Three years ago, Avrora began own journey of introducing lean manufacturing - LEAN Management. The concept of management was created at the Japanese enterprise Toyota and is based on a relentless commitment to eliminating all types of waste. Lean production means the involvement of each employee in the business optimization process and maximum customer focus.
Avrora, like Toyota, is implementing LEAN to eliminate waste in work processes.
We adopted the first LEAN Management experience from our European colleagues. During the implementation in our company, we met resistance, but believed in LEAN methods! Therefore, having gained patience and invested a lot of effort, we achieved the goal! And now the company lives by the LEAN philosophy.
Now in the territory of the support office, logistics and in stores, three LEAN tools have been successfully implemented, which are actively improving work processes. These are ASAICHI, KAIZEN and 5S. In the future, we also plan to introduce new tools.
ASAICHI is a morning meeting where fresh information is exchanged and problems are recorded with a view to further solving them.
Now on the territory of the ASAICHI office it has become not just a morning meeting, it has become a culture without which it is difficult to imagine Avrora. Given the epidemiological circumstances, ASAICHI has moved online and has become even more productive.
KaizeN is about daily improvements. It is with the help of KaizeN we improve work processes and eliminate the waste that we constantly face. The essence of the KaizeN approach is that employees offer their ideas for solving a problem or improving the process. Ideas are considered by a special commission, which includes LEAN representatives and company employees interested in improvements. The Commission determines the feasibility of implementation and gives the green light. And then the employee who submitted the idea, alone or with the help of colleagues, brings it to life. KaizeN leaders receive points for the implemented ideas, which can be exchanged for cash rewards. Now employees of all divisions are maximally involved in KaizeN, because nowadays it is not fashionable to have losses in processes.
5S is a method of organizing a workspace (workplace), the purpose of which is to create optimal conditions for the execution of processes, maintaining order, cleanliness, tidiness, saving time and energy.
5S improves work safety, work efficiency, communication among the participants in the work areas and helps to better realize oneself as a specialist.
The improvement process is endless - there will always be reserves for optimization. That is why Avrora does not stop at what has been accomplished, but has many projects in its plans aimed at improving with the help of various LEAN tools.