Operational Excellence is achieved when all employees in your organization can see the flow of value to your customers and can make adjustments to that flow before it breaks down. Operational Excellence in Your Office: A Guide to Achieving Autonomous Value Stream Flow with Lean Techniques presents nine time-tested guidelines for designing business process flow that enable Operational Excellence in the office. Each chapter describes one guideline by using text, illustrations, and practical examples to provide a comprehensive understanding of why creating flow in the office is essential and how to achieve it. Accounting for the reality that most office employees are required to work on many different projects throughout the day, this book details a step-by-step methodology for leveraging traditional value stream flow to establish Operational Excellence in an office environment. In addition, it describes a more advanced form of flow called "self-healing" flow-in which employees are capable of identifying and fixing problems with the flow without requiring management intervention. Explaining how to achieve Operational Excellence and self-healing flow with the nine guidelines, the book also introduces new concepts such as part-time continuous flow processing cells, workflow cycles, takt capability, integration events, pitch in the office, and ways to tell whether your office is on time. With this book, you will be able to take the knowledge provided and immediately apply it by following the step-by-step checklists included at the end of each chapter. In addition to the lists of action items for implementing each guideline, the book includes "acid tests" you can use to determine if you have implemented each guideline correctly. When finished, you will have designed an end-to-end flow for the services in your office as well as visual systems to help employees distinguish normal flow from abnormal flow so they can fix flow problems on their own, before they negatively impact your customers.

Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessor, Kevin J. Duggan, an executive mentor and recognized authority on Lean and Operational Excellence, draws on more than 10 years of experience and learning to provide Creating Mixed Model Value Streams, Second Edition. This second edition takes a step-by-step approach to implementing Lean in complex environments and describes which Lean techniques to use when faced with difficult situations-including high product mix, scheduling problems, shared resources, and unstable customer demand. In addition to a new section on handling shared resources to support mixed model production, the second edition: Contains updates to sections on mixed model value streams Introduces new information on constructing product family matrices Expands on the concept of takt in mixed models Provides additional insights on existing mixed model concepts, such as determining product family, takt capability, and heijunka (load level scheduling) Presents new concepts on sequencing work, such as offset scheduling and sequenced first-in, first-out (FIFO) lanes Illustrated with a case study based on actual experience as well as downloadable resources with helpful tools, the book walks readers through the reasoning the author has used with great success in practice. It delves beyond the basics of value stream mapping to explain how to create future states in a manufacturing environment characterized by multiple products, varying cycle times, and changing demand. Demonstrating advanced techniques for creating flow through shared resources, it also considers the concept of a guaranteed turnaround time for the shared resource. The Downloadable Resources Include: Spreadsheet and tutorial for sorting products into families Spreadsheets for calculating equipment required and for determining the interval for Every Part Every Interval (EPEI) Samples of visual method sheets for standard work Case study value stream maps and mapping icons

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.

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.

Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessor, Kevin J. Duggan, an executive mentor and recognized authority on Lean and Operational Excellence, draws on more than 10 years of experience and learning to provide Creating Mixed Model Value Streams, Second Edition. This second edition takes a step-by-step approach to implementing Lean in complex environments and describes which Lean techniques to use when faced with difficult situations including high product mix, scheduling problems, shared resources, and unstable customer demand. In addition to a new section on handling shared resources to support mixed model production, the second edition:

• Contains updates to sections on mixed model value streams
• Introduces new information on constructing product family matrices
• Expands on the concept of takt in mixed models
• Provides additional insights on existing mixed model concepts, such as determining product family, takt capability, and heijunka (load level scheduling)
• Presents new concepts on sequencing work, such as offset scheduling and sequenced first-in, first-out (FIFO) lanes

Illustrated with a case study based on actual experience as well as a CD with helpful tools, the book walks readers through the reasoning the author has used with great success in practice. It delves beyond the basics of value stream mapping to explain how to create future states in a manufacturing environment characterized by multiple products, varying cycle times, and changing demand. Demonstrating advanced techniques for creating flow through shared resources, it also considers the concept of a guaranteed turnaround time for the shared resource.

The Accompanying CD Includes:

• Spreadsheet and tutorial for sorting products into families
• Spreadsheets for calculating equipment required and for determining the interval for Every Part Every Interval (EPEI)
• Samples of visual method sheets for standard work
• Case study value stream maps and mapping icons

Operational Excellence is achieved when all employees in your organization can see the flow of value to your customers and can make adjustments to that flow before it breaks down. Operational Excellence in Your Office: A Guide to Achieving Autonomous Value Stream Flow with Lean Techniques presents nine time-tested guidelines for designing business process flow that enable Operational Excellence in the office. Each chapter describes one guideline by using text, illustrations, and practical examples to provide a comprehensive understanding of why creating flow in the office is essential and how to achieve it.Accounting for the reality that most office employees are required to work on many different projects throughout the day, this book details a step-by-step methodology for leveraging traditional value stream flow to establish Operational Excellence in an office environment. In addition, it describes a more advanced form of flow called "self-healing" flow in which employees are capable of identifying and fixing problems with the flow without requiring management intervention.Explaining how to achieve Operational Excellence and self-healing flow with the nine guidelines, the book also introduces new concepts such as part-time continuous flow processing cells, workflow cycles, takt capability, integration events, pitch in the office, and ways to tell whether your office is on time.With this book, you will be able to take the knowledge provided and immediately apply it by following the step-by-step checklists included at the end of each chapter. In addition to the lists of action items for implementing each guideline, the book includes "acid tests" you can use to determine if you have implemented each guideline correctly.When finished, you will have designed an end-to-end flow for the services in your office as well as visual systems to help employees distinguish normal flow from abnormal flow s