the radio frequency spectrum is to be used for a variety of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) uses, including traffic light control, traffic monitoring, travelers’ alerts, automatic toll collection, traffic congestion detection, emergency vehicle signal preemption of traffic lights, and electronic inspection of moving trucks. DSRC technology data transmissions will use both onboard and nearby roadside transmission facilities. This is part of the national program of the U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Transportation System.
Denso’s DSRC system utilizes a two-way, short-range wireless communications technology. The more that vehicles are equipped with DSRC devices, the more effective the technology. When all cars have V2X, it creates a 360-degree situational awareness for each vehicle’s surroundings. The embedded computing device on each car can use information about nearby vehicles to calculate current and future positions. This can help predict hazardous situations and alert drivers of precautions to avoid crashes.
V2X technology can be used to give right-of-way to emergency vehicles. When an emergency vehicle is approaching, the technology will change the traffic light at intersections and alert surrounding vehicles to switch lanes.V2X can also support enhanced mobility and environmental responsibility. DSRC technology can provide red or green light timing advisories to in-vehicle systems to compute appropriate speeds for optimized fuel efficiency, reduced vehicle emissions, traffic flow to reduce congestion, and time-saving driving habits. This information-sharing technology has the potential to improve driving quality and save lives, reduce costs, and promote a cleaner environment.
Architecture, Construction, and Engineering
Late in 2011, construction on the 736-foot tall, 52-story Leadenhall Building in downtown London, England, began. This project required many innovative architectural, construction, and engineering (ACE) solutions and significant coordinated cooperation among its numerous stakeholders in order to meet its multiple tight constraints. First, it had an expected construction timetable of two years, which is extraordinarily short for a super skyscraper. Second, there was virtually no logistics support space at the construction location. The storage space for materials was approximately 10 feet wider than the building footprint because it was located immediately downtown in London. With no logistics support space, components and modules arrived during the late evening for consumption during that evening, as storage was not possible. This necessitated exacting component and module specifications to ensure that each could be slotted exactly into position upon arrival. Third, fabrication was not performed on site, which would have allowed for custom fitting as the limited logistic space prevented on-site material and equipment storage. Even a large-scale work force was not feasible, given space constraints. The building components and modules were fabricated off-site at several locations, some of which were hundreds of miles away, such as in Worksop, England, and Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. Some modules were nearly completely outfitted off-site with pipe work, electrics, plumbing, and floor plates and transported to the site again, necessitating exacting component specifications in the off-site fabrication because on-site storage was not possible. Fourth, the building had to adhere to rigorous downtown London planning regulations.
One example of the lean technology contribution is the three-dimensional (3D) modeling (simulation) that was employed. A comprehensive 3D model was created to facilitate construction objectives. This 3D model afforded several waste-eliminating benefits. First, it enabled multiple stakeholders to practice the assembly in a virtual manner. The participants ran the complete simulation to build the Leadenhall Building 37 times. The 3D practice afforded just-in-time delivery of the materials, preventing any violation of the logistics support constraint. These practice sessions ensured that the advance time slot for every delivery of each crane lift, beam, bolt, and cable fix met the rigorous construction timetable. It was estimated that the project would have been impossible to coordinate delivery and component installations with conventional 2D blueprints. Second, the 3D virtual simulation enabled participants to engage in the simulated practice, regardless of their physical location. Third, the asymmetric shape of the building led to the foundations settling differently. The 3D model enabled engineers to plan for settling differences and to provide an innovative solution of jacks and removable steel plate shims to adjust the lean of the building.
In the end, nearly 40,000 components were assembled on-site in under two years, which represents a European construction record for a building of this size. The 3D digital engineering model better enabled project feasibility as well as afforded the project stakeholders the ability to eliminate tremendous wastes typical of a super skyscraper.
By itself, engineering supports numerous industries beyond architecture and construction. Technology is having a noteworthy impact in numerous engineering and manufacturing applications outside of ACE. Rapid prototyping (RP) is one example. RP is a group of related engineering tools used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) data quicker, at lower cost, with tremendous ability to offer customization (flexibility), to exacting specifications (quality), and in small batch sizes, thereby eliminating the need for large volumes to achieve economies of scale.
RP has been applied in numerous applications including design visualization (e.g., in the 3D architectural model of the Leadenhall Building noted in the preceding text), CAD prototyping, metal casting (e.g., General Electric’s [GE’s] use of RP jet engine fabrication discussed in the text that follows), education, geospatial analysis, health care (e.g., fabrication of implants and prosthetic devices), entertainment (e.g., video games), and retail (e.g., eyeglass frames and shoe fabrication).
RP fabrication is typically performed using 3D printing or “additive layer manufacturing” technology. Historical manufacturing processes have employed subtractive methods such as milling, planing, and drilling. The RP process utilizes computer-generated 3D information that is exported to a 3D printer, which then builds up a scale model, layer by layer. The scale model is effectively materialized. One of the advantages of RP is that it allows a testable model to be quickly produced to determine proof of concept for a particular application. Generating a model quickly eliminates waste by determining applicability of an idea or part for its intended use. Additive layer manufacturing greatly reduces the waste incurred in subtractive methods by ensuring that only the material needed is used to fabricate the part.
GE notes that it has developed a fuel nozzle using RP for the Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion (LEAP) jet engine. GE utilizes a direct metal laser melting process enabling groundbreaking customization of multiple LEAP components. Essentially, parts are created directly from a CAD file using layers of fine metal powder and an electron beam or laser. GE claims that this part is up to 25 percent lighter, promoting fuel efficiency, five times more durable than its predecessor, and it is more complex than its counterparts by combining into 1 part what was assembled from as many as 18 parts in a multistep manufacturing process in the past, thereby reducing system throughput time.14
An example taken from the construction industry uses concrete printing, which employs highly controlled cement-based mortar extrusion process, which is precisely positioned according to computer data. The additive process has the ability to create custom-shaped construction components (e.g., a wall). The process has the potential to create architecture that is unique in form. Material components do not have to be made from solid material and so can use resources more efficiently than traditional techniques. For instance, allowances can be made for embedded conduits in components to directly accommodate utilities (e.g., electrical, plumbing, or telecommunications).
Additional reported benefits of RP include increasing effective communications (e.g., concurrent engineering) and reducing engineering design, development time, and error costs. RP enhances communications in part through its visualization capability. People tend to be visual learners. The extent to which representatives from functional disciplines such as engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and purchasing can see a rendered virtual model or hold a physical, 3D representation impacts their understanding of final outcomes.
RP has been reported to have the ability to reduce engineering and development time as well as to decrease error costs. RP allows modifications or corrections to be made early in the process when changes are less expensive to make. For instance, scale models can be used for testing (e.g., wind tunnel testing) as well as for tooling and casting purposes. The impact of technology in these additional engineering applications is enabling the benefits of lower costs, higher quality, faster orders response times, and enhanced transformation process flexibility.
Entertainment
Disney Entertainment has recently introduced experimental wearable technology (bracelets) that electronically link visitors to an encrypted big data collection and analysis system. The data collected allows for analysis to promote efficiencies through ride staffing adjustments, restaurant menus, and ride queue information. The wearable technology can also serve as admission tickets, hotel keys, and credit or debit cards. Disney reports that this system helped it accommodate 3,000 additional guests during the Christmas holiday season by reducing theme park congestion, which, it states, results in an enhanced visitor experience.15
Health Care
Technology is providing numerous health-related improvement opportunities in electronic health care. Two examples are attributable to the evolution of multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography technologies for medical imaging. These technologies have led to less invasive and more informative radiological diagnosis. These technologies promote enhanced higher image quality and therefore interpretive accuracy.16
Telecommunication capabilities, along with increased Internet bandwidth, are promoting tremendous growth in another field of medicine, clinical telemedicine. One estimate of the growth rate for this medical field is 18.5 percent annually at least until 2018.17 A 2012 report from Massachusetts-based market research firm, BCC Research estimates the global telemedicine market will grow from approximately $11.6 billion annually in 2011 to about $27.3 billion annually by 2016, which represents 135 percent growth over five years.
The growth rate of telemedicine can be attributable to numerous benefits, including improving access, especially for homebound people or those located in rural or remote locations, reducing the transmission of infectious diseases or parasites, better resource capacity utilization, shortening report turnaround times, as well as improving the satisfaction of both patients and health care providers.18 It goes without saying that the drivers for the growth of this health care technology are largely overall cost savings, speed, and flexibility, all as a result of productivity enhancements and waste reductions.
There are many specific examples of telemedicine. Some are conducted using asynchronous communication capabilities such as the transmission of electronic medical records and radiological reports and images. Some are conducted using synchronous communication capabilities over phone or mobile devices such as online video consultations. Other forms rely upon various alternative technological devices such as teleconferencing, robotic surgery, or remote monitoring.
There have been disadvantages cited for telemedicine as well. Included among these disadvantages are the costs of telecommunications equipment and medical personnel training, concerns over the protection of patient health information, potential for increased errors, possible decreased personal interactions, which may be more revealing than remote interactions, and others. Needless to say, these exist in the presence or absence of the technology.
Manufacturing, Warehousing, and Supply Chains
New technologies are continually being applied and enhancing lean capabilities in numerous ways in order to drive sustained improvement efforts in manufacturing, warehousing, and supply chains. Technological innovation is enabling timely and accurate information exchanges among multiple locations throughout in distributed supply chain networks.19 Examples of these innovative development investments include wireless network capabilities (e.g., bluetooth and wireless local area networks), auto identification technologies (e.g., radio frequency identification or RFID and bar coding), laser-guided vehicle technology, pallet shuttles, and cloud-based computing applications. These innovations offer numerous real-time supply chain benefits, including traceability, stock visibility, enhanced data accuracy and timeliness, reduced shrinkage, and real-time system monitoring.20
RFID technology enhances information visibility and traceability.21 RFID technology has become economically feasible for most firms. RFID system element (e.g., tags, readers, and antennae) costs vary, depending upon the application. RFID tag pricing is variable and based upon many factors such as purchase volumes, tag memory bits, tag packaging (e.g., whether it is encased in plastic or embedded in a label), its active or passive nature, and wave frequency. Passive RFID tags maybe cost as little as $0.07 to $0.15. Active tags may range from $20 to in excess of $100 as one chooses potential features such as protective housing, battery life, or sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.). Similarly, RFID reader cost is variable and based upon many factors, including active or passive nature and high or low frequency. Reader costs largely begin at $100 and go upward.
One important feature regarding RFID applications is reading range. Low wave frequency (LF) readers and tags have a shorter reading range (often less than 3 feet) and slower data transfer rate. Although LF systems may only read short distances, shorter-range capability does offer the advantage of reducing cross talk occurrences or the reading of an unintended tag at nearby upstream or downstream workstations instead of the intended target tag.
One example pilot implementation for a multiechelon clothing manufacturer integrated LF RFID and cloud technologies within an intelligent decision support system architecture for the monitoring and capture of real-time workstation production information.22 This information was used to assist the generation of optimal production schedules in a distributed manufacturing environment. Prior to the implementation, manual recordings were used to collect production information. This resulted in a significant time to read and analyze what were considered outdated and unreliable daily summary reports. Three reported benefits of the pilot implementation were observed. First, a 25 percent increase in production efficiency was achieved. This was attributed to greater visibility and transparency of production operations as well as the improved production-scheduling effectiveness. Second, a 12 percent reduction in production waste was achieved. The enhanced production transparency reduced overproduction, defects, and unnecessary inventories. Third, an 8 percent reduction in labor and system costs was achieved largely through the elimination of the need to input job tickets, the need for fewer computer servers due to the cloud-based approach, and lower installation and maintenance costs. Intangible benefits of more timely production reports, more effective production-scheduling performance, and faster throughput times were also observed.
Summary
It should be evident that the industries noted in the preceding subsections are but a small sample of the many pursuing the enabling advantages that technology offers. Technology applications might start out within a localized portion of a process or it might enable global supply chain trading partners to collaborate on design issues using a 3D virtual model while being located on different continents. The application scale of technological applications being adopted is quite varied. Regardless of the application scale, technology is enabling lean benefits including reduced costs, faster response times, higher quality, and greater flexibility, all through enhanced productivity and reduced waste. Technology represents an exciting frontier of lean.