Lean manufacturing used to be the buzzword a few years back for manufacturing professionals (which is now replaced by digitalisation, IIoT, etc). Lean manufacturing aims at minimising waste and reducing costs through automation and continuous improvements in operational efficiency. It relies on integrated technological systems, smaller workforces of highly trained employees and a radical shift in company culture, where each of these elements can present distinct challenges that must be overcome to achieve a truly efficient lean manufacturing system. Moreover, its implementation in complex, asset-intensive environments poses some other challenges, where there are thousands of products and dozens of work centres, that display significantly more process and demand variability than the traditional high-volume environment. Besides, the focus has been shifted from producing a quality product at low cost to building products exactly the way customer wants it and deliver it quickly.
