What is a Pull System?   A typical company uses production forecasting to determine their work schedule. This is called a “Push System” because is drives orders through the production processes.  It can create an excessive amount of inventory, which is one of the eight wastes. It adds cost to the product because forecasting is not an effective method. A lean company tries to activate their production processes based on customer demand. As a customer consumes products, it initiates the manufacturing process to replenish the items. A lean business will try to hold enough inventory to meet customer demand. What are benefits of a Pull System? There are several benefits for a company that implements a Pull System. 1. It standardizes the amount of inventory in the production process. 2. It uses a visual controls to activate the replenishment process. 3. It reduces batch or lot sizes. Does a Pull System increase production throughput? A Pull System using kanban can help a business to transition from a batch and queue process towards beecoming a single piece or continuous flow process. A Pull System will control the amount of inventory throughout the production system, which helps to focus on building what the customer wants, when they need it. As a result of better inventory control, all production resources are focused effectively, this will speed up the process and reduce lead times. Pull System Let customer demand pull the product or service. © Radical Transformation 2010 www.radical-transformation.com Lean Mfg. Coach (541) 210-5116 Lean Manufacturing Training  Lean Healthcare Training Lean Office Training © 2011 Radical Transformation LLC All Rights Reserved Lean Principles Strategy Deployment Value Stream Mapping Workplace Organization Process Flow Quick Changeover Pull System Balanced Workload Standard Work Kaizen Lean Supply Chain