Lean manufacturing or lean production, is a systemic method for the elimination of waste (‘Muda‘) within a manufacturing process. It was first implemented in Japan manufacturing, notably at Toyota.
ATW says that it has focused on investment and training with an ultimate goal of training 100 percent of employees on process control to reduce non-value-add activities. ATW teams are getting a deeper understanding of root cause analysis, problem solving, and making data-driven decisions, based on such metrics as first pass yield and on-time delivery.
Increased productivity
The company claims that productivity has increased considerably, with one subsidiary cutting production time in half for a part central to their business model.
‘As we looked at our performance, we felt we could make changes that would in turn transform our customers’ ability to take market share,’ said Peter Frost, president and CEO of ATW Companies. ‘Our customers’ needs are changing, with an ever-growing emphasis on producing products faster, cheaper, and better.’
