Pursuing Perfection: Case Studies Examining Lean Manufacturing Strategies, Pollution Prevention, and Environmental Regulatory Management Implications pdf

Pursuing Perfection: Case Studies Examining Lean Manufacturing Strategies, Pollution Prevention, and Environmental Regulatory Management Implications A ugust 20, 2000 ACKNOW LEDGMENTS This report was prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting , Ltd. under contract to Industrial Economics, Inc. (U.S. EPA Contract # 68- W 50012). DI SCLAIMER The B oeing Company has conducted a thorough review of, and submitted approval on, the content of the Everet t and Auburn case studies included in Attachment A and Attachment B of this report, respectively. However, the findings art iculated i n the main body of this report represent Ross & Associates’ inte rpretation of the B oeing case studies and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Boeing Compa ny. T able of Contents Executive Summary I. Introduction 1 A. Purpose 1 B. Case Study Activities 1 C. What is Lean Manufacturing? 2 D. Why Lean Manufacturing? 3 E. How Do Companies Engage in Lean Manufacturing? 4 II. Introduction to the Boeing Case Study Findings 8 III. Findings 10 Finding 1: Lean Manufacturing is Mainstream 10 Finding 2: Lean Produces Significant Resource Productivity Improvements with Important Environmental Improvement and Sustainability Implications 11 Finding 3: Lean Produces a Robust Waste Elimination Culture 14 Finding 4: Lean Thinking Brings Powerful Financial Incentives to Resource Conservation and Pollution Prevention Improvement 15 Finding 5: Environmentally Sensitive Processes are Difficult to Lean 17 IV. Implications 20 Appendix A: Boeing Everett Appendix B: Boeing Auburn Machine Fabrication Appendix C: Lean Terms and Definitions Executive Sum mary Background In working with regulated industries over the past eight years, many EPA regulatory reinvention initiatives have recognized an emerging and very real redefinition of the manufacturing landscape. Largely, this movement has arisen in the context of today’s increasingly competitive “immediate” global market, requiring companies to conceive and deliver products faster, at lower cost, and of better quality than their competitors. Lean manufacturing is a leading manufacturing paradigm of this fast-paced market economy, with a fundamental focus on the systematic elimination of waste that holds the potential to produce meaningful environmental results. Realizing that this waste-focused paradigm shift held the potential to create positive environmental outcomes, EPA authorized this study of Corporate Environmental Management and Compliance, designed to analyze corporate business strategies and environmental management approaches and to assess the presence of waste elimination patterns similar to those observed in previous reinvention efforts. This project entailed the analysis of five “assembly” case studies and two “metal fabrication” case studies at the Boeing Company, an enterprise that has adopted, and is in the process of implementing, Lean Manufacturing principles. The case studies describe various Lean efforts at Boeing’s Auburn Machine Fabrication Shop and its Everett airplane assembly plant, and demonstrate how Boeing implements and utilizes Lean strategies in its manufacturing settings. The case studies also describe various resource productivity gains associated with the identified Lean activities, and several obstacles encountered by the Company in its efforts to implement specific Lean projects. What Is Lean Manufacturing? In its most basic form, Lean Manufacturing is the systematic elimination of waste by focusing on production costs, product quality and delivery, and worker involvement. In the 1950s, Taiichi Ohno, developer of the Toyota “just-in-time” Production System, created the modern intellectual and cultural framework for Lean Manufacturing and waste elimination. Ohno defined waste as “any human activity which absorbs resources but creates no value.” Largely, Lean Manufacturing represents a fundamental paradigm shift from traditional “batch and queue” mass production to production systems based on product aligned “single-piece flow, pull production.” Whereas “batch and queue” involves mass-production of large inventories of products in advance based on potential or predicted customer demands, a “single-piece flow” system rearranges production activities in a way that processing steps of different types are conducted immediately adjacent to each other in a continuous and single piece flow. If implemented properly, a shift in demand can be accommodated immediately, without the loss of inventory stockpiles associated with traditional batch-and-queue manufacturing. While Japanese manufacturers embraced Lean as their biggest hope in recovering effectively from a war- torn economy in the 1950's, today companies embrace Lean Manufacturing for three fundamental reasons. First, the highly competitive, globalized market of today requires that companies lower costs to increase margins and/or decrease prices through the elimination of all non-value added aspects of the enterprise. Second, meeting rapidly changing customer “just-in-time” demands through rapid product mix changes and increases in manufacturing velocity in this manufacturing age is key. Finally, goods must be of high and consistent quality. Lean manufacturing facilitates these three goals. Boeing Case Study Findings The Boeing case studies provide an interesting window into the dramatic shift in manufacturing paradigms taking place in response to the highly competitive market of the 21st century. Like many companies today, Boeing has placed Lean Manufacturing in the forefront of its efforts to eliminate continually all non-value added aspects of the enterprise and ensure optimal competitiveness. Lean strategies utilized at Boeing have reduced the amount of energy, raw materials, and non-product output associated with its manufacturing processes, and many of these reductions can be translated into important environmental improvements. In fact, Boeing’s approach to Lean implementation resembles and significantly expands the pollution prevention cultural elements long advocated by public environmental management agencies. Importantly, the waste elimination culture at Boeing is largely grounded in powerful financial incentives to resource conservation, potentially creating greater likelihood that improvements will occur. At times, however, improvements are not possible or fully realized, particularly those involving changes to “environmentally sensitive” manufacturing processes. More specifically, a detailed analysis of these Lean Manufacturing case studies (along with supplemental research and review of the literature surrounding corporate environmental strategies, resource productivity and environmental improvement, and pertinent regulatory interactions) revealed the following findings: • Le an Man ufacturing is Mainstream. Substantial research and literature exists indicating that American industries are actively implementing Lean Manufacturing as a key strategy for remaining competitive in today’s manufacturing environment, and implementation of this manufacturing paradigm shift is taking place across numerous industrial and source sectors. Similarly, the Boeing Company began implementing Lean Manufacturing throughout the Commercial Airplanes Division in February 1996: upon realizing early successes in the endeavor, “leaning” efforts at Boeing have been expanded to the entire company. Boeing’s substantial investment in Lean reflects its belief that the strategy plays a critical role in the company’s efforts to provide customer responsiveness, reduce costs, and systematically improve operational performance on a continual basis. • Le an P roduces Significant Resource Productivity Improvements with Important E nvironmental Im provement and Sustainability Implications. Through the adoption of a combination of Lean strategies (identifying and retooling the value chain, adopting product-aligned, cross-functional manufacturing, designing for manufacturability, and taking a “whole system view”), Boeing has substantially reduced the amount of energy, raw materials, and non-product output associated with its manufacturing processes. Overall, Boeing has realized resource productivity improvements ranging from 30 to 70 percent when Lean initiatives are implemented, and continues to improve on its overall efficiency and pollution output per unit of production. Results such as these have led many, including Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins in their recent book, Natural Capitalism , to advocate Lean as a strategy that can improve substantially the resource productivity of the economy, and reduce the ecological footprint of our country’s economic activity. • Le an P roduces a Robust Waste Elimination Culture. During the 1980s and 90s, Public Environmental Management agencies have looked to promote pollution prevention through such means as technical assistance, pollution prevention assessment guidance, and pollution prevention planning requirements. Looking across these initiatives, a common theme emerges: to make sustained pollution prevention progress that moves beyond the “low hanging fruit,” a company must create a waste elimination culture. Common elements of such a culture, as identified in agency pollution prevention guidance include: systemic and on-going evaluation of waste that is embraced and implemented by operations personnel; substantial engagement of employees, suppliers, and customers; development and utilization of pollution prevention measures; and a systemic approach to continual improvement. At Boeing, the drive to Lean Manufacturing processes produces (and in fact requires for its success) a highly robust waste elimination culture. The case studies reveal that Boeing employees are making aggressive changes throughout the factory, and accomplishing significant environmental improvements, that are fundamentally similar to those advocated by environmental agency pollution prevention staff. At Boeing, operations personnel run the Lean initiatives. These initiatives begin with a systemic evaluation of waste throughout the entire product value chain, actively engage employees on an on-going basis, depend on and reflect close coordination with customers and suppliers, and develop, track, and publicly display performance metrics. Importantly, these initiatives are also embedded in a continual improvement system that reflects a commitment to “pursue perfection”and the belief that improvements and change are never complete. These Lean “cultural attributes” are highly apparent at the Auburn and Everett facilities. • L e an Thinking Brings Powerful Financial Incentives to Resource Conservation and Pollution P revention Im provement. Pollution prevention adherents often advocate a “pollution prevention pays” theme to promote more sustainable production behavior. As well, pollution prevention guidance encourages facilities to examine the total costs of polluting behavior to ensure investment decisions are fairly and completely evaluated. This “Total Cost Assessment” approach, according to advocates, can produce a strong business case (e.g., a return on investment commensurate with internal hurdle rate requirements) for pollution prevention. From a financial decision making standpoint, Lean brings to the resource conservation financial equation very powerful cost drivers that move well beyond materials efficiency and avoided regulatory and liability costs. To reduce flow days, for example, Boeing has deployed a web of Lean strategies designed to create a single piece flow, pull production system that delivers optimal first delivered unit quality. The financial and customer responsiveness associated with flow day reductions have made the business case for Boeing, while the Lean strategies to obtain flow day reductions produced the resource productivity improvements so important to the environment. The resource productivity improvements produced ancillary, but not determinative, financial benefits. In fact, in most cases, the financial benefits of resource productivity improvements were not even calculated by Boeing because they were deemed financially insignificant. • E nvironmentally S ensitive Processes are Difficult to Lean. The meaningful resource productivity improvements seen with Lean Manufacturing can not always occur due to challenging implementation barriers. Perhaps the most stunning finding from the case studies has been Boeing’s almost complete inability to apply Lean strategies to environmentally sensitive processes. Operations such as painting, chemical treatment, and drying have proved highly difficult to Lean, and remain at Boeing, for the most part, in their less efficient “batch and queue” functional department configuration. These difficulties result largely from a complex array of technical and regulatory constraints, including lack of necessary process technology, the sometimes prescriptive nature of certain regulations, and the potential uncertainty associated with approving innovative process approaches under such regulations. These factors, when examined at the design phase of a variety of Boeing’s Lean initiatives, were deemed to affect adversely the implementation time, predictability of outcomes, and/or overall cost of the initiatives, often causing Boeing to modify substantially or abandon entirely the effort. Importantly, whereas Boeing has seen improvements ranging from 30 to 70 percent when Lean initiatives are implemented, painting, chemical treatment/testing, and drying processes (the processes, from an environmental standpoint, that would be the most desirable to improve) have not experienced commensurate gains, and represent a potentially significant environmental improvement opportunity foregone. Implications for Environmental Management Agencies The findings from these case studies hold important implications for environmental (and other public/worker health) management agencies. In particular, Lean’s strong association with resource productivity enhancements contrasted with Boeing’s almost complete inability to Lean environmentally sensitive processes creates an opportunity for agencies to examine opportunities that can both improve company competitiveness and environmental improvement. In particular, there are three areas where agency action could make a substantial difference: • To facilitate a company’s Lean conversion process (from a batch and queue function to product aligned, single piece-flow manufacturing) the case studies point to three critical needs: increased regulatory agency receptivity to innovative process change (in particular, the ability to accommodate small scale, flexible, and potentially mobile processes); enhanced regulatory predictability to the likely regulatory constraints such equipment will operate under; and timely (preferably real time) responses to construction and modification actions. • After the basic Lean conversion takes place, Lean’s continual improvement culture means that modifications to material inputs, product outputs, non-product outputs, equipment, equipment configurations, and operating parameters are likely to be the norm, and result in a manufacturing environment subject to constant, on-going change. In this environment, even minimal regulatory delay holds the potential to erode quickly a process improvement’s financial return, which, in turn, could result in foregoing the resource productivity enhancements associated with the change. In other words, the business case for Lean initiatives is highly sensitive to implementation time frames. Thus, regulatory agencies have a new challenge to keep timely pace with these changes while ensuring enforceability and environmental protectiveness. • Lean holds the potential to invigorate pollution prevention promotional efforts through important and substantial resource productivity financial drivers that are imbedded in a system driven by and dedicated to the elimination of all forms of waste. Lean thinking also utilizes the language of business and operations, so it is readily accepted by those individuals most connected to the fundamental operations (and operational choices and directions) of the company. Lean thus holds the potential to invigorate pollution prevention promotional efforts that can be even more broadly diffused if environmental agencies’ pollution prevention efforts recognize and choose to advocate this concept to companies. Conclusion Although based on a limited set of examples, the Boeing case studies suggest that, while Lean thinking is redefining the manufacturing landscape and the way production activities take place on the factory floor, the regulatory system which grew up and evolved regulating a batch and queue, mass production environment continues to be structured and operate with batch and queue processes in mind and operate itself as a batch and queue enterprise. To the extent that Boeing’s experience provides a window into the larger world of American production activities, these case studies can provide an opportunity for environmental regulatory agencies, through responsiveness to Lean initiatives, to create a substantial competitiveness and environmental “win – win” outcome. Assisting to eliminate the barriers to full implementation of Lean, creating the opportunity for Lean thinking to retool environmentally sensitive processes, and aggressively promoting the adoption of Lean thinking holds the potential to support American industry in its efforts to compete globally, make important advances in pollution prevention, and move us more swiftly along the road to a more sustainable form of capitalism. I. Introduction A. Purpo se Over the past several years U.S. EPA’s Office of Reinvention has been involved in a number of “regulatory responsiveness” initiatives. These include the Common Sense Initiative, Project XL, and Pollution Prevention in Permitting Program (P4). In working with a variety of businesses in the context of these initiatives, certain project participants noted that corporate manufacturing strategies and initiatives often produced substantial resource productivity enhancements (that translate directly into improved environmental performance). At the same time, the responsiveness and continuous improvement aspects of these strategies were driving on-going modifications to operating equipment and operating parameters that could be subject to new environmental permitting and/or modifications to existing permits. This meant that desired changes could be subject to regulatory bottlenecks (in terms of time, uncertainty, and administrative costs) that could constrain responsiveness, continuous improvement, and, ultimately resource productivity gains. This raised the question, “is the environmental regulatory system working at cross purposes with environmentally beneficial manufacturing strategies?” Realizing the significant potential for achieving environmental results through enhanced resource efficiencies, EPA authorized a study of Corporate Environmental Management and Compliance. This study was designed to analyze company’s business strategies and environmental management approaches, and assess the presence of needs and strategy patterns similar to those witnessed in previous reinvention efforts. Early in this project “Lean Manufacturing” was identified as a primary manufacturing strategy often utilized by today’s competitive industries. Because of Lean Manufacturing’s increasing prevalence in factories, and its potential for producing environmental enhancement through resource productivity, the study focused exclusively on this strategy. The goal of the project is to help environmental regulators better understand the resource productivity aspects of Lean Manufacturing, and to help public agencies consider environmental management implementation in light of the operational requirements of Lean initiatives in the hope that both significant production and environmental benefits result. B. Case Study Activities This project entailed the analysis of five “assembly” case studies and two “metal fabrication” case studies at the Boeing Company, an enterprise that has adopted, and is in the process of implementing, Lean Manufacturing principles. The metal fabrication (Auburn, Washington facility) case studies research included up-front meetings with Boeing Operations staff and Safety, Health, and Environmental Affairs (SHEA) Division. These meetings were followed by a guided tour and detailed explanation of two Lean Manufacturing efforts conducted by Boeing Operations staff in Auburn. The five assembly (Everett, Washington facility) case studies also began with up-front conferences with Operations, SHEA, and Lean Manufacturing staff, followed by tours of the areas within the facility where the Lean case studies were implemented (or, were proposed for implementation). All Boeing staff involved in the project tours reviewed all case study documentation for accuracy. In addition to direct involvement with the Boeing Company and its Lean endeavors, background research was conducted to understand better the history of Lean Manufacturing as a production strategy and the breadth of Lean Manufacturing adoption across the country. Finally, research involved a review of the literature surrounding corporate motivation for environmental improvement more broadly as well as the resulting regulatory interactions and impacts. C . What is Lean Manufacturing? In its most basic form, Lean Manufacturing is the systematic elimination of waste by focusing on production costs, product quality and delivery, and worker involvement. It is defined, in its modern form, by the Toyota Manufacturing system invented by Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno in the 1950's. While “waste” has always been thought of as an undesirable by-product of most factory production systems, many have also considered this an inevitable “end-of-pipe” control expense on the corporate balance sheet. Henry Ford was one of the first to realize that waste also represents inefficient (and more costly) production processes. Although seeming abundant resources at this time in history prevented a resource conservation mentality specifically, Henry Ford was obsessed with reducing the amount of resources wasted in his automobile manufacturing processes. As a result, Ford mandated the use of every possible bit of raw material, minimizing packaging, and material re-use. Reduced production time through the first moving assembly lines and development of products with interchangeable parts was also the result of Ford’s obsession for maximum production efficiency. 1 What Ford lacked, however, was a necessary responsiveness to ever changing consumer demands. His production systems meant that he could not produce variety in his automobiles. By the end of the 1920's, therefore, competitors more oriented toward customer demands (and less towards efficiency) dominated the automobile market, and Ford’s manufacturing strategies were lost. 2 Japanese manufacturers recovering from World War II were next to catch on to Ford’s ideals. In 1950, W. Edwards Deming pitched system- wide quality improvement concepts to Japanese managers. Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno then exploded these concepts by creating the Toyota “just-in-time” Production System which, like Henry Ford’s system, was rooted in a complete understanding of quality improvement and the sources of waste. 3 It is Ohno who created the modern intellectual and cultural framework for eliminating waste, defining it as “any human activity which absorbs resources but creates no value.” 4 The success of Japanese manufacturing finally caught on again in America, due largely to the works of 1 Romm, Joseph. Lean and Clean Management: How to Boost Profits and Productivity by Reducing Pollution. Kodansha America, Inc., 1994, page 18. 2 Romm, page 21. 3 Romm, page 22. 4 Quoted in: Hawken, Paul; Lovins, Amory; and Lovins, L. Hunter. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Little, Brown, & Co: Boston. 2 [...]... the Boeing case studies, along with supplemental research and review of the literature surrounding corporate environmental strategies, resource productivity and environmental improvement, and pertinent regulatory interactions The findings represent Ross & Associates’ interpretation of the Boeing case studies and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Boeing Company Finding 1: Lean Manufacturing. .. as double and triple handling of goods and needless movement of information Unsafe acts: Eliminate dirty, dumb and dangerous acts Some of the results of Boeing’s Lean efforts to eliminate these, and other, forms of waste are highlighted in the Findings below More detailed findings are included in the Boeing case studies, attached as Appendix A and Appendix B The case studies describe various Lean efforts... Council for Environmental Policy and Technology Transforming Environmental Permitting and Compliance Policies to Promote pollution Prevention: Removing Barriers and Providing Incentives to Foster Technology Innovation, Economic Productivity, and Environmental Protection April, 1993, page 23 19 IV Implications The Boeing case studies provide an interesting window into the dramatic shift in manufacturing. .. materials, and non-product output associated with its manufacturing processes In many cases, these reductions translate into important environmental improvements Boeing’s approach to Lean implementation resembles and expands the pollution prevention cultural elements long advocated by public environmental management agencies Beyond this, the resource productivity improvements associated with Lean can and. .. research and literature exists indicating that American industries are actively implementing Lean Manufacturing as a key strategy for remaining competitive in today’s manufacturing environment Lean Thinking and other books that explain the Lean Manufacturing philosophy and processes indicate that implementation of this manufacturing paradigm shift is taking place across numerous industrial and source... assumptions about growth: an economy where we grow by using less and less, and become stronger by being leaner.”18 The Boeing case studies provide further direct evidence that the authors’ interest in and advocacy of Lean Manufacturing is well placed Boeing, through its Lean initiatives, has had substantial success and continues to improve on its environmental footprint” per unit of production Overall, Boeing... prevention guidance include: systemic and on-going evaluation of waste that is embraced and implemented by operations personnel; substantial engagement of employees, suppliers, and customers; development and utilization of pollution prevention measures; and a systemic approach to continual improvement The Boeing case studies indicate that the drive to Lean Manufacturing produces (and in fact requires for its... expenditures in pollution control, clean-up, and/ or disposal Lean Manufacturing zeros in on waste (and, therefore pollution) through a systemic assessment of costs and values associated with a product This assessment essentially entails four fundamental strategies: embracing a “whole system view;” identifying and retooling the “value chain”; adopting “Product Aligned - Cross Functional” manufacturing; and “Designing... elimination of waste in the Company’s manufacturing processes, including reducing costs, cycle time, and defects The Boeing Company is applying Lean Manufacturing principles and strategies to improve and streamline its overall production systems By using Lean Manufacturing strategies and tools, Boeing is maximizing its production efficiency, and helping to achieve its goal of standard operations, ensuring that... effective at ensuring practical enforceability and protecting human health and the environment, and because moving outside of existing legal and regulatory precedent represents substantial risks to both regulatory agencies and permitted sources Second, Lean s continual improvement culture combined with customer demands and competitive pressures result in a manufacturing environment subject to constant, . 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