ABSTRACT
The Lean team needs to be creative and stick to the basics of linking together the value-added operations and processes needed to complete a product. Multitasking machines that attempt to eliminate large amounts of human labor generally requires significant capital. In general, custom machines automated to replace large amounts of operator labor take months to design and build. The automation journey also can complicate Lean installations. Automated or paced lines generally need to run at the max volume level, requiring the line to be fully staffed all the time. Multifunction automated machines are generally quite complex and take lots of maintenance to keep them running. Expensive automated machines can often force people to waste labor because of the way they run. The optimization of the layout and workstation should be performed in conjunction with the frontline staff.
