Lean Principles and Applications - Essay Example

Principles of lean evolved in the above context. “LEAN IS… A mindset, or way of thinking, with a commitment to achieve a totally waste-free operation that’s focused on your customer’s success….” (Principles of Lean Thinking, 2004, p.2). Lean principles can be illustrated as follows: (Principles Of Lean, 2009) Wrap-it Company manufactures and distributes plastic wrapping machines for industrial use, selling them within the UK and the near continent. Automatic stretch wrappers, shrink wrap tunnels and straddle wrappers are some of the wrapping materials produced by Wrap-it Company.

Value identification is the first step of implementing lean principles in an organization. Value identification process should “Specify value from the standpoint to the end customer by product family” (Principles Of Lean, 2009). There is no point in packing certain materials in good condition at the packing units if the packing fails during transit or while reaching the customer. The risks involved during transit should be reduced as much as possible which is the duty of an effective plastic wrapping system.

If stretch wrapping fails to contain a load during transit, sustainability gains in primary packaging are instantly wiped out. Loads get to their destination with less risk – looking better than ever – with less tweaking and hassle – with up to 30% less film – and at an overall lower net cost (lantech.com, 2012 ) It should be noted that accumulation of plastic is causing huge problems to the environment. Under such circumstances, it is the duty of Wrap-it Company to produce only environmental friendly or biodegradable plastic wrapping materials as part of value creation in the market.

Current consumers are giving more importance to socially committed companies and hence environmental friendly plastic wrapping material production may definitely increase the reputation of the company in the market. In short wrap it management should think in terms of restructuring the whole operations inside the company to increase the value of the company in domestic and international market. Mapping of the value stream is the second step in implementing lean principles. Plenty of unnecessary processes and operations are going on in most of the organizations like Wrap-it Company.

Processes which brought enormous value in the past would be useless at present because of the advancements in technology and changes in the business world. For example, the entry of computers brought huge changes in the organizational world. There are plenty of organizations which keep typewriters even now. Same way, many organizations have the habit of relying on less efficient manual work when more efficient machineries are available for certain jobs. It is necessary for Warp it Company to “Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family, eliminating whenever possible those steps that do not create value” (Principles Of Lean, 2009).

Creating flow is the third step in implementing lean principles. Value creation should be done in all departments simultaneously so that the end product will flow smoothly towards the customer or destination. It should be noted that plenty of departments were involved in the production and delivery of certain goods. If any of the departments involved in the production and delivery system fails to operate properly, value created at the top level may not flow properly towards the bottom level. Imagine a company is producing high quality goods.

If these products