One of the five principles of lean identified in the classic book Lean Thinking was “Let the Customer Pull Value Through the Value Stream.” This is an important concept because it it is key to eliminating the chief waste of the 7 wastes- Overproduction. So, what is a pull system?
To understand the concept of pull, one must understand the concept of push. A push system is a system in which each process works independently to produce information or material and the pushes the work to the next downstream customer whether or not the next downstream customer is ready. A pull system limits the amount of inventory between processes by setting up a defined agreement or relationship between each process and its customer. There are basically two types of pull systems aptly named Type A and Type B.
A Type A pull system is often called replenishment pull. Two processes, a supplier and customer, are connected by a supermarket, or visual storage of inventory by part number or product. The customer process pulls materials from the supermarket as needed; the supplier process builds to replenish the supermarket based on a visual signal.
A Type B pull system is often called sequenced pull or sequential pull and usually involves what is called a FIFO lane. FIFO stands for first-in-first-out. Under a type B system , two processes that are connected by a visually apparent area containing a defined limited quantity of parts, jobs, or units of work in sequence. The supplying process dictates the sequence of work; the customer or downstream process processes the work in this identical sequence. This type of pull system is more flexible in that it can work with administrative or product-based processes, while a type “A” system typically works with physically inventory.
Type B systems typically have less inventory than Type A systems, but there are many cases where a Type A system is the best choice. By value stream mapping the entire flow, it becomes easier to see where to use each of these types of pull systems.
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