Considering that the biggest machines that do the most work are made up of smaller machines and components, it becomes obvious that when a large machine breaks, it is normally due to small components acting antagonistically. Detailing a time-tested method for increasing productivity and lowering operational costs, Spend Analysis and Specification Development Using Failure Interpretation explains how to establish performance-based procurement specifications for the components, devices, and items that contribute the most to operational downtime and repair/replacement costs. The book emphasizes the critical need to perform both spend and failure analysis in order to develop a procurement document, which will ultimately reduce overall costs. Accompanied by downloadable resources with helpful material such as, specification checklists, case study worksheets, form letters, and return on investment (ROI) worksheets that you can customize to your needs, the text discusses how to: Identify the products that will cost the most if they fail Develop performance-based procurement specifications to reduce direct and indirect costs Examine cost analysis as it relates to operations, maintenance, and production Determine effective criteria based on properties, test results, and standards for each operation Written by an industry expert with decades of experience giving seminars, training customers and associates, and authoring numerous papers and articles, the text provides the real-world understanding of the influential components and materials' physical properties needed to engage in effective failure and spend analysis. It addresses product submission and monitoring and includes helpful tools so you can immediately get started on conducting your own cost-saving analysis.

Companies all over the world try their best to improve their business by implementing efforts such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, or a combination of the two methodologies. Logic would tell you that these two methods would be the right approach because you would have an improvement method that, through Lean, reduces waste and make value flow, while Six Sigma reduces and controls variation. If this were true, then why is it that many of these initiatives simply aren't delivering quantifiable bottom-line results? After having studied many of these on-going improvement efforts, the author believes that these efforts are missing an important focusing mechanism. That is, most of these improvement efforts attempt to improve "everything" rather than finding that key part of the system that should be assessed and improved, the constraining factor, and then focusing the improvement efforts there and only there. The hallmark of this book is how to first locate this constraining factor and then determine the best way to exploit it to generate extreme profits, radically improve on-time delivery of products or services and increase market share by outperforming your competition at rates you never expected possible. How do we do this? By combining Lean and Six Sigma with the Theory of Constraints. This book demonstrates both the basics of improvement (i.e. results) with the "how to" (i.e. the methodology) in a very simple format that everyone within your organization will understand.

Here is the first comprehensive and systematic explanation of the management system that drives the world's leading automaker. The development of JIT production at Toyota and the company's achievement of unprecedented levels of productivity were made possible by its supportive, integrated management system. This book reveals for the first time exactly how that management system works. It looks carefully at each of Toyota's seven management subsystems and how they work as an integrated whole.

An effective visual communication system can help manufacturing employees eliminate significant waste from daily tasks. From work-zone color coding to posted metrics, visual controls clarify and simplify the path to enhanced processes and profits. Leaving little to chance, Visual Controls: Applying Visual Management to the Factory provides a detailed explanation of how to apply the Lean principles of 5S to convert your factory to a fully functioning Visual Workplace. It covers the range of methods that collectively compose an effective visual management system and clearly explains management's role in creating a Lean strategy to accomplish the transformation. This book: Considers visual Kanban, material replenishment, and the implementation of a visual maintenance department Details management's role in implementing and sustaining a visual factory Covers the range of visual tools including tool boards, shadow boards, metrics communication boards, and tool check cards From plant layout and department setup to visual tools and parts, this book facilitates the comprehensive understanding required to initiate positive change through visual communication. The authors supply authoritative insight on how to hasten the required cultural changes, as well as step-by-step instruction for creating visual shadow boards. They also highlight time-tested methods for measuring progress and performance with improved accuracy.

Organizations enjoy two kinds of strategic advantages. One is transitory: being in the right place with the right products at the right time. The other comes from having first class management and instituting processes that mobilize an organization, keeping in ahead of the competition. Which would you like to count on for your organization's success?Integrating ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management, and Smart Materials explores how to create business opportunities and reap savings by: Restructuring and updating of ERP and CRM software as it integrates supply chain management and delivers new killer applications Evolving opportunities that will develop from the implementation of smart materials, automatic identification, classification systems, and quality assurance projects Auditing the implementation, operation, and maintenance of ERP and CRM software as well as the corrective action taken on the basis of resultsInternet commerce, online supply chain, and advances in technology - all available at increasingly lower costs - make systems of the past obsolete. However, just as new technology creates new opportunities, it can also create unforeseen consequences. By binding a wealth of interdependent issues between the covers of one book, Integrating ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management, and Smart Materials gives you the tools you need to create proprietary, high value-added solutions.

The philosophy of kaizen, which simply means continuous improvement, needs to adopted by any organization seeking to implement lean improvements that go beyond cost cutting. Kaizen events are opportunities to make focused changes in the workplace. Kaizen for the Shopfloor takes readers through the critical steps for conducting a very effective kaizen event: one that is well planned, well implemented, and well documented. As the newest addition to the Shingo Prize Winning Shopfloor Series, Kaizen for the Shopfloordistills the complexities of jumpstarting lean processes into an easily accessible format for those frontline employees who make lean possible. About the Shopfloor Series: Put proven improvement tools in the hands of your entire workforce! Progressive shopfloor improvement techniques are imperative for manufacturers who want to stay competitive and to achieve world class excellence. And it's the comprehensive education of all shopfloor workers that ensures full participation and success when implementing new programs. The Shopfloor Series books make practical information accessible to everyone by presenting major concepts and tools in simple, clear language and at a reading level that has been adjusted for operators by skilled instructional designers. One main idea is presented every two to four pages so that the book can be picked up and put down easily. Each chapter begins with an overview and ends with a summary section. Helpful illustrations are used throughout. Other topics in the Shopfloor Series: Kanban, 5S, Quick Changeover, Mistake-Proofing, Just-in-Time, TPM, Cellular Manufacturing

For more than 50 years, organizations of all types have struggled to achieve lasting benefits from the many tools and programs associated with various continuous-improvement initiatives. In fact, the notion of "continuous" improvement is largely a misnomer -- for many organizations, continuous improvement has been anything but continuous. Responding to this challenge, Hearing the Voice of the Shingo Principles chronicles key insights that went into development of the Shingo Model for Operational Excellence at Utah State University. While responsible for the Shingo Prize at USU, the author observed that even recipients -- theoretically, the best of the best -- were experiencing this same up-and-down phenomenon. It was as though many of these organizations were reviewed on their very best days but then started declining from that point forward. To build long-term credibility of the Shingo Prize, the author and his team had to understand what was causing such wide variation in results and make certain they were only recognizing those organizations that could demonstrate sustainability of improvements over the long term. They found that sustainability depended less on application of the tools for improvement than on embedding principles deep into the culture of the organization from top to bottom and side to side. This book helps leaders understand their role in building sustainable cultures of enterprise excellence - That is, how to keep the entire enterprise focused on guiding principles that will change beliefs, behaviors, and the overall mindset. In addition, managers will learn how to align systems with principles so that they drive ideal, principle-based behaviors - the goal is for every leader to realign their values with the voice of principles and become an example so that every associate becomes self-motivated to continuously improve every aspect for which they are accountable.

Visible knowledge is a tool nearly lost in the West, but it has been used to great effect by Toyota in its 50-year march from noncompetitiveness to its current status as the second largest automobile company in the world. It is key for the 50% growth in market share Toyota plans for this decade despite worldwide overcapacity in the auto business. This book presents the reader with a systematic approach to create, capture, and display knowledge in a way that allows development teams to optimize the design of their products and production processes. Visible knowledge not only applies to knowledge management, but provides a means of collaboration to facilitate better decision-making in the development process. This book has evolved out of a manuscript that Allen Ward, the foremost U.S. expert on lean product development, was writing at the time of his untimely death. It is not intended to be a treatise of Lean product development methods. Quite the opposite-it is focused on one small piece, "visible knowledge." It is, however, one technique that Dantar Oosterwal and Durward Sobek have found to be very effective at Harley-Davidson and other places, and a tool that can make a difference whether used by itself or as a starting point for a larger journey into Lean product development. In completing this work, Oosterwal and Sobek kept the aim true to Allen's original intent. The preface and first three chapters are essentially Allen's original intellectual contribution. They have made editorial changes to improve readability and clarity of explanation. Throughout, they have attempted to preserve Allen's voice in the writing, even keeping the narrative in first person as it was originally written. They have also added a fourth chapter that highlights some practical ways to apply the ideas presented in earlier chapters, illustrated with case examples from their experience.

Hiroyuki Hirano's five pillars of the visual workplace: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain are the most fundamental and often overlooked aspects in continuous improvement initiatives. Together, these concepts form the framework of the 5S System, a set of principles whose simplicity often betrays its powerful impact on the workplace.So much of the 5S System seems like common sense, that it is astonishing how often such seemingly simple practices are absent in manufacturing operations. That is why Productivity Press is proud to bring you 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace, a hands-on book that explains the principles, rationale and implementation details of the 5S System. Easy-to-read and apply, each section of the text is loaded with questions, outlines, summaries, diagrams and illustrations. Most importantly, 5S for Operators provides the foundational knowledge that is essential for implementing not just the 5S System, but overall manufacturing improvements like shorter equipment changeovers, just-in-time inventory, total quality management and total productive maintenance. Since its publication in 1996, 5S for Operators has been and continues to be hugely popular, consistently ranking among Productivity's list of top-sellers, and its popularity is not hard to understand. 5S has proven its worth in one company after another, consistently reducing waste, guaranteeing product quality, ensuring safety and increasing the bottom line. With 5S for Operators, the 5S System can have the same profound effect on your operations. To introduce the 5S system and sell its use to executives as well as workers, consider purchasing: 5S System: An Introduction DVD (Catalog no. PP5934) Adhering to the principle of efficiency that defines this revolutionary and proven system, this video succinctly explains what is involved, who should participate, and what it will take to get started

Wavelets: Theory and Applications for Manufacturing presents a systematic description of the fundamentals of wavelet transform and its applications. Given the widespread utilization of rotating machines in modern manufacturing and the increasing need for condition-based, as opposed to fix-interval, intelligent maintenance to minimize machine down time and ensure reliable production, it is of critical importance to advance the science base of signal processing in manufacturing. This volume also deals with condition monitoring and health diagnosis of rotating machine components and systems, such as bearings, spindles, and gearboxes, while also: -Providing a comprehensive survey on wavelets specifically related to problems encountered in manufacturing -Discussing the integration of wavelet transforms with other soft computing techniques such as fuzzy logic, for machine defect and severity classification -Showing how to custom design wavelets for improved performance in signal analysis Focusing on wavelet transform as a tool specifically applied and designed for applications in manufacturing, Wavelets: Theory and Applications for Manufacturing presents material appropriate for both academic researchers and practicing engineers working in the field of manufacturing.

Many chemists - especially those most brilliant in their field - fail to appreciate the power of planned experimentation. They dislike the mathematical aspects of statistical analysis. In addition, these otherwise very capable chemists also dismissed predictive models based only on empirical data. Ironically, in the hands of subject matter experts like these elite chemists, the statistical methods of mixture design and analysis provide the means for rapidly converging on optimal compositions. What differentiates Formulation Simplified from the standard statistical texts on mixture design is that the authors make the topic relatively easy and fun to read. They provide a whole new collection of insighful original studies that illustrate the essentials of mixture design and analysis. Solid industrial examples are offered as problems at the end of many chapters for those who are serious about trying new tools on their own. Statistical software to do the computations can be freely accessed via a web site developed in support of this book.

Achieving a long-term acceptable level of manufacturing profitability through productivity requires the total commitment of management teams and all staff in any manufacturing company and beyond. Awareness and continuous improvement of manufacturing costs behind losses and waste is the core goal of the Manufacturing Cost Policy Deployment (MCPD). Achieving this goal will continually uncover the hidden reserves of profitability through a harmonious transformation of the manufacturing flow, coordinated by the continuous need to improve manufacturing costs. Setting annual targets and means for manufacturing costs improvement (more exactly for costs of losses and waste, and the exact fulfillment of these) requires mobilization of all people in the company to carry out systematic improvement activities (kaizen) and systemic improvement actions (kaikaku) of the processes of each product family cost. The MCPD system was born out of careful observation of the challenges, principles, and phenomena of manufacturing companies and the profound discussions with the people in these companies at all levels. Manufacturing Cost Policy Deployment (MCPD) Transformation: Uncovering Hidden Reserves of Profitability is organized in three sections. The first section presents the concept and the need for an MCPD system from a managerial perspective. In the second section, the transformation of manufacturing companies through the MCPD system is presented, more precisely the details of the initial steps of the implementation of the MCPD, the three phases and the seven steps of the MCPD, and the elements necessary for a constant and consistent application of the MCPD. In the last section, there are two examples of the MCPD implementation in two different types of industries, namely, manufacturing and assembly industry and process industry, and two case studies for the improvement of manufacturing costs for each (cost of equipment setup loss, using kaizenshiro; replacement of bottleneck equipment and associated costs of losses, using kaikaku; cost of quality losses with improving operators' skills to sustain quality, using kaizen; and cost problem solving with the consumption of lubricants for one of the equipment, using A3).

The first edition of this highly acclaimed publication received a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize in 2009. Explaining how to create and sustain a Lean business, it followed Cogent Power's first two Lean Roadmaps along their journey. Since then, much has changed. Several members of Cogent Power's senior management have moved on, steel prices have declined, and the credit crisis has sparked an unstable global economy. Set against these developments, Staying Lean: Thriving, Not Just Surviving, Second Edition reports on Cogent Power's response to these issues detailing how they worked through their third Lean Roadmap. It also: Guides readers with readily reproducible advice and an easy-to-follow model for sustaining Lean improvements Presents a case study of a successful multinational Lean implementation Covers a six-year Lean transformation from start to finish, illustrating the application of three distinct roadmaps Focusing on how to sustain change, the new edition of this bestselling reference, illustrates the experience of a multi-national company that successfully implemented Lean in its manufacturing and commercial operations. Based on a model of sustainable change, the text defines by example the elements of successful Lean management that are often difficult to emulate as well as the more visible features of process management.

Change Management: Manage Change or It Will Manage You represents a substantial core guidance effort for Change Management practitioners. Organizations currently contend with increasingly higher levels of knowledge-driven competition. Many attempt to meet the challenge by investing in expensive knowledge-driven change management systems. Such systems are useless, and sometimes even harmful, for making strategic decisions because they do not distinguish between what is strategically relevant and what is not. This Management-for-Results Handbook focuses on identifying and managing the specific, critical knowledge assets that your organization needs to disrupt your competitors, including tacit experience of key employees, a deep understanding of customers needs, valuable patents and copyrights, shared industry practices, and customer- and supplier-generated innovations. The authors present two aspects of Change Management: (1) traditional Change Management as it impacts the project management team's activities and (2) a suggested new approach to Change Management directed at changing the culture. The focus is to prepare the people impacted by the project and change activities to accept and adapt to the new/changed working conditions. The first half of the book deals with traditional Change Management, which covers the topics of remembering, understanding, and applying. The second half presents the authors new approach to changing the culture, which deals with analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

This is a primary text project that combines sustainability development with engineering entrepreneurship and design to present a transdisciplinary approach to modern engineering education. The book is distinguished by extensive descriptions of concepts in sustainability, its principles, and its relevance to environment, economy, and society. It can be read by all engineers regardless of their disciplines as well as by engineering students as they would be future designers of products and systems. This book presents a flexible organization of knowledge in various fields, which allows to be used as a text in a number of courses including for example, engineering entrepreneurship and design, engineering innovation and leadership, and sustainability in engineering design

The Excellent Education System:Using Six Sigma to Transform Schools helps you discover and understand the technique of evidence-based learning and operations through which the modern school satisfies the need to increase the flow of successful students through the educational system from Kindergarten through Grade 12. This book explains, in clear terms, what educational excellence means and the principles of process improvement. In addition, it gives your an introduction to the Six Sigma methodology. Included in the discussion are case studies of educational professionals who have found a new world centered in the evidence-based educational processes. These processes lead to many examples of dramatic turnarounds in some failing schools. The author presents strategies and actions that you can use to improve schools such as those presented in the case studies. The Appendices provide a wide variety of tactical resources for implementation.

Process Implementation Through 5S: Laying the Foundation for Lean explains how to implement standardized work and visual controls through Plan Do Check Adjust (PDCA). The author uses PDCA to outline the book and explains how 5S (Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) and Standardization are not only foundational parts of the PDCA for your Lean transformation, but are actually PDCA processes within themselves. The book provides a road map to implement new processes. In addition, it shows how this same implementation process can be used to shore up existing processes and improve upon them. Once you walk through this process with your team, you not only will have laid the foundation for Lean in your organization, but will have laid the foundation for PDCA and for building an army of problem solvers. This transformation is what ultimately will add value to your customer base and drive the business results you are looking for. These Lean tools are not an end to a means, but rather a means to an end. The purpose is not to implement these tools, check off the box, and then move on to the next area. Rather, they are tools designed to engage your team and help your team see problems, which you then can solve. This is the continuous improvement culture most organizations and Lean leaders seek.

In 2005, Goodyear s research and development (RandD) engine was not performing up to its full potential. The RandD organization developed high-quality tires, but the projects were not always successful. Goodyear embarked on a major initiative to transform its innovation creation processes by learning, understanding, and applying lean product development principles. Within five years, Goodyear saw its product development cycle times slashed by 70 percent, on-time delivery performance rise close to 100 percent, and throughput improve three-fold all achieved with no increase in the RandD budget.Lean-Driven Innovation: Powering Product Development at The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company describes in great detail how the Goodyear team was able to achieve such significant improvements. Revealing the ups and downs of this successful transformation, the book shares experiences of how this seismic change was managed, how people were engaged, and how Goodyear dramatically reinvigorated its product development and innovation processes and, in the process, delivered substantial more value to customers and to the company.The book also explains how lean product development helped Goodyear dramatically improve revenue by having every new product available when the market needed it. Presenting wide-ranging perspectives from all levels of leadership, this book is ideal for anyone in RandD daring to take on a lean initiative in RandD or who is struggling with a lean transformation that is not delivering to its full potential. Since the book focuses on universal lean principles, it is as insightful to other manufacturing and nonmanufacturing disciplines in any industry as well.The book presents invaluable insights gained by the author during his 36 years within Goodyear, of which 10 have been directly involved in trying to develop, implement, and sustain lean to achieve the company s business objectives. It distills ideas, prac

Applying lean to the supply chain is a hot topic. While lean operations can produce significant benefits to an organization, the greatest benefits will not be realized unless lean is extended beyond the organization to involve both suppliers and customers. Lean Supply Chain: Collected Practices and Cases provides a variety of case studies taken from articles previously published in Lean Manufacturing Advisor -- the monthly newsletter by Productivity Press.

In a "pull" production system, the final process pulls needed parts from the previous process, which pulls from the process before it, and so on, as determined by customer demand. This allows you to operate without preset schedules and avoid unnecessary costs, wastes, and delays on the manufacturing floor. Pull Production for the Shopfloor introduces production teams and managers to basic pull production concepts, enabling them to begin understanding, planning, and implementing this lean tool. Use this book to get everyone on board to reduce work in process inventory, lead-time, and other profit-draining expenses. This book will enable plant managers to explain and thereby get support the support they need from higher management for their pull implementation efforts. In this book you will learn about: Key concepts and applications of pull production The five steps to implementing a pull production system Production leveling Line balancing Managing pull production with kanban One-piece flow production Linking your suppliers to your pull production systemProductivity's Shopfloor Series books offer a simple, cost-effective approach for building basic knowledge about key manufacturing improvement topics. Like all our Shopfloor Series books, Pull Production for the Shopfloor includes innovative instructional features that are the signature of the Shopfloor Series. The goal: to place powerful and proven improvement tools such as pull production techniques in the hands of your entire workforce. Key learning features include: Well-organized, and easy-to-assimilate learning Chapter overviews and summaries Questions throughout each chapter to help you apply the learning to your own workplace Drawings and illustrations Margin icons that flag definitions, main points, and other highlights

Presenting an alternate approach to supply chain management, Lean Supply Chain Management Essentials: A Framework for Materials Managers explains why the traditional materials planning environment, typically embodied by an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, is an ineffective support system for a company that wants to adopt Lean practices. It begins by defining supply chain management basics, including roles, objectives, and responsibilities from a traditional framework. Next, it describes Lean basics and explores the conflicts between Lean and the traditional framework. The book focuses on the materials management aspects of Lean, such as leveling work into the value stream, heijunka scheduling, standard work, and the concept of intervals, including Every Part Every Interval (EPEI). By combining traditional materials management tools, such as Sales and Operations Planning (SandOP), with Lean manufacturing approaches and applying them to different manufacturing environments, the authors clarify the logic behind why you are doing what you're doing with Lean components and how they fit together as a system. Specifically, they explain how to: Determine which leveling strategy to use to smooth production Calculate interval to determine lot sizes in various production environments Apply Lean to purchasing, warehouse, and logistics areas Use your value stream map for green initiatives and risk management Replace capacity planning and shop floor control with visual factory, operator balance charts, EPEI, and plan for every part Illustrating why balancing demand and capacity is better than trying to balance supply and demand, the book includes a definitive chart that matches Lean tools to the planning and control charts that have served as the model for ERP systems. It integrates the principles learned from Toyota's fift

By simultaneously examining the concerns of design, production, purchasing, finance, and marketing from the very first stages of product planning, concurrent engineering makes doing it right the first time the rule instead of the exception. This should be the first book managers read when they are ready to eliminate waste in the product development process. An introductory handbook, it gives managers 16 clear guidelines for achieving concurrent engineering and contains abundant case studies of Japanese, U.S., and European company success stories. The book also: Defines the concurrent engineering task force as a full-time, multidisciplinary unit of operation. Discusses the necessary interdependence of concurrent engineering, Quality Function Deployment, Total Quality Control, and CAD/CAM. Shows how concurrent engineering can be structured to fit your company and used to gain flexibility and efficiency.

While more and more companies are aggressively pursuing Operational Excellence by employing Six Sigma, Lean, and other continuous improvement methods, the concept has yet to be defined in a way that can be easily taught and applied, especially in industries other than manufacturing. This book fills that need.Beyond the Lean Office uses a compelling novel format to illustrate what it takes to create and sustain flow and Operational Excellence in the office. Readers learn as they follow the main character through initial attempts to correct late responses to a primary customer and the evolution to an approach based on Operational Excellence. The story illustrates the day-to-day issues that most organizations face in their pursuit of Operational Excellence.To achieve Operational Excellence, it takes more than just a strong leader with passion and drive. The key ingredient is practical knowledge that can be applied quickly and easily by following a process. This book supplies step-by-step guidance on how to move your office services from point A to point B. The practical insights and guidance presented here create a road map that can be shared with each employee to rapidly move your organization forward. All chapters also include a From the Author section that shares authoritative insights on the topic at hand.After reading this book, you will understand how to design and create self-healing flow that provides reliable, predictable output in the office and operates without the need for management intervention to deliver the services provided by the office. Instead, management focuses on the activities that grow your enterprise.

When I was first given the job of managing a small plastics factory back in 1989, I quickly realized that most of the books and teaching on Lean Manufacturing were designed for big companies and were not relevant to my factory.-Tim Mclean The last 25 years has seen Tim lead and assist over 100 small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) manufacturing operations. This experience has now been condensed in to Grow Your Factory, Grow your Profits: Lean for Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises, a start-to-finish guide on how to run a successful small and medium-sized manufacturing operation. The book presents case studies, practical examples, illustrations, charts, and pictures from real SME manufacturers to provide straightforward solutions to the issues facing every growing manufacturing business. In the book, Tim McLean explains: How to recruit the right people and design the right organization How to empower those people to take accountability and free yourself up from day to day "fire fighting" How to develop a Lean Plant Layout that will maximize productivity and optimize the use of space How to manage materials in order to slash inventory and shortages How to schedule production in order to cut lead times, cut inventory, and delight customers How to get started on a Lean transformation when you lack the resources of a big company The book details how SMEs differ from large organizations and why the approach to improvement must also be different. Covering the complete life cycle of small and medium-sized manufacturers, the book addresses a different SME manufacturing issue in each chapter. This enables readers to tackle issues at their own pace and in their own order of priority. Grow Your Factory, Grow Your Profits is essential reading for owners, managers, and operational leaders in the 90 percent of manufacturing enterprises that are small or medium sized.

This book is aimed at manufacturing and planning managers who struggle to bring a greater degree of stability and more effective use of assets to their operations, not realizing the degree to which production scheduling affects those objectives. It has been reported that 75% of the problems on the manufacturing floor are caused by activities outside the plant floor. Poor production scheduling strategies and systems are often the biggest contributors to the 75%. The book explains in detail that no scheduling strategy, and especially no transition to a different and better scheduling strategy, will succeed without strong commitment and guidance from senior leadership. Leadership must understand their active role in the transition, that people will feel uncomfortable and even threatened by change, and that they will need to be measured by different standards. Effective scheduling requires that following the schedule and production to plan is more important than trying to maximize each day's throughput. The book explains the advantages of a structured, regularly repeating schedule: how it can increase throughput, right-size inventory based on cycles and variabilities and therefore make it more usable, and improve customer delivery. It will explain the trade-offs between throughput, inventory, and delivery performance, how those trade-offs are actually decided in production scheduling, and how an appropriate scheduling strategy can make the trade-offs and their ramifications visible. It discusses several popular structured scheduling concepts, their similarities, and differences, to allow the readers to decide which might fit best in their environments. In addition, the authors discuss what makes an appropriate scheduling software system, and why a package designed for structured scheduling offers capabilities well beyond the Excel workbooks used by many companies, and how it offers much more design capability and ease of use than the finite scheduling modules in SAP or Oracle. Finally, the authors offer a proven roadmap for implementation, critical success factors necessary to achieve the full potential, and give examples of operations that have done this well. In addition, a guide for leaders and managers post-implementation is provided to help them fully exploit the advantages of a structured, repeating scheduling strategy.