Made to Order Lean & Mr. Lean Buys & Transforms a Manufacturing Company
Made-to-Order Lean
Mr. Lean Buys & Transforms a Manufacturing Company -A True Story by Greg Lane Foreword by John Shook
Excelling in a High Mix, Low Volume Environment by
Greg Lane With a Foreword by
John Shook.
Toyota Production System methods have rendered remarkable results in high-volume manufacturing plants, but they have not been fully understood and correctly applied in high-mix low-volume environments.
While lean principles do apply, the implementation methods and tools, must be adapted and alternate methods embraced in a low-volume environment.
Made to Order Lean is specially geared to manufacturer's and service companies that have hundreds to thousands active parts of numbers/services with few or no ongoing forecasted volumes, and for job shops that build only to order. The primary focus is eliminating non-value added activities and instituting improvements on the most repetitive jobs – a strategy that gives you more time to produce your low-volume work or one-offs.
This workbook is:
Based on Toyota methodology and explains how to implement critical adaptations to high-mix low-volume manufacturing.
Fully illustrated with actual examples and photos from successful applications in the high variation environments.
Comprehensive, including an implementation Flow Chart that will help you to customize a transformation for your shop.
Written in a simple logical fashion by a former Toyota Employee with more than 15 years of hands-on experience.
This comprehensive book is a must-have for plant managers, manufacturing managers, and lean practitioners who need to apply lean principles effectively in their job shops, re-manufacture/repair, and high-mix, low-volume plants.
Table of Contents
Foreword by John Shook
Introduction: Method and Overview
Chapter 1:
Managing Visually
Chapter 2:
Management Auditing: Standardized Work for Managers.
Chapter 3:
Associating a Time with All Work.
Chapter 4:
Utilizing Day-by-Hour and FIFO Boards.
Chapter 5:
Making Improvements When You’re Short of Capacity.
Chapter 6:
Making Improvements When You Have Excess Capacity.
Chapter 7:
Using Value Stream Mapping in a Low-Volume Environment.
Chapter 8:
Making Man Power Improvements.
Chapter 9:
Improving Machine Performance and Plant Layout.
Chapter 10:
Making Improvements through Office Department Kaizen.
Chapter 11:
Making Improvement through Office Process Kaizen.
Chapter 12:
Improving your Product Costing
Glossary
Index
About the Author
Praise for Made-to-Order Lean
“This book is an excellent resource for applying lean principles to the complex topic of high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, and is core reading material for those implementing a lean manufacturing system in this environment.”
Paul A. Brent General Director – Global Supplier Quality and Development, Delphi Corporation
“Made-to-Order Lean provides clear and practical insights into how to increase competitiveness of a manufacturing facility. It will teach you how to increase the productivity of your operations through proper visual aides, improve quality and satisfy today’s demanding customers.”
- Lee. C. Banks, Senior Vice President and Operating Officer, Parker Hannifin Corporations,
To order in any country, click on the link below:.
Can lean improvements alone really dramatically grow and improve a company’s profitability? Read the true story of someone armed with only his lean background and no experience in the particular industry, that purchased an already profitable manufacturing business, grew it and then profitably sold it. The author who was trained in lean ideologies by
Toyota purchased a CNC machining and assembly company even though he had never worked or operated a similar type of machine or business in his life. Learn his transformation methodology through this interesting tale of what ideas worked and those that failed, learn the steps to buying a small business and laugh at how he overcame some of the hurdles.
Find out how lean methods helped to develop and grow the company into new markets and expand the production capabilities. Get to know the employees and their fear of change and what was done to overcome it. Understand how not only the shop floor required continuous improvements, but see where and how the front office was also transformed. You will see that all of these ideas do not only apply in large industries but also work in job shop environments where products are “made to order”.
You will be compelled to read on as the author must first learn every operation before he can gain the respect to lead change. Major learning points are highlighted throughout the book while details of the methodologies are captured in the appendix. You are sure to find this a great read and come away with more ideas and a methodology to try in your own environment. Learning in a non-fictional format is sure to inspire while also containing the realities of the failures and the respective lessons that were learned.
Table of Contents Preface
Prologue:The Purchase
Chapter 1:
The Beginning – Observing & Documenting
Chapter 2:
Standardizing the Estimating Process
Chapter 3:
Learning the Office Processes
Chapter 4:
The First Days Alone
Chapter 5:
Creating & Selling Capacity
Chapter 6:
Getting Everyone Motivated for Improving the Machine’s Output
Chapter 7:
Seeing the Administrative Processes from a New Angle
Chapter 8:
Moving the Business
Chapter 9:
Accurate Pricing Through Better Cost Allocations
Chapter 10:
Upfront Delays
Chapter 11:
Making Lots of Money During the Good Times
Chapter 12:
Expanding Into New Products
Chapter 13:
Business for Sale
Chapter 14:
Reflections
About the Author
Appendices (examples of implemented improvements)
Praise for Mr. Lean Buys & Transforms a Mfg. Co:
It’s a fun read. If you’ve
ever considered how you would go about transforming your own manufacturing enterprise
or if you own such an enterprise that needs transformation – this book will
definitely provide thought-provoking ideas and some guiding principles along
with specific hints for dealing with challenges that your company faces today.
John Shook, Former Toyota Manager, November 2009
“This intriguing story
proves beyond a doubt that lean principals go a long way towards profitability
for all of us. Assuming you subscribe to “management” being synonymous with
“improvement”, you are sure to come away from this book with a clear plan for trialing
a few new improvements”.
