MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme

What is in the News ?

• Union Minister for MSME Shri Narayan Rane launched the MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme today.
• Speaking on the occasion Shri Rane said that LEAN has the potential to become a national movement and that it aims to provide a roadmap to global competitiveness for the MSMEs of India.
• He added that LEAN will not only attempt to improve quality, productivity & performance, but also the capability to change the mind-sets of manufacturers and transform them into a world class manufacturers.

 Lean Manufacturing

• Lean Manufacturing or Lean Production, known simply as LEAN, is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal, other than the creation of value for the end customer, to be wasteful and hence should be eliminated.
• Lean manufacturing includes a set of principles that lean thinkers use to achieve improvements in productivity, quality, and lead-time by eliminating waste through kaizen. 
• Kaizen is a Japanese word that essentially means “change for the better” or “good change.”

Lean Manufacturing : Principles

• Identify Value: Determine what value means from the customer’s perspective. This includes understanding what the customer wants, needs, and is willing to pay for.
• Map the Value Stream: Create a map of the value stream, which is the sequence of steps required to produce a product or service. This helps identify areas of waste and inefficiency.
• Create Flow: Create a smooth, uninterrupted flow of work through the value stream. This involves eliminating bottlenecks and interruptions that slow down the process.
• Implement Pull: Implement a pull system that produces products only as they are needed, based on customer demand. This helps to reduce inventory and waste.
• Strive for Perfection: Continuously strive for perfection by identifying and eliminating waste, improving processes, and ensuring quality.

About the Scheme

• Through the LEAN journey, MSMEs can reduce wastage substantially, increase productivity, improve quality, work safely, expand their markets, and finally become competitive and profitable.
• The government will contribute 90% of implementation cost for handholding and consultancy fees.
• There will be an additional contribution of 5% for the MSMEs which are part of SFURTI clusters, owned by Women/SC/ST and located in Northeast region.
• There will be an additional contribution of 5% for MSMEs which are registering through Industry Associations/ Overall Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) organizations after completing all levels.
• This is a unique feature to encourage Industry Associations and OEMs for motivating their supply chain vendors to participate in this scheme.

Mains Practice Question

What is Lean Manufacturing? How can it provide solutions for 21^st century problems facing the MSME sector? (150 Words)

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