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JobshopLean 2005 Conference Proceedings (CD-ROM)
Shahrukh A. Irani
Department of Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering
The Ohio State University
210 Baker Systems Engineering
1971 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
The essence of Lean Thinking is the identification and elimination of waste in any and all administrative and manufacturing
processes in any production system. Waste is defined as those elements of the system (including design features and components
of the final product) which do not provide value to the customer. Value is defined as anything that the customer is willing to
pay for. The customer is defined as the entity that monetarily pays for the final product (which would include those that wholesale
and distribute your products, but does not include internal customers, management, or other stakeholders in the production system).
A jobshop, like any other manufacturing facility, contains waste in its administrative and manufacturing processes, and therefore
provides numerous opportunities to eliminate those wastes. Waste elimination is an immediate, often simple, strategy for any business
organization to cut operating costs and improve profit margins. But, a jobshop is unlike the assembly facility of any OEM like Toyota,
Ford, Maytag, Alcoa, Boeing (or their top-tier suppliers). It requires a distinct order and application of the appropriate Lean Tools
in order to address specific opportunities which exist with respect to that industry, the internal culture of each organization, etc.
Jobshop Lean (JSLEAN) provides concepts, tools and implementation strategies to map, reduce and manage the deployment of Lean Thinking
in jobshops, specifically jobshops where monuments, batch-manufacturing processes, variable demand, and small lot sizes nullify many of
the standard best practices of "Toyota Lean".
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