Question

Why is it that reducing the number of moves, delays, and storage in a manufacturing process is a good thing? Can these items be permanently eliminated? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Reducing the number of required moves, delays, as well as storage factor in a manufacturing process, is a good thing while we are taking into account the concept of lean manufacturing. This implies that while we reduce all the limiting factors which are unnecessary for the system to achieve its maximum potential, we are causing an increase in the process itself this is caused due to the introduction of reduction as a factor in the equation. This is why reducing these factors for any manufacturing process is a good thing for any business.

No, these factors cannot be permanently eliminated. No matter how good an algorithm we have designed in order to be able to effectively predict the patterns, requirements as well as any other deciding factor, there will always be some degree of variance that cannot be included in the actual calculation, is not considered an important factor at the time but becomes apparent when we remove the other factors that are working as a bottleneck for the situation as well as due to the inherent randomness in our ability to predict the behaviour due to unforeseeable circumstances. This, in turn, means that no matter the plan of action, data or the execution. There is a chance that there will be some amount of shortcoming that could be caused due to n number of circumstances and therefore, need to be dealt with as they appear and cannot be eliminated as such.