DETA Blog

In today's evolving business landscape, the term "lean manufacturing" is commonplace. It is a pivotal concept celebrated for driving organisational success. A business model that prioritises activities customers are willing to pay for, while considering everything else as waste. Defined by its focus on managing and reducing waste, lean manufacturing seems, at least on paper, to address sustainability goals , but is lean enough? What is lean manufacturing? Emerging from the post-war 1950s through the Toyota Production System (TPS), lean manufacturing is built upon the concept of continuous and incremental improvements in both product and process. Its primary objectives are to reduce production time, improve responsiveness from suppliers and to customers, enhance product quality, and boost efficiency. This is achieved by eliminating, simplifying, reducing, or integrating activities that do not add value to the business, i.e. effectively managing and minimising waste. Toyota identified 7 types of waste (Muda) in a business: Over production: producing products before a confirmed order. Unnecessary waiting: inactive work periods leading to lengthened cycle time which reduces agility and responsiveness. Unnecessary transportation: unnecessary movement of people and goods inside the system. Overprocessing: processes that are more complex than required or making parts beyond the standard expected by the customer. Unnecessary inventory: an excess of raw materials, work-in-process elements or finished products. Unnecessary motion: inefficient layout or automating processes before improving the method. Too many avoidable defects: poor quality output that needs correction.

The transport sector is one of the largest emitters and hardest to abate sectors in New Zealand due to its heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

Climate scientists predict increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather unless there is a unified global effort to curb rising temperatures.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade allocated funding to investigate solutions to increase Nauru’s energy resilience to these challenges.

Explore the complexities & opportunities in navigating the net-zero landscape. Discover the challenges & prospects towards sustainability at Deta Global.

Find out how we did a Water Audit for Fonterra Brands Takanini. DETA achieves $300,000+ Water Savings Across 12 Projects With Under 2.5 Years of Payback.

DETA is supporting Westland’s internal facilities management team to develop project plans to achieve compliant buildings across Westland’s sites. Read More!

We did Reliability Engineering for Synlait Milk Dunsandel & developed a lactoferrin plant into Synlait’s existing reliability engineering systems. Read more!

Find out how we Upgrade Separator Capacity for Synlait - Dunsandel, Lead technical & commercial bid evaluation, managed contract award & variation processes.

Check out our Plant Layout & Process Review for Foodstuffs. DETA developed a new facility that will bring about layout, process & productivity improvements.