Reflection on Business Policy for Lean Management in Manufacturing

This report reflects on the application of lean management principles within the Climate Systems Division (CLS) plant, focusing on its impact on quality improvement, lead time reduction, customer service, and profit enhancement. The assignment analyzes the plant's value stream culture, emphasizing entrepreneurialism, lean continuous improvement, and autonomy. It explores the importance of visual management, value stream mapping, and annual goal setting. The report identifies the benefits of value stream culture, including cross-functional team alignment and process improvement. The student utilizes scholarly articles and books to support the analysis, demonstrating how lean principles are implemented in manufacturing or service systems to reduce waste and increase efficiency, ultimately leading to better organizational performance. The report highlights the importance of lean culture and leadership in driving organizational change and adapting to business growth and seasonality challenges.

Running head: REFLECTION
Reflection on the Business Policy for Lean Management in a Manufacturing or Service
System
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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REFLECTION
The assignment of case study, Climate Systems Division plant was being completed
after understanding that Aeroquip Vickers Inc. was the parent organization that has made the
plant of Climate Systems Division or CLS for the core purpose of creating a value stream
culture that is being centred on entrepreneurialism, lean continuous improvement and
autonomy. Different components of lean management are being mixed to consider both
mortar and machinery. The plant was being referred to as a vital plant within North America,
after consideration of 5 years of quality increase, reduction of lead time, excellent customer
services as well as profit improvement. There exists lean culture in this particular
organization to determine the inventory of the plant for any particular procedure and also
ensure that it is being constantly decreased as per requirement. As a result, it was being
observed that it was quite efficient and effective in reducing any type of downstream
variation in demand and even increasing the capability and stability of the upstream
procedure in the plant.
It is required to understand the entire procedure of lean effectiveness for lean
implementation in this case study of CLS, which could lead to four significant aspects, which
include quality increase, reduction of lead time, effective customer services and finally profit
improvement. For describing these four aspects of lean management, 8 scholarly articles and
books, i.e. two of each aspect are being utilized for providing a detailed description of these
aspects with relevant description. Lean management is a technique, which is required to
reduce the procedural wastes and even increase the values of various products or services.
The several concepts for total quality management, work place redesigning, total productive
maintenance and flow charts are being considered for this plant. It even concerns to deliver
proper value to different customers and different tools to be implemented by the entire system
of lean management to link customer values to respective organizational processes and
people.

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REFLECTION
Moreover, there are five distinct principles of lean, required in the CLS plant that are
identification of values, value stream mapping, flow creation, customer pull establishment
and also finally seeking perfection. The main stakeholders of lean management are
customers, organizations and employees and it is needed to ensure that the customers get
utmost satisfaction from the products of the respective company. In the case study of CLS, it
is being observed that the organization has maintained a proper lean culture, based on high
flexibility and creativity. Furthermore, the entire concept of visual management for visually
communicating several performances, standards as well as expectations properly, so that
interpretation is being considered on top priority is being taken into consideration. Six
distinct categories and four benefits of visual management were being identified for making
the plant a successful one after utilization of all types of visual controls to prevent any kind of
error occurrence.
Eight scholarly articles are being utilized for the four identified advantages of visual
management, which include providing a chance to check or correct issues, providing a chance
for checking any type of non compliance in the standards, providing safe and secured
working environment and finally visible as well as accurate critical path. Moreover, to
complete the assignment, it was also required to understand the concept of value stream
culture, after focusing on entrepreneurialism, lean continuous improvement and autonomy.
The value stream mapping is the core technique for lean manufacturing to complete analysis,
designing and even management of material flow to understand the information, which is
required to bring any specific product or service to the customer. Nallusamy et al., (2015),
has described about the utilization of value stream mapping to improve the process, where
few repeating steps are present and could even provide the highest benefits to this particular
plant of CLS. It also uses a specific system to standardized symbols to depict numerous work
streams and information flows.

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REFLECTION
It is also observed that the company has been following the culture of value stream in
the business and hence it becomes quite easy to reduce waste for better improvement of the
entire organizational bottom line that is associated to the manufacturing system. The wasteful
handoffs were being successfully identified as the main parts of value stream mapping
visualizers for effective analyses of understanding the perspectives of the customers.
Moreover, it was also needed to learn about the annual goal setting, which initiated at the
corporate level and can be cascaded down to the plant for ensuring that the people are
eventually utilizing proper implementation of strategies. With the help of Borges Lopes,
Freitas and Sousa (2015), it was easier to understand about value stream mapping
successfully and without much complexity. Furthermore, the personal performance plans are
required to be created with the team members of CLS plant, based on value stream project
works and goals; hence entrepreneurialism is being encouraged majorly.
Four distinct benefits that are being gained through the culture of value stream were
identified for this particular plant. The first significant benefit, identified in this process was
successful alignment of the cross functional teams. Moreover, few other benefits, such as
ensuring process improvement, inexpensive and fairly easier in usage and identification of
the bottlenecks or constraints were also being identified. As a result, it was required to
understand the requirement of such culture easily and promptly for this particular plant. The
final part of the assignment is related to lean culture for the respective CLS plant. They have
maintained a proper lean culture after properly eliminating the waste. It is extremely
important and significant and would provide higher commitment from the organizational
management.
The organization has got success by involving lean culture and the core capability for
responding towards demand is considered for this purpose. Furthermore, the combination of
business growth and seasonality for work life has increasingly become hectic and could also

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REFLECTION
lead to firefighting for this organization and hence is needed to be considered on top priority.
Four distinct ways the company has used leadership for bringing major changes in the
business are also mentioned for ensuring proper restructuring and reorganization of the plant.
References
Borges Lopes, R., Freitas, F., & Sousa, I. (2015). Application of lean manufacturing tools in
the food and beverage industries. Journal of technology management &
innovation, 10(3), 120-130.
Nallusamy, S., Dinagaraj, G. B., Balakannan, K., & Satheesh, S. (2015). Sustainable green
lean manufacturing practices in small scale industries-A case study. International
Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 10(62), 143-146.