HEIJUNKA (Production Levelling)
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Production levelling, also known as production
smoothing, reduces Mura (unevenness) in production
while also reducing Muda (waste).
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It's a part of the lean process improvement approach
that helps companies balance unpredictable customer
demand trends and remove manufacturing waste by
leveling the type and quantity of production output
over a set periodoftime
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Production Levelling uses a box similar to shown on the
right. Pouches in the box have Kanban cards, each card
representing a fixed quantity of parts.
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Organizations that use
a Heijunka schedule in
their manufacturing
processes will gain a
variety of competitive
advantages:
- Flexibility to produce exactly what the customer
desires.
- Reduction in the inventory of unsold goods.
- Usage of labor and machinery in a balanced manner.
- Predictable demand on upstream processes and
suppliers.
- Consider a weekly demandas shown below
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Parts are classified into three major categories:
- Runners: Parts for which the production runs every day.
- Repeaters: Parts for which the production runs are
defined interval.
- Strangers: Parts either run with large intervals or without
any defined interval and accommodated on need basis.
Expert's Comment
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I got tremendous improvement when I used Production leveling with the following
scenarios
1. Quick change over at less than 10 mins
2. OEE of the manufacturing line 70%+
3. A Kanban & a supermarket for A & B class products
4.Two Bin system for C class components
5. At least 80% accuracy monthly or weekly orders required.
