Lean Manufacturing: Tools, Techniques, and How To Use Them | William M Feld

Contents

Part I. Description of Lean Manufacturing

Preface
This book was written in order to give the general manufacturing practitioner a reference guide by which to lead the successful design and deployment of a lean manufacturing program. It is for those individuals who have either tried a lean manufacturing implementation and received undesirable results or have been working at it a while and do not really know what to do next. Over the years, I have become more and more pragmatic in my approach to lean manufacturing. I am not a purist when it comes to methodology. In fact, in this book I am sharing with you information based on my own personal research, true-life experiences, and lessons learned through the implementation of lean principles within a number of companies. It is this broad-based experience that has allowed me to develop such a pragmatic approach. My experience has taught me that, although a specific philosophy may work well with one particular project or company, it may not work as well universally across other operations.

The information, time frames, and methodologies contained within this book are geared primarily for operations that have 300 to 500 employees. The content was written for an audience operating at the level of plant manager, project manager, or manufacturing manager within a business, although most certainly schedulers, planners, industrial engineers, and firstline supervisors can also benefit from this material. The book provides tools and techniques that can be used for both high-volume/low-mix and lowvolume/ high-mix product environments. Although many of the techniques are designed for discrete unit manufacturing operations, those in the process industries could utilize many of the principles presented here, as well.

I realize that there are some of you who operate within an environment that does not require you to justify your position on lean manufacturing every step of the way and that such an environment will accept the need for lean management based on faith. This book was not written for you. This book was written for your colleagues — those who need to justify their position every step of the way and must constantly battle “hurdle management” to deploy their lean programs. You know who you are and you know what I am talking about. This book was written with you in mind.

Now, one does not learn how to be lean just from reading a book. It is through actual hands-on implementation that one learns what does and does not work in most situations. It is out on the shop floor where practical meets theory. It is in the actual work environment where one learns that to be successful it is more important to have a clear understanding of how these techniques work than a vague understanding of what the technique is.

This book has been divided into four parts. Part I provides an explanation of why a holistic approach to lean is so beneficial in securing sustained improvement; it provides an overall view of what to do. The purpose of Part II is to furnish the reader with an understanding of the concept of the Five Primary Elements; it explores in detail several aspects of each of the five elements. Part III was written in the form of a story to depict actual use of the techniques from the inception of a project to implementation in the factory; it helps the reader see how and when these principles are applied as part of a lean manufacturing program. Part IV presents case studies of six different companies that have taken on the challenge of changing their businesses and describes how the companies have deployed lean manufacturing within their facilities. Each case study was designed to reveal a different aspect of implementing lean manufacturing within an operation.

The entire book attempts to provide insight as to the choice and use of appropriate tools for assessment, analysis, design, and deployment of a successful lean manufacturing program. Although it does not cover every lean manufacturing aspect, issue, or situation, it does offer a road map that can guide a company toward the development of a lean manufacturing environment. Over the years, I have read about, witnessed, and heard of a great many implementations that have neither achieved their intended goals nor sustained results. My experience has led me to conclude that there are several reasons for the demise of these lean manufacturing programs: (1) no clarified expectation or vision as to what the new lean environment was to look like; (2) lack of a clear direction as to where to go and what to do next; (3) limited knowledge base for how to conduct the implementation; (4) significant focus on the mechanics of the new process but little attention paid to organization redesign issues connected with the change. These are key, critical issues that must be addressed for an implementation to be successful. The fact that many companies have neglected to do so has led me to write this book.