For this article, we are going to take a different approach, stepping away from all the technical issues and procedures for a minute. We are going to discuss one of the most misunderstood things in the prototype mold sector.

We are going to talk about lean manufacturing, while producers in the west have largely ignored this manufacturing technique; those in the east have fully embraced it. Lean manufacturing is the way Japanese and Chinese manufacturers have stayed ahead of the curve by enduring the manufacturing cost is low but efficiency high. As you probably might have guessed lean manufacturing is all about having few people in the workspace.

Learning how to do more with less

The basic idea of lean manufacturing has to deal with a lot more than you could have expected. Lean manufacturing is closely related to -In-Time manufacturing process that was first introduced in Asia around ten years ago.

The logistics that go into lean manufacturing are quite extensive as manufacturing companies within the world in order to improve the quality of the product as well as minimizing the risks involved thus creating a robust and solid machine and method at the expense of realistic and minor inventory.

When western companies go to know about this rapid tooling technique, they instead laid-off their workforce which led to an oversupply of products in the supply chain. If lean manufacturing is unethically used, then the whole structure of the production process loses its relevance.

How does the process work (And how it doesn't)?

When it comes to industry standards, lean manufacturing provides an entirely different outlook. The logistics method associated with lean manufacturing saves a lot of money which will prove to be quite useful for the stability and longevity of your company.

Those planning on shifting to lean manufacturing, need to factor in one thing and that's technology. Lean manufacturing requires a modern tech to handle all the tasks with minimal human intervention.

You'll also need well-skilled and technical employees who know their roles and task. Having six technicians working a production cycle on a failing product using a bad prototype molding is the complete opposite of Lean.

The ultimate set-up for any production plant is its ability to set things in order making the entire manufacturing process self-sustainable. Lean manufacturing needs an in-depth market analysis and the type of parts and products that the firm can handle.

Lean manufacturing is quite simple and straightforward, that is if you have every component in place. You have to use the right tech as well as training your employees, it might seem like a tedious task when setting up but it will prove worthwhile in the future.

Final word

When it comes to lean manufacturing, there is minimal human input since most of the tasks are fully automated. The human aspect is just monitoring and control, having your whole manufacturing process completely autonomous will result in less breakdown and maintenance ensuring your business enjoys huge economies of scale.