A how-to guide to shortening delivery times, eliminating waste, improving quality, and reducing costs. It describes not only what to do, but includes many tools useful to the reader describing how to do it. It explores tools including kaizen, value stream mapping, takt time, determining optimum lot sizes, setup reduction and problem solving.
Lean manufacturing is the single most effective way to increase sales, cut costs, improve margins, and secure the future of a business. The problem is that the principles and philosophies of lean manufacturing are geared strictly to mass production operations and can be ineffective, even detrimental, for smaller job shops and make-to-order businesses. Now, Speed to Market delivers a proven approach for smaller suppliers who want to successfully cut their lead time and trigger profitable growth. Completely updated and expanded, the book explains how to: * Apply the principles of pull, flow, and the elimination of waste to every area of the company, at every stage from quotes to cash* Implement a continuous improvement process while sidestepping the typical implementation pitfalls* Ease scheduling problems* Improve performance and profitability using the book's practical concepts, process analysis tools, and perspective-enhancing techniques and much more
A Practical, Hands-on Guide to Lean Manufacturing This real-world resource offers proven solutions for implementing lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and production aspects as well as the business culture concerns. Filled with detailed examples, the book focuses on the rapid application of lean principles so that large, early financial gains can be made. How to Implement Lean Manufacturing explains Toyota Production System (TPS) practices and specifies the distinct order in which lean techniques should be applied to achieve maximum gains. Global case studies illustrate successes and pitfalls of lean manufacturing initiatives. Discover how to: Rigorously test and retest the state of your "leanness" with unique evaluators Develop and deploy plant-wide strategies and goals Improve speed and quality and dramatically reduce costs Reduce variation in the manufacturing system in order to reduce inventory Reduce lead times to enable improved responsiveness and flexibility Synchronize production and supply to the customer Create flow and establish pull-demand systems Perform system-wide and specific value-stream evaluations Generate a comprehensive list of highly focused Kaizen activities Sustain process gains Manage constraints and reduce bottlenecks Implement cellular manufacturing
Lean Thinking was launched in the fall of 1996, just in time for the recession of 1997. It told the story of how American, European, and Japanese firms applied a simple set of principles called 'lean thinking' to survive the recession of 1991 and grow steadily in sales and profits through 1996. Even though the recession of 1997 never happened, companies were starving for information on how to make themselves leaner and more efficient. Now we are dealing with the recession of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2002. So what happened to the exemplar firms profiled in Lean Thinking? In the new fully revised edition of this bestselling book those pioneering lean thinkers are brought up to date. Authors James Womack and Daniel Jones offer new guidelines for lean thinking firms and bring their groundbreaking practices to a brand new generation of companies that are looking to stay one step ahead of the competition.
This is the true story of how, armed with only Lean improvement methodologies, a specially trained Toyota Lean expert purchased a business he knew nothing about, applied Lean techniques, and succeeded in doubling sales and increasing profitability, before he finally sold the thriving business. With humility and humor, the author recounts his successes and failures, introduces his key employees and their struggles with change, and provides motivation and simple ideas for all readers looking to improve their businesses. He captures key points highlighted in text boxes and includes illustrative photos and examples of Lean tools at work. This story dispels the fallacy that Lean management does not achieve excellent results in high variation companies and job shops. Toyota’s OSKKK methodology is introduced to understand processes and guide a Lean transformation on the shop floor and in the office.
Readers will learn how to integrate quality and reliability control, machine tool maintenance, production and inventory control, and suppliers into the linked-cell system for one-piece parts movement within cells and small-lot movement between cells.
Lean Production for Competitive Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide to Lean Methodologies and Management Practices, Second Edition introduces Lean philosophy and illustrates the effective application of Lean tools with real-world case studies. From fundamental concepts to integrated planning and control in pull production and the supply chain, the text provides a complete introduction to Lean production. Coverage includes small batch production, setup reduction, pull production, preventive maintenance, standard work, as well as synchronizing and scheduling Lean operations. Detailing the key principles and practices of Lean production, the text also: Illustrates effective implementation techniques with case studies from a range of industries. Includes questions and completed problems in each chapter. Explains how to effectively partner with suppliers and employees to achieve productivity goals Designed for students who have a basic foundation in production and operations management, the text provides a thorough understanding of the principles of Lean. It also offers practical know-how for implementing a culture of continuous improvement on the shop floor and in the office, creating a heightened sense of responsibility in all stakeholders, and enhancing productivity and efficiency to improve the bottom line. In this second edition, the author addresses management’s role in Lean production. Early observers of Japanese methods focused on the shop floor to see amazing things unlike anything practiced elsewhere. And the thinking was, if the "methods" could be adopted by companies elsewhere, those companies would experience the success of the Japanese. What the early observers hadn’t considered were dramatic differences in the way those companies were managed, both daily and strategically. The "management side" of Lean production is addressed in two new chapters, one devoted to daily management, the other to strategy deployment. Additionally, there is a new chapter that addresses breakthrough improvement and an approach to achieving it called Production Preparation Process. Every chapter has been revised and expanded to better tell the story of Lean production—its history, applications, practices, and methods.
Explaining how to implement and sustain a top-down strategy for manufacturing excellence, The 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence: A Leader’s Guide to Achieving and Sustaining Excellence provides a comprehensive, proven approach for delivering world-class performance while also cultivating the right culture through leadership and mentoring. Tapping into four decades of leadership experience, 35 years of it in the manufacturing industry, Larry Fast explains how to achieve vertical and horizontal alignment across your organization. He details a clear pathway to excellence via the 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence and provides a method for tracking progress—plant by plant and function by function. Emphasizing the importance of using Lean and Six Sigma tools to improve your business, the book: Integrates strategy and leadership development Paves a path for culture change–Operator-Led Process Control (OLPC)—that prepares hourly employees to take control of their processes and prepares management to enable them to do it Details an audit process for tracking progress and ensuring sustainability Includes a CD with color versions of the images in the book as well as a sample Manufacturing Excellence Audit, a sample Communications Plan, and a sample Training Plan that can all be easily customized for the reader’s use This resource-rich book will allow you to spell out leadership expectations and provide your employees and associates with a clear understanding of their individual roles. Helping you keep everyone in your organization focused during the quest towards sustainable manufacturing excellence, the accompanying CD supplies the tools you and your team will need to pursue it with passion, confidence, and urgency. Listen to what Larry Fast has to say about his new book, The 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence. Part One — Part Two
Manufacturers know the value of a knowledgeable workforce. The challenge today is finding skilled people to fill these positions. Since publication of the first edition in 1961, instructors, students, and practitioners have relied on Manufacturing Processes and Materials for the foundational knowledge needed to perform in manufacturing roles across a myriad of industries. As an on-the-job reference, anyone working in a technical department of a manufacturing company — regardless of education, experience, and skill level — will use this book to gain a basic understanding of manufacturing processes, materials, and equipment. Now in its fifth edition, the book covers the basic processes, materials, and machinery used in the job shop, toolroom, or small manufacturing facility. At the same time, it describes advanced equipment used in larger production environments. The reader is given a thorough review of metals, composites, plastics, and other engineering materials, including their physical properties, testing, treatment, and suitability for use in manufacturing. Quality, measurement and gaging, process planning and cost analysis, and manufacturing systems are all addressed. Questions and problems at the end of each chapter can be used as a self-test or as assignments in the classroom. Manufacturing Processes and Materials is also available as an eBook. Additional teaching materials for instructors: Instructor's Guide (eBook only)Instructor's Slides (zip file)
