It is a management method used for the continuous improvement of products and processes. It consists of four phases: Plan (definition of the goals and processes required to achieve them), Do (implementation of the processes), Check (review of the results compared to the proposed goals), and Act (improvement of the processes if necessary). This cycle can be repeated indefinitely and is also known as the Deming cycle.
Published in Chapter:
Teaching Circular Economy and Lean Management in a Learning Factory
Angel M. Gento (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain), Carina Pimentel (Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal), and Jose A. Pascual (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8816-1.ch009
Abstract
Traditionally, industries followed a linear process of resources consumption: taking raw materials from nature, transforming them into products, and selling them to consumers (who discarded them when they were no longer useful). Nowadays, due to the sustainable development concerns, there is an increasing awareness on the society for reuse, repair, recycling, and remanufacturing to avoid resource depletion and achieve waste reduction. Following this idea, with the aim to train students and practitioners in lean manufacturing and circular economy concepts and tools, a learning process organized in three sequential phases was developed, starting with the manufacture of a toy car (25 kg and over 100 pieces) using a traditional push system, then reengineering the process to implement pull system and lean manufacturing concepts, and finally, considering a circular economy pull system through the reuse and recycling of parts and components. In this way, the importance of reducing waste in manufacturing and the reduction in the use of raw materials by considering the 3Rs is highlighted.