Many shops have simplified their production control by using card-based systems such as kanban and Constant Work-in-Process (ConWIP). Although these systems provide a simple and highly effective visual approach for controlling manufacturing and service operations, all too many shops struggle with failed implementations or achieve results that fall below expectations. These outcomes can be attributed to a poor fit between the actual control problem and the solution applied.This book takes a different approach to most other books on the subject as it starts with an introduction to the control problem, instead of the control solution. Card-Based Control Systems for a Lean Work Design outlines how the problems encountered in typical manufacturing shops and service providers can be characterized, which allows for improved problem diagnosis.The first four chapters of the book lay the foundations for problem diagnosis. The next three chapters then discuss, in sequence, each of the three "traditional" card-based control systems: kanban, ConWIP, and Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA). The book explains how each of these card-based control systems works and identifies the specific type of control problem to which each system applies.The next two chapters focus on Control of Balance by Card-Based Navigation (COBACABANA), a system developed for high-variety shops producing made-to-order, customized products. This is the first book to discuss this novel approach, which includes the use of cards to estimate due dates or delivery time allowances.The book closes with a framework that provides guidance on which system to apply. This framework contrasts the control problem with the control solution. The potential of combining card-based systems is also discussed to create a nested solution.

Most books about continuous and process improvement are written in a textbook format with straightforward information and plenty of graphs and charts to convey the points being made. Sometimes, even the best step-by-step instructions can escape even the most adamant of followers for an improvement method in determining exactly how to apply what they ve learned.Taking a different approach, Focus and Leverage is presented in an engaging business-novel format and is a sequel to the authors bestselling book, Epiphanized, Second Edition. The primary characters remain the same, but this time the storyline features two different industries: Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) and Healthcare (hospital) environments.This book expands and highlights the two improvement methods first introduced in the appendix section of Epiphanized: the Interference Diagram (ID)/Intermediate Objectives (IO) map (ID/IO Simplified Strategy) and Multiple-Drum-Buffer-Rope (M-DBR).Both of these innovative methods are the result of some much-focused thinking that allows for multiple improvement methods, and steps, to be combined into a single thinking process tool. This groundbreaking new method is designed to save time and money and allows faster and better results to be achieved.The two storylines move the reader through the necessary system analysis, problem identification, and solution implementation. The novel format aids in presenting several realistic situational discussions as well as a multitude of graphs and figures to explain the step-by-step process for success.The storyline of this book weaves some well-known and some not-so-well-known thinking tools into the problem-solving sphere to provide you with an understanding of how to first discover and then overcome issues not readily known or expected at the start of any project.

Created by Lean practitioners with real-world, results-proven track records, this book is designed to help struggling managers and leaders, interested in the benefits of Lean but bereft of budgets to hire full-time consultants, start substantial change in their enterprises and begin to reap the benefits of Lean.At once a how-to manual and a strategic management guide, the book lays out, in simple English, all the steps for implementing Lean, from formulating a strategy and managing organizational change, to establishing a kanban-driven, level-loaded production system.Presenting strategies that will fit in most existing budgets, Lean for the Cash-Strapped Leader: The Path to Growth and Profitability uses easy-to-read language with flashes of humor to reveal proven methods that will help your organization initiate change and begin reaping the rewards of a Lean operations system in any industry.The book avoids acronyms, complex Lean terminology, and academic froth to convey the essential instructions, detail, and information you need. Identifying powerful methods for initiating a Lean value stream that require minimal investment, the book is designed to help owners of small businesses and senior managers of larger ones make their enterprises more efficient, more productive, and ultimately more profitable.Along the way, the book gives detailed attention to the need for the "soft message" that underwrites and supports the actions required for a business to achieve the transformation that Lean can bring. Lean for the Cash-Strapped Leader emphasizes the messaging and the degree of management involvement required to achieve a successful Lean result. Learn more about the book at: http://www.leanforthecashstrappedleader.com/

How many IT books have you read that are long on theory and short on practical application? They are interesting, but not very impactful. They provide a framework from which to think and understand, but lack a process from which to act. Addressing this urgent need for the IT community, The Lean IT Field Guide explains how to initiate, execute, and sustain a lean IT transformation.Illuminating a clear path to lean IT, the authors integrate more than two decades of combined experience to provide you with a proven method for creating and sustaining a true lean IT workplace. This field guide not only highlights the organizational techniques of more agile and lean processes, but also the leadership work required to help management adopt these new approaches.Based on proven methods from different industries, including banking, manufacturing, insurance, food and beverage, and logistics, the book details a clear model that covers all the components you need to achieve and sustain a favorable work environment and culture in support of lean IT.Filled with anecdotes and case studies from actual businesses, the book includes pictures, templates, and examples that illustrate the application of the lean methods discussed.

Although batching often appears more efficient than one-piece flow for individual tasks, the practice creates waste for other parts of the organization that more than offset its perceived benefits. A silent productivity killer, batching is an extremely difficult mindset to overcome and, as a result, numerous Lean initiatives have been destroyed by it.This book argues the case for one-piece flow over batching. It identifies the eight root causes of batching, the wastes created from batching, how batching drives the eight wastes, and the advantages of one-piece flow.One-Piece Flow vs. Batching: A Guide to Understanding How Continuous Flow Maximizes Productivity and Customer Value provides concrete arguments as to why batching, while sometimes necessary, is never the most efficient solution for most processes. It explains why flow, especially one-piece flow or continuous flow, should always be your ultimate objective when driving for increased productivity in any process.Using case studies to illustrate how to channel current mindsets toward one-piece flow as the preferred operation, the book is designed to support anyone involved in continuous improvement activities. It provides the tools and understanding you will need to overcome resistance to implementing flow and, in particular, one-piece flow processes whether it be on the factory floor or in a banking office.

Unlike other books that promote a specific process and performance improvement discipline, this book shows organizations how to achieve success by fixing basic operational issues and problems using a broad and wide-sweeping process-based toolkit. In addition, it helps individuals who have worked in stale- or siloed-thinking enterprises make the transition to a process or improvement-oriented culture and teaches those who are unfamiliar with process tools to look at their work with a new lens and adopt a continuous improvement and analytical-thinking mindset. The authors have successfully used the various methods, tools, and concepts found in this book to overcome practical, daily problems at various organizations. This book will surely help operators, managers, practitioners, and executives, who are charged with improving processes and workplace culture, produce better products and services.

In an environment where many organizations think of human capital assets as little more than expense items that impact the bottom line, this book will help human resource (HR) professionals initiate a shift toward a new culture in which management views employees as true partners in achieving organizational success.The Field Guide to Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma provides detailed guidance on how to utilize the Six Sigma methodology and the TLS Continuum to achieve the business model that is required to thrive in today's business environment. The book demonstrates a clear path to continuous improvement that is based on the practice of spreading quality throughout the organization so that it becomes everyone's responsibility.This book is the sequel to Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma. In this book, Daniel Bloom provides a road map on how to implement the concepts found in the first book.The book begins by explaining how to create an HR Center of Excellence and then provides an understanding of the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) process and its implementation for HR. This road map will help you determine where your organization is failing to meet the voice of the customer.The book presents proven Six Sigma solutions for initiating and sustaining organizational change as well as strategies that allow leadership to make adjustments to processes if your organization falls short of meeting the need of the customer. It includes case studies of organizations that have successfully utilized the Six Sigma methodology to improve workflow and correct HR issues including the actual project documents used to implement the methodology.A word of caution: If the reason you are looking to improve work flow is to find ways to reduce headcount, then this is not the book for you. Instead, if you are looking for a guide that can help you become a strategic partner, administrative expert, employe

Updating the tools, principles, and methods presented in the bestselling first edition, this updated edition explains how to implement the authors proven improvement methodology that unifies the Theory of Constraints with Lean and Six Sigma. The book uses a compelling novel format to demonstrate how to achieve superior on-time delivery along with unprecedented levels of profitability.Besides explaining how to implement the authors unified improvement methodology, the book arms readers with a proven method for convincing management that using the improvement methodology outlined in the text will lead to significantly higher levels of profitability.This edition has been updated with an expanded appendix that includes more in-depth discussions of the tools covered in the first edition. This edition also sheds more light on the reasoning behind why the very best improvement results can be achieved by the unification of the Theory of Constraints, Lean, and Six Sigma (TLS). The appendix also provides additional detail about how the concepts covered in the book can be applied to your organization.The primary theme throughout this book is the focus on the unity and enhancement of improvement tools and methods. The book includes an appendix that allows readers to explore, in much more detail, the principles, tools, and techniques presented in the novel portion of the book.The authors detail a pioneering pathway for significant gains in profitability and market share for any company choosing to implement the methodologies that are presented. Some of the concepts, tools, and principles presented may seem counterintuitive to many readers, but if the principles are understood and followed, the exceptional results are sure to follow

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.

Since the publication of its Shingo Prize-winning predecessor, TWI programs have seen steady growth in usage. As a true understanding of Standard Work has developed, the need for the TWI skills as fundamental tools to achieve Lean objectives has been solidified.The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors, Second Edition has been completely updated to the latest terminology and practice. This edition includes revised forms and tools, as well as new examples that illustrate current day TWI practice. Emphasizing the importance of accident and injury prevention, this edition includes an entirely new section on Job Safety, a fourth TWI module that was developed in Japan using the identical TWI methodology of the original three programs introduced in the original work. This updated edition includes new chapters on: Four Steps of Job Safety: Preventing Accidents before They Happen Two Key Aspects to Safety: Things and People Practicing the JS Method TWI's Problem Solving Training In addition to a new chapter on the TWI problem-solving methodology, this edition contains a new introduction with a more complete description of how TWI was reintroduced into American industry, including detailed information on the contribution TWI made at Toyota that was not available when the original book was published.Focusing on how the TWI skills create and support standardized work as the foundation for Lean and continuous improvement, the book includes detailed explanations on how to determine important steps and find key points that lead the way to standardized work. A new section on making a balanced breakdown has also been added, with new examples of Job Instruction breakdowns. The book also features a new conclusion that compares the historical role of TWI with what companies today are experiencing using the TWI methodology.

Mastering Complexity is designed to help readers develop and maintain logical, adaptable solutions to business problems. It demonstrates how to visualize business dependency connections with a square spreadsheet called a Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM). Once the links representing dependencies are visualized in a DSM, it can be used to improve the business. The book focuses on simple practices that the reader can easily understand to solve business problems on his or her own. The book begins by identifying how logical elements are represented in a DSM spreadsheet. It shows where the elements can run in parallel, where the elements must run in sequence, and where the elements are tangled together. The book shows how to untangle these elements so they can be understood. The book then demonstrates how to build a dependency map in a DSM spreadsheet. It defines the various types of dependencies and shows how to order the spreadsheet elements to create a workflow. The author shows how to assign risk levels to the spreadsheet elements so a workflow can be optimized to manage risk. The book concludes with a look at several software tools that can be used to create, manipulate, and analyze DSM spreadsheets. It discusses how the tools work and where they can be ordered.

Without Lean leaders, there can be no Lean. If an organization wants to be Lean, its leaders must lead using Lean principles. Put another way, until the top of your organization fully embraces Lean, the rest of your organization will never be Lean.The Lean Leader: A Personal Journey of Transformation uses a compelling novel format to tackle the nuts and bolts of leading a Lean transformation. Readers follow along as the characters face real crises and what seem to be unreasonable deadlines. As the story progresses, readers will see how the main character, Don, and his colleagues transform from being "command and control" autocrats those who make decisions and bark orders to more Socratic coaches and mentors.As Don and his staff come to realize that the folks they employ are the real experts in the processes they control, you will learn why it behooves you to do more asking than telling. You will come to realize that a leader's greatest skill must be in coaching great performance from their people. You will also witness the difference between managing and leading.After reading this book, you will understand why it's so important to shed the decision-making tasks that have cluttered your days, and how to delegate those decisions to employees who are closer to the action. You will learn how important it is to look over the horizon to identify upcoming challenges, define and communicate new courses of action, and compel others to follow.Most importantly, you will learn exactly what it takes to lead a Lean organization that thrives socially, as well as financially.

The conditions in which leaders apply Hoshin Planning today have changed substantially since the method was established in the 1950's. There is better and more broadly distributed understanding of statistical process improvement principles and practices in today's organizations. Executives seem to rotate in and out of organizations with more frequency. Organizational structures are often more fluid and open. Markets change much faster, employees have greater expectations for stimulation and growth from their work, and technology is central to everything we do. To correctly apply Hoshin Planning, we must consider this modern, more complex environment.Unfortunately, a solid understanding of Hoshin mechanics, techniques, and tools isn't always enough to achieve outstanding performance. This book examines Hoshin Planning a little less through the controllable lens of methodology and more through the ever-shifting and imperfect lens of daily life in organizations.Picking up where many Hoshin "how-to" books leave off, this book presents practical ideas and tools for overcoming the messier obstacles faced by today's executives and planning professionals. You will learn ways to work your strategic planning productively in the face of sometimes tough challenges, such as working with unions, planning during an acquisition, and dealing with measurement fatigue.This book addresses these and other issues with a candid, practical, and compassionate eye. Using real stories and examples, Boisvert shares valuable observations she's made through nearly two decades of consulting with organizations.Inevitably, your organization will experience unplanned events and surprising results that will require modification of what looked like perfectly good plans. A reliable practice of Hoshin stays on its toes. Flexibility, alertness, pragmatism, and thoughtful, hardworking leadership are the themes of this book.

As companies continue their efforts to improve work performance, they must ensure that their ongoing Lean activities include a healthy appreciation for, and recognition of, human performance. Ignoring the human component of work performance can be a recipe for unnecessary waste, inefficiency, and decreased productivity. Lean Human Performance Improvement presents a broad overview of human performance in the workplace. The author discusses his findings from a broad spectrum of human performance-related fields and diverse industrial sectors (gained by working in the field for over 30 years). Organized in three sections, this book covers understanding human performance, analyzing and improving work productivity, and analyzing and improving quality and safety. The author first develops a fundamental and basic understanding of human performance, then couples that understanding with learning how to analyze and improve human-related work productivity and quality and safety. He also discusses how knowledge and skills transfer from one work setting to another. Intended for Lean Six Sigma team members and human performance improvement practitioners, the book contains multiple examples from diverse work settings to explain key points. It also includes several major case studies. The goal of all examples and case studies is to develop a generic understanding that, in turn, can be successfully applied to any work setting.

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

A Lean Safety Gemba Walk is a walk through the work area (Gemba) that focuses on the continuous improvement of safety. When conducted in a respectful manner, by skilled facilitators, Safety Gemba Walks can have a dramatic long-lasting impact on the culture of a business. Lean Safety Gemba Walks: A Methodology for Workforce Engagement and Culture Change is a follow-up to the author's bestselling book, Lean Safety, published in 2010. It is a natural progression from the philosophical overview provided by Lean Safety to the reality of the application of those principles in facilities around the world.This book presents a collection of Lean Safety Gemba Walk case studies that are based on the author's experiences over the last four years. As the stories unfold, readers are transported on a journey of discovery through the Gemba and begin to see safety differently just as those who physically participated. Illustrating the importance of employee engagement and culture change, the book provides you with the tools to engage managers, employees, and hourly staff in the continuous improvement of safety. The concepts covered will allow you to empower employees to make a difference in their safety culture rather than simply complying with safety rules.

The Lean Expert: Educating and Elevating Lean Practitioners Throughout Your Organization outlines a method that can help organizations engage associates and empower them to achieve "expert status" in the nine core principles of Lean. By implementing the Lean Discipline Expert process detailed in the book, companies will demonstrate to their associates that they believe they are the organization's greatest assets, while empowering them to make lasting improvements to the organization. The book provides a robust and proven process for creating a Lean culture. It outlines a method, with defined steps, for the development of Lean Discipline Resource People that will help associates achieve "expert status" in the core Lean principles of 5S Visual Management, Value Stream Mapping, Standard Work, Total Productive Maintenance, Quick Changeover, Error Proofing, Process Problem Solving, Material Management, and Continuous Improvement.You will be able develop Lean strategies, create a Master Schedule, initiate activities for supporting goals and objectives, and complete a Train-the-Trainer class as well as achieve facilitation skills to teach, communicate, guide, and lead Lean overview training as well as comprehensive subject-matter training. In addition, you will understand how the Lean Discipline Expert process can help to support associate involvement at all levels and learn where and how the nine principles overlap and interact. By engaging and empowering various levels of associates throughout the organization, you will provide strength and ownership for your business and, most importantly, your associates. The book includes access to additional resources on the book's page at www.crcpress.com. It includes a tracking mechanism for monitoring candidate progress, facilitation feedback forms, LDE checklists, and certificates of accomplishment you can use to acknowledge associates that achieve Lean Discipline Expert status.

The fact that a process produces garbage is a testament to design inefficiency, and this book explains how to use the nature of that garbage to pinpoint and eliminate those inefficiencies. Lean Waste Stream: Reducing Material Use and Garbage Using Lean Principles supplies an unprecedented look at how to address business waste in a manner that will improve your organization's environmental and financial performance.Tackling the problem of business garbage from a Lean perspective, the book maintains a focus on how to minimize garbage in ways that cut costs. It considers the problem of garbage in terms of transportation, inventory, and labor costs with an effort to connect reductions in garbage production at all stages with lower operating costs and improved productivity.Explaining how to use garbage analysis as a tool to identify the problems in process flow that produced the garbage, this book describes how to look downstream for options to reuse, repurpose, and recycle garbage to minimize landfill impact and costs. The text includes practical exercises with step-by-step instructions, as well as real-world examples that illustrate how specific wastes have been dealt with profitably by various organizations.

A facilitator has been traditionally defined as someone who helps a group of people understand their objectives, and assists them in planning to achieve them, without taking a position in the discussion. Recently, the International Standards Organization's (ISO's) implementation and other long-term, multi-year team involvement has challenged neutrality in all cases and has created a new type of facilitator, the results facilitator.The Results Facilitator: Expert, Manager, Mentor identifies the skills, training, and education that today's facilitators must possess. Outlining the new role of the facilitator, it presents powerful tools and techniques that can help facilitators achieve success. Continuous learning is a must and should follow the model-Learn-Practice-Evaluate-Act.The book demonstrates the use of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for measuring progress toward achieving the objectives of a long-term program. It also supplies authoritative guidance on how to effectively plan, conduct, and complete meeting responsibilities. What can go wrong for a facilitator is outlined and methods to eliminate or mitigate these undesired situations are shown.The text details the core competencies that have been established by the International Institute for Facilitators (INIFAC) as well as the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). It shows where improvements can be made in each and recommends a joint IAF and INIFAC effort to consolidate into one facilitator's competency list.The book explains the need for an additional phase to the Tuckman's Group Dynamic Model. It shows several coaching processes including how to use the Toyota Production System's Kata for team improvement. The chapters have a facilitator exercise at the ends to help the reader apply their new knowledge to build their confidence and knowledge.

Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award The new edition of this Shingo Prize-winning bestseller provides critical insights and approaches to make any Lean transformation an ongoing success. It shows you how to implement a sustainable, successful transformation by developing a culture that has your stakeholders throughout the organizational chart involved and invested in the outcome. It teaches you how to successfully navigate the politics in cross-functional process improvement projects, and to engage executives in ways that are personally meaningful to them. If you are a leader at any level in an organization undergoing or considering a Lean transformation, this is where you should start and finish and start again.Read the Reviews:"This book became an instant classic in the literature of professional operations. In this third edition, David Mann updates and expands his teaching with five additional years of valuable experience and expertise derived from his very active, multi-industry consultancy. I have benefitted greatly from his writing and wholeheartedly recommend this book to be top-of-the desk of any serious Lean practitioner or performance transformation leader." Raymond C. Floyd, two-time Shingo Prize Winner, President and CEO, Plasco Energy Group"David Mann builds substantially on his seminal work on the Lean management system. The book is full of new insight and polishes the most important ideas about Lean management. The new chapter on engaging executive leadership alone is worth the price of the book." Peter Ward, Richard M. Ross Professor and Chair, Department of Management Science, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University"This book has long been my go-to guide on Lean management practices that help create a culture of continuous improvement and excellence. I have recommended the book to countless healthcare leaders who rave about how he

The problem with most Hoshin Kanri books is that they describe a complex methodology that is overwhelming to most leaders and their organizations. The need to essentially change the culture of the entire organization to make Hoshin work isn t practical for most companies when first starting out.The Basics of Hoshin Kanri uses an easy-to-follow story format to simplify and explain Hoshin Kanri a method for strategy deployment. Supplying clear descriptions of the steps of Hoshin Kanri, it advocates using Hoshin as an important tool for improving an organization s existing planning and execution system while simultaneously moving the culture of the organization forward.The book provides readers with a new understanding of Hoshin Kanri as a powerful deployment system for strategic planning, defining a direction and priorities, and aligning the organization around that direction. It begins by telling the story of a manufacturing executive that uses a simple Hoshin Kanri approach to make significant change in his personal life.Next, the book illustrates how this executive prepares to apply Hoshin Kanri to deploy strategy within his business. It concludes by presenting fascinating excerpts from the author s own interviews with experts in the field of Hoshin Kanri. All business leaders want their organizations to be "great" in all respects, but the reality is that they must get to "good" before they can consider becoming "great."

Does your organization provide customer satisfaction or does it inspire customer loyalty? Which is more important? See how lessons learned from the service sector were applied to manufacturing and other diverse settings, including the nonprofit sector and even on one's own home front.Exploring the Kano Model, The Customer-Driven Organization: Employing the Kano Model explains why just meeting customer needs is no longer enough for today's organizations. It explains how to identify true customers both internal and external.Readers will learn how to directly apply Kano principles in their own business environments or personal lives, to establish priorities, increase efficiency, improve communication, and expand on existing relationships.The book explains how to establish a value proposition for your organization and, more importantly, how and when to provide "delightful" service. Demonstrating how to incorporate the Kano philosophy into your day-to-day activities, this book is a must-read for any organization or individual looking to do more with less by achieving a truly customer-driven focus.

It is estimated that U.S. manufacturers are currently operating at only 65 percent effectiveness in implementing Lean production. Covering the fundamentals needed to be competitive in today's marketplace, Beyond Lean Production: Emphasizing Speed and Innovation to Beat the Competition provides readers with the tools to help their organizations achieve 100 percent effectiveness in Lean production.Explaining that overseas factories can't compete with U.S. factories in speed of delivery to domestic customers, the book provides the understanding required to add speed and urgency in all that you do in the office and the factory. It explains how to eliminate waste so you can meet and even exceed your customers expectations regarding service, quality, and cost.The book is organized into two phases. The first phase, Holding Actions, covers the fundamentals needed to hold your position against the competition until you can implement the methods described in phase II of the book. It presents 12 little-known tools and strategic weapons that you can immediately put to use to improve on your current competitive position. Phase II, The Business Command Center, presents unique and powerful concepts that can be used with the fundamentals covered in phase I.Explaining how to use speed as a competitive weapon, the book will help you to remove the obstacles that interfere with continuous flow manufacturing. It presents the concept of circulatory management that can put a stop to the ever-increasing layers of management with decreasing ownership.By implementing the holding action and the business command center described in this book, you can significantly improve your odds of beating the competition at home and overseas.

Although there are many organizations that have implemented Lean production systems and become more profitable as a result, there can be a gap between what those organizations currently do and how they should plan for and profit from new business. Capitalizing on Lean Production Systems to Win New Business: Creating a Lean and Profitable New Product Portfolio explains how to create a Lean product portfolio to fill that gap so you can become more profitable from that new business.Providing a fundamental understanding of the Lean enterprise production system, this book can help an organization take its current Lean knowledge and translate that knowledge into a step-by-step methodology to win and launch new business. Lean topics covered include: Value Stream Mapping Plan for Every Part Process Design and Standard Work Scheduling and Material Flow Machine Changeover Quality and Continuous Improvement By developing the New Product Acquisition and Launch Portfolio presented in this book, you can dramatically improve your ability to produce the products customers desire and deliver them on time. Focusing on the concepts that are critical to the longevity of your Lean enterprise system, this book will help you understand how to deliver a product that meets the quality and delivery standards of your customer. It will also help you understand how this new product fits into your Lean enterprise system.Detailing how to achieve a successful new product launch through upfront planning, this book provides you with the tools to enhance efficiencies throughout your supply chain.

If you've employed consultants and embarked on a Lean transformation only to find your efforts stall after the consultants leave, this book will teach you what you must do to stay the course over the long term. Using a compelling novel format, Sustainable Lean: The Story of a Cultural Transformation illustrates the process of implementing a sustainable Lean transformation. The book follows Jim, the plant manager of an electronics firm that has already seen its first Lean initiative fail. Jim realizes that if he doesn't act quickly, his job and the jobs of everyone in the factory might be in jeopardy. Jim meets a Lean consultant who agrees to help him implement and sustain a new transformation. Readers follow along as Jim learns invaluable lessons that help him and his plant see costs plummet, on-time delivery reach nearly 100 percent, and defects drop by close to 80 percent.Using simple terms and an ongoing example, the book demonstrates how to use top-down metrics to identify strategic and tactical opportunities for improvement. It describes how to conduct Hoshin Kanri (strategic policy deployment). It also describes the relationship between top-down metrics, organizational accountability, the breaking down of "stovepipes," and the concept of "alignment" that comes about as the result of Hoshin Kanri. Detailing a data-driven methodology to help you set boundaries for effective decision making, this book will inspire manufacturers to achieve world-class production and efficiency standards one factory, one business at a time.