Reorganizing the Factory

Reorganizing the Factory

Author: Nancy Hyer

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2001-10-22

Total Pages: 788

ISBN-13: 9781563272288

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Winner of the 2003 Shingo Prize! Reorganizing work processes into cells has helped many organizations streamline operations, shorten lead times, increase quality, and lower costs. Cellular manufacturing is a powerful concept that is simple to understand; however, its ultimate success depends on deciding where cells fit into your organization, and then applying the know-how to design, implement and operate them. Reorganizing the Factory presents a thoroughly researched and comprehensive "life cycle" approach to competing through cellular work organizations. It takes you from the basic cell concept and its benefits through the process of justifying, designing, implementing, operating, and improving this new type of work organization in offices and on the factory floor. The book discusses many important technical dimensions, such as factory analysis, cell design, planning and control systems, and principles for lead time and inventory reduction. However, unique to the literature, it also covers in depth the numerous managerial issues that accompany organizing work into cells. In most implementations, performance measurement, compensation, education and training, employee involvement, and change management are critically important. These issues are often overlooked in the planning process, yet they can occupy more of the implementation time than do the technical aspects of cells. Includes: Why do cells improve lead time, quality, and cost? Planning for cell implementation Justifying the move to cells, strategically and economically Designing efficient manufacturing and office cells Selecting and training cell employees Compensation system for cell employees Performance and cost measurement Planning and control of materials and capacity Managing the change to cells Problems in designing, implementing, and operating cells Improving and adapting existing cells Structured frameworks and checklists to help analysis and decision-making Numerous examples of cells in various industries


Working with Machines

Working with Machines

Author: Michel Baudin

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2007-04-20

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9781563273292

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How do companies in high labor cost countries manage to remain competitive? In western manufacturing, the more manual a process, the more severe the competitive handicap of high wages. Full automation would make labor costs irrelevant but remain impractical in most industries. Most successful manufacturing processes in advanced economies are neither fully manual nor fully automatic -- they involve interactions between small numbers of highly skilled people and machines that account for the bulk of the manufacturing costs and thereby remain competitive. In Working with Machines: The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations With Jidoka, author Michel Baudin explains how performance differences that can be observed from one factory to the next are due to the way people use the machines -- from the human interfaces of individual machines to the linking of machines into cells, the management of monuments and common services, automation, maintenance, and production control.


Just-in-Time Manufacturing

Just-in-Time Manufacturing

Author: T.C. Cheng

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1996-07-31

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9780412735400

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Written in clear, straightforward language, Just-in-Time Manufacturing: An introduction discusses in-depth the implementation of JIT manufacturing. The objectives are twofold: firstly, to acquaint the reader with the overall JIT concept and the factors necessary for its implementation, and secondly to reinforce this with an actual case study of JIT implementation in a manufacturing company.


Manufacturing Strategy

Manufacturing Strategy

Author: John Miltenburg

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2005-03-09

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9781563273179

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To stay competitive and meet market expectations in a global economy, both domestic and foreign companies must realign their manufacturing processes, make improvements, and increase their manufacturing capabilities. With large numbers of employees working in a network of domestic and foreign facilities, production processes are as varied as the products being produced. Manufacturing managers need a manufacturing plan or strategy that will bring structure to this complex environment. In Manufacturing Strategy: How to Formulate and Implement a Winning Plan, 2nd Edition, John Miltenburg offers a sensible and systematic method to: (1) evaluate domestic and foreign factories and international manufacturing and (2) plan the appropriate manufacturing strategy to be first in the market. Incorporating comments and suggestions from managers who used the first edition of Manufacturing Strategy, John Miltenburg expands and improves on his focus in the areas of: International Manufacturing — where the focus is on a company's international network of factories; Competitive Strategy — where managers must understand the role manufacturing strategy plays in their company's business strategy; and Manufacturing Programs — showing how programs such as quality management, six sigma, agile manufacturing, and supply chain management fit within the manufacturing strategy. Manufacturing Strategy gives managers a common language for dealing with manufacturing problems at both strategic and operational levels. It improves communication between manufacturing managers and those outside manufacturing (who will now have a better understanding of what manufacturing can and cannot do).


The Ultimate Six Sigma

The Ultimate Six Sigma

Author: Keki R. Bhote

Publisher: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780814426418

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"Why confine a company to a handful of elitist black belts when we can convert all the people to black belts at a fraction of the cost and with far greater effectiveness." -- Author Keki R. Bhote Six Sigma started as a revolutionary quality tool at Motorola, gained fame as a powerful driver of cost savings at GE, and has spawned an entire industry of publications and consultants, many peddling a watered-down version of the original Motorola Six Sigma process. Now, Keki Bhote, one of the founders of Six Sigma, taps into the rigors and rewards of this breakthrough process--but moves it beyond mere quality to focus on total business excellence in 12 key areas. From customer loyalty to leadership to supply chain management, "The Ultimate Six Sigma" provides the techniques and metrics needed to measure success, and supplies self-assessment audits to help readers ensure that they're getting it right. Case studies illustrate how Six Sigma has been successfully implemented in each key area.


The Portal to Lean Production

The Portal to Lean Production

Author: John Nicholas

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2005-11-02

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1420031090

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The Portal to Lean Production: Principles and Practices for Doing More with Less describes the steps, difficulties, and rewards of implementing lean production. The book moves beyond concepts to address practical matters. The authors provide enough information for you to begin implementing lean production within your organization. This book


Process Theory

Process Theory

Author: Matthias Holweg

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-02-09

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0192548743

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The motivation for this book came out of a shared belief that what passed as 'theory' in operations management (OM) was all too often inadequate. In one respect, OM scholars were bending over backwards to make theories from other fields fit our research problems. In another, questionable assumptions were being used to apply mathematics to OM problems. Neither proved a good match with what the authors' had observed in practice. Successful operations were managed by considerations that were far more straightforward than much of what was being published. The authors of this book codify these practical considerations into a set of ten fundamental principles that bring together a century of operations management thinking. The authors then apply these principles to important topics such as process design, process improvement, the supply chain, new product development, project management, environmental sustainability, and the interfaces between operations management and other business school disciplines.


Lean Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing

Author: William M Feld

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2000-09-28

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1420025538

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There are some very good books available that explain the Lean Manufacturing theory and touch on implementing its techniques. However, you cannot learn "how to be" lean from merely reading the theory. And to be successful in the real-work environment you need a clear comprehension of how lean techniques work, rather than just a remote understanding


Planning in Intelligent Systems

Planning in Intelligent Systems

Author: Wout van Wezel

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2006-03-03

Total Pages: 592

ISBN-13: 0471781258

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The first comparative examination of planning paradigms This text begins with the principle that the ability to anticipateand plan is an essential feature of intelligent systems, whetherhuman or machine. It further assumes that better planning resultsin greater achievements. With these principles as a foundation,Planning in Intelligent Systems provides readers with the toolsneeded to better understand the process of planning and to becomebetter planners themselves. The text is divided into two parts: * Part One, "Theoretical," discusses the predominant schools ofthought in planning: psychology and cognitive science,organizational science, computer science, mathematics, artificialintelligence, and systems theory. In particular, the book examinescommonalities and differences among the goals, methods, andtechniques of these various approaches to planning. The result is abetter understanding of the process of planning through thecross-fertilization of ideas. Each chapter contains a shortintroduction that sets forth the interrelationships of that chapterto the main ideas featured in the other chapters. * Part Two, "Practical," features six chapters that center on acase study of The Netherlands Railways. Readers learn to applytheory to a real-world situation and discoverhow expanding theirrepertoire of planning methods can help solve seemingly intractableproblems. All chapters have been contributed by leading experts in thevarious schools of planning and carefully edited to ensure aconsistent high standard throughout. This book is designed to not only expand the range of planningtools used, but also to enable readers to use them moreeffectively. It challenges readers to look at new approaches andlearn from new schools of thought. Planning in Intelligent Systemsdelivers effective planning approaches for researchers, professors,students, and practitioners in artificial intelligence, computerscience, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as industryplanners and managers.