The recent increase in the repo rate has seen some sectors of the economy and consumers feeling the pinch. However, it is arguable to say the nadir in rate cuts had been reached and it was somewhat expected that an increase was imminent.

The fluctuating currency and the relentless increase in fuel prices have also not made the playing field any smoother. Any increase in the cost of running a business always requires ingenuity and adaptability. Factors such as an increase in the fuel price or solidity (or lack thereof) of a currency are issues that a business cannot necessarily have control over.

It is thus proactive for any business to hone in on areas where they can at least exercise some degree of control and that is simply their operations and best practices. For instance, within the manufacturing sector Lean Management principles can improve productivity within an enterprise. In its simplest form Lean Management is principle that advocates the creation of value with less work. Basically it means working smarter but not necessarily harder.

I look at some of the principles, application and outcomes. Lean principles in maintenance Can a manufacturing operation truly be "lean" without applying lean strategies to equipment maintenance? Experts answer that question with a resounding "no." In the book, Lean Maintenance: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality and Increase Market Share, authors Ricky Smith and Bruce Hawkins assert that manufacturers cannot achieve the maximum benefits of lean manufacturing without applying it to maintenance operations.

Through observation at plants, maintenance personnel often are the last to know about lean initiatives, and in some plants they actually end up moving equipment and without necessarily having a specific goal or outcome. "We find that overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) rates typically over around 50% or lower and maintenance departments are stuck in what we call the ‘breakdown mode’." Formal definitions of lean characterise the philosophy "as the elimination of all wasteful activities within a value stream. The maintenance value stream includes the job card, job planning, coordination, scheduling, execution and communications. There are a number of lean strategies that, when applied to maintenance processes, can remove waste – and improve OEE rates and other metrics such as safety, quality and productivity.

Those lean tools include: 5-S: The 5-S process is a way to remove clutter and organise the workplace so that what is needed to do a job is near at hand. While 5-S originally was not intended to be applied to maintenance the methodology has been transposed into maintenance because the things that make it valuable in production are the same things that make it valuable in maintenance. Kaizen projects: A kaizen project is a short-term, team-based lean effort focused on improving a specific process or area. Kaizen projects can be applied to a process like machine changeover. What happens is observations are done to identify what should standardise time be looking at many aspects to save time (eliminate waste such as searching for tools).

The teams then try to apply practical solutions to reduce or eliminate both the internal and external setup steps. It is not about throwing money at the problem by purchasing new equipment or applying cycle-time reduction tools such as a single-minute exchange of die (SMED). Value-stream mapping: It is a tool to evaluate the current work process flows for non-value-adding activities such as redundant steps, wasted effort and unnecessary queues.

The process involves removing all non-value-adding activities and creating a "future-state" process. Typically the maintenance function starts at receiving a request and ends at closing the work out and making sure the equipment history is documented. Labelling all equipment with an equipment identification number and implementing an effective management of change process. Through a systematic implementation of such principles, companies can streamline operations.

By: Bongani Coka –  CEO of Productivity SA

This article was originally published on the Productivity SA website