Abstract:
The rapid transformation of the Waste Management sector has significantly altered the
nature of the traditional waste processing business and the nature of competencies
required to manage it. With the increase in volume of waste being processed, one
element of the transformation of the waste sector, is the move from a craft-industry
often with agricultural methods to a post-industrial sector processing high volumes of
materials efficiently and effectively. Over the last two centuries the manufacturing
sector has also moved from a craft industry to one that learnt how to use technology for
material processing, and then learnt how to organise for efficient high-volume
production. The application of the coherent techniques developed by various
manufacturers (notably Toyota) has resulted in systematic removal of waste (overproduction,
waiting, transport etc) and cost in manufacturing. These methods are termed
‘lean manufacturing’.
This report describes a project which seeks to test the relevance and value of
manufacturing knowledge to waste site operators, by bringing together the expertise and
the manufacturing knowledge to waste operators. The industrial aim is to significantly
reduce operating costs. It is important to define manufacturing knowledge as that
knowledge that specifically relates to lean manufacturing and its implementation.
Firstly, the researcher presents an exhaustive and critical literature review of lean
manufacturing. Then waste operators’ current practices in operations management are
characterised and their existing access to manufacturing knowledge is described, based
on interviews with several waste companies.
The utility of manufacturing knowledge, and any adjustments needed to suit waste
operations will be described, focussing on prioritised areas for improvement and
specific proposals for changing operations. The potential scale of these changes can be
very important and advantageous when we consider that the Japanese car manufacturer,
Toyota, used lean manufacturing to show the then world leading Ford how to reduce
production costs by 30%.