The reduction of waste through the use of Lean Manufacturing has been seen to be beneficial to various companies in particular those that are in the manufacturing industry. Lean thinking has become almost a religious affair due to the fact that conversations and philosophies surrounding the topic are given great focus, passion and intensity.
As discussed by Gordon Benzie in The Increasing Role of IT in Lean Manufacturing, a hot topic amongst those discussing Lean Manufacturing, is the role Internet Technology (IT) plays. Some advocates of Lean Manufacturing think that IT systems just add more work and intricacy to the Lean process, and for that reason it has no place.
However, the IDC Manufacturing Insights printed a report on Manufacturing Operation Technology that proves otherwise. This report detailed the link between IT and how it is used to encourage Lean practices.
For instance, integrating IT in a company can support process automation to prevent manual entries, overlapping requirements, and attain a more paperless setting. Furthermore, centralizing master data management diminishes redundant and conflicting data that normally leads to inaccurate reporting as well as unproductive business processes. IT also enables the enhanced performance of business process re-engineering projects for process analysis plus optimization.