Lean Cells: Cellular Manufacturing and Office Workcells

Opex Minute 27: Lean Cellular Approach. What is Cellular Manufacturing? What are Lean Work Cells? Presented by EMS Consulting Group, Inc.:
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Welcome to today’s edition of the OpEx Minute, presented by EMS Consulting Group. Today we will be talking about the Lean Concept of Cells. Whether we are talking about cellular manufacturing or office workcells, the cell concept is important to operational excellence. So, what is it all about?
A cell is an arrangement of people, machines, materials, and methods with the processing steps placed right next to each other in sequential order, through which work is processed using a continuous flow / 1 piece flow or FIFO flow with a small amount of Standard WIP (SWIP) in between steps.
The thinking behind the creation of the cell concept was that much waste can be avoided by moving from a functional layout or departmental approach to a cellular approach. Let’s show you .
In a functional or departmental layout, the work flows from one department to another in large batches. This creates overproduction, excess inventory, more transportation than necessary, defects being detected later in the process and affecting more units of work, and more issues.
Using a cellular approach, we have:
Reduced Work In Progress with shorter distance traveled/smaller batches
Reduced defects with immediate feedback
a product-focused team environment to meet customer demands
This same cellular approach we use regularly in manufacturing environments can be translated to the office. Having cross-functional teams work in cells reduces the same types of waste. While true 1 X 1 or continuous flow production is not typically possibly in an office environment between stations in an office cell, we can use FIFO or First-In-First-Out flow where work can be managed visually.
If you have an interest in learning more about cellular manufacturing and workcells, visit our website at www.emsstrategies.com and contact us. We would be happy to help.