Through previous engagement with stakeholders, the Wine Australia have identified the need for a simple ‘Lean Guide’ that interprets the Lean technique in the context of the wine industry. While some wineries have already sourced information about Lean production principles, primarily through consultants or other sources, and then adapted the principles to their own circumstances, there is a view that many of these existing resources focus on the methods and language (e.g. jargon) rather than the outcomes, and this is barrier to uptake. Development of the Lean Guide is intended to provide the wine industry with a resource that will allow all scales of operation to adopt and benefit from the principles of Lean manufacturing.
The objectives of this project were to:
Develop a simple Lean Guide for the wine industry, in a format that uses plain and empathetic language, and contain relevant illustrative examples, in order to be approachable and readily accessible and adoptable by the wine industry
Recommend an appropriate extension strategy and plan for accelerating the uptake of Lean practices in the industry through the dissemination of the Guide and supporting materials
The Lean Guide project has involved the development of the following deliverables:
The Lean Guide (downloadable e-document in .pdf format)
Three case studies of Australian wineries successfully implementing Lean practices (accessible via the Lean Guide)
Lean Guide Extension Strategy, Delivery Plan & Risk Assessment
Final Project Report
Summary report for Wine Australia website (this document)
Industry trade journal article.
Some important notes about the scope and structure of the Lean Guide:
The Guide provides an introduction to Lean Production techniques and some initial guidance on how to apply them to a winery context
It is not the intention of the Guide to convert operations and management staff into experts in Lean Production; instead the Guide aims to provide enough knowledge about Lean Production such that wineries can make more informed decisions about whether to pursue Lean, what tools/techniques might be relevant and what further steps may be required to implement Lean Production in their operations.
The Lean Guide presents a core set of Lean techniques and tools that will be relevant to most wineries of all scales and business models. Wineries may discover, however, that some tools are less relevant than others – the Guide provides the means for wineries to ‘pick and choose’ the techniques they wish to use.
The Guide is structured such that updates (such as case studies, templates, resources etc.) can be made to the ‘Toolbox’ section of the Guide, or uploaded to and downloadable from the Wine Australia website
It is expected that the Lean Guide will be extended over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years, using some of the suggestions outlined in the Lean Guide Extension Delivery Plan, which has been constructed with guidance from the following sources of extension-related information:
The Lean Guide Extension Strategy
Feedback from the wine industry
Engagement with potential ‘extension support’ stakeholders
Reflections on the issues/challenges encountered throughout the development of the Lean Guide.
Abstract
The Lean Guide offers a practical introduction to lean production concepts and techniques for Australian wineries. This guide will help wine businesses implement practices to improve their productivity, reduce their costs and improve their business resilience. During consultation with industry, the need for a simple guide to the lean technique was identified as one way of improving profitability in the wine sector. While some wineries have already sourced information about ‘Lean’ production principles, primarily through consultants or other sources, and then adapted the principles to their own circumstances, there is a view that many of these existing resources focus on the methods and language (e.g. jargon) rather than the outcomes, and this is barrier to uptake. The development of this Lean Guide is intended to provide the wine industry with a tool that will allow all scales of operation to understand adopt and benefit from the principles of ‘Lean’ manufacturing.
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Winemaking & production
