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The lean certification practice includes many building blocks that cover a wide-range of manufacturing and business practices. Lean training helps a manufacturing company grow while keeping costs low, or even cutting costs by developing efficient means of growth.

One aspect of the lean certification method is gathering machines and labor into cells. Cells have the property of being a small part of the complete manufacturing line. By creating cells, expansion can be achieved in a small section at-a-time.

These modules are also simpler to move. Once a cell has been created, it might be placed at different locations along the manufacturing line, or it may be relocated to another site all together. Therefore, creating these modular blocks is a major element of the lean manufacturing process.

When approaching a manufacturing line for the first time, the lean procedure is to do an analysis to see where cells can be set up. The usual way a manufacturing line is setup is to have one continuous flow from end-to-end.

In fact, the design of manufacturing line was intentional, because it efficient to have a continuously running production line, as long as product demand remains fairly constant. When the rate of production changes, the costs can go up quickly. Normally, there is a certain range of rate change designed into a manufacturing line. Once the demand causes the production rate to go outside of that range, it can be very costly.

Additionally, a manufacturing line can grow old and inefficient, as technology advances and demand increases.

Cell analysis considers ways of grouping units together. The goal is to create self-sufficient units whose output has been through a preliminary inspection. The smaller size allows for faster response to changes in demand.

The usual boundaries of a cell are at existing machines that are already in the manufacturing line. Once the boundaries are identified, the equipment and the personnel inside that cell can be relocated or upgraded as required for growth or inspection.

A cell usually incorporates more than one machine, although a single large machine that requires multiple people to operate may qualify as a cell all by itself. Sometimes controlling the machine is a place to begin to look for upgrading a piece of machinery.

Inspection is a key to cell design, as well. By requiring each module in the line to have an output that is quality inspected is more efficient that having a single large inspection at the end of the process.

Setting up cells and making modular design a section of the lean training process is a important element in allowing growth while keeping costs under control in the manufacturing process.