It was in 1989, that for the first time the world was introduced to the term ‘lean production’ as it was coined in by MIT. On the other hand, Agile Manufacturing can trace its origins in a research study by Lehigh University in the early 90s.
Before discussing lean and agile, it’s important to place lean manufacturing in context with the traditional mass production principles. Lean manufacturing does away with many of the manufacturing principles, and guidelines of mass production. A brief comparison is tabled below:
Mass production |
Lean Production |
| Inventory Buffers | Minimum Inventory |
| Just in Case deliveries | Just in time deliveries |
| Acceptable Quality Level | Perfect first time Quality |
| Taylorism | Worker Teams and Worker Involvement |
| Maximum efficiency | Flexible production systems |
| If ain’t broke, don’t fix it | Continuous improvement |
| Minimum waste |
Adapted from Mikell P. Groover’s Automation, Production Systems, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 2nd Edition
Although, tabled nearly at the same time as Lean Manufacturing, it is indeed Agile manufacturing which is far more relevant to the North American manufacturers at the enterprise level, than the former. Reason is simple enough; today many North American manufacturers are primarily focused on producing customized solutions as per client specs and in small to medium sized batches. Today quantities as little as 500 to 1000 pieces of practically any product can be outsourced to offshore vendors with considerable cost advantage.
It is important to remember that lean allows for waste free, efficient system that adds to the bottom line and in turn give competitive pricing advantage. However, most customers today come to local manufacturing facilities for their ability to quickly adapt to changes, better technical support, shorter time to market and most importantly, short production runs. Consequently, absolute focus on lean production may not be suitable for most local manufacturers and application of agile manufacturing principles on the enterprise level is important to maintain competitive against local and overseas competition.
Lean and agile principles complement each other, however, the scale at which they are applied are different. Lean principles are best applied at the factory or floor level where efficiency takes precedence of all except safety. On the other hand, agile principles are most suitable at the enterprise level where ability to adjust to changing internal and external factors is off utmost importance. The emphasis in lean is more on the technical and operational issues, while agile addresses the people and organizational issues.
However, where there is a significant difference is how change management is performed under each system. Lean tries to minimize change, whether internal or external in order to minimize waste and increase efficiency. Whereas, agile embraces change. The idea is to thrive at the ever changing environment and business landscape.
In fact, agile manufacturing should be seen as the natural extension and evolution of the lean principles.
Four Principles of Lean Production and Agile Manufacturing
Lean Production |
Agile Production |
| Minimize Change | Enrich the Customer |
| Perfect first-time quality | Cooperate to enhance competitiveness |
| Flexible production lines | Organize to master change |
| Continuous improvement | Leverage the impact of people and information |
Adapted from Mikell P. Groover’s Automation, Production Systems, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 2nd Edition
Comparison of Lean Production and Agile Manufacturing Attributes
Lean Production |
Agile Production |
| Enhancement of Mass Production | Break with mass production; emphasis on mass customization. |
| Flexible production for product variety | Greater flexibility for customized products |
| Focus on factory operations | Scope is enterprise wide |
| Emphasis on supplier management | Formation Virtual enterprises |
| Emphasis on efficient use of resources | Emphasis on thriving in environment marked by continuous unpredictable change |
| Relies on smooth production schedule | Acknowledgement and attempts to be responsive to change. |
Adapted from Mikell P. Groover’s Automation, Production Systems, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 2nd Edition