Students from Laurea’s Service Design Project Partnered with the Warehouse of Suomen Terästekniikka Oy

In today’s society, efficient storage and material flow are critical to success. Our project tackled these challenges by focusing on cost-effective and time-saving solutions through lean manufacturing practices to enhance operational efficiency. In this post, we’ll explore why lean manufacturing is crucial, how we implemented it in a recent project, and the survey we conducted to empower employees to sustain these implementations. 

Why Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a philosophy focused on minimizing waste while maximizing value. By optimizing processes and eliminating inefficiencies, businesses can achieve significant cost and time savings. 

How is Lean Manufacturing Implemented?

The implementation process involved the following approaches: 

  • Planning: We identified areas of waste and proposed cost-effective storage management systems to optimize space and material flow. 
  • Knowledge base: We built a knowledge base on lean manufacturing to deepen our understanding of its principles. 
  • Warehouse Management System: We compared different WMS solutions to identify the most suitable option. 
  • Survey: We conducted a survey to explore how lean practices could be adapted to ensure smooth implementation. 
  • Lean manual: We developed a manual that includes the proposed WMS, employee survey results, knowledge base content, and other materials produced by the project team. 

Encouraging Employees Through Survey

One of the most critical steps in our project was conducting surveys with employees.  

  • Employees provided insights into operational challenges 
  • We gathered support and participation from employees to address these challenges. 
  • Feedback from employees helped us refine the implementation of lean practices. 

Talent adore. (n.d.). How giving feedback promotes growth. TalentAdore. https://talentadore.com/blog/feedback-promotes-growth  

What is Lean Manual?


To ensure long-term success, we developed a lean manufacturing manual tailored to the requirements and challenges of our client. The manual includes: 

  • Instructions for incorporating lean principles into daily operations. 
  • Diagrams to simplify complex concepts. 
  • Solutions to common challenges faced during implementation. 
  • Guidance for adapting lean practices effectively  

Conclusions

Lean manufacturing requires continuous improvement. Through employee involvement and actionable material flow strategies, organizations can achieve significant efficiencies in time and cost savings. Our project highlighted how lean principles can be implemented and embraced by employees.

Text: Naho Urabe

Picture: Talent adore. (n.d.). How giving feedback promotes growth. TalentAdore. https://talentadore.com/blog/feedback-promotes-growth  

Suurin osa Showcasen blogeista on toteutettu osana Laurean opintojaksoja. Koko koulutustarjontaamme voi tutustua nettisivuillamme. Tarjoamme kymmenien tutkintoon johtavien koulutuksien lisäksi myös paljon täydennys- ja erikoistumiskoulutuksia sekä yksittäisiä opintojaksoja avoimen AMK:n kautta!

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