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Chapter 16
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1. Understand lean operations and its differences with mass
production.
2. Recognize the 7 wastes.
3. Learn the differences between push and pull systems
4. Describe how kanban works in a pull system.
5. Identify the ways of coping with variability in the
production process
 ã   
Ä Œ pair of bespoke shoes begins with a vision. I meet personally with every
client to take measurements and imprints of the feet, draft a design and
select materials. [snip]
Ä To make a pair of shoes by hand is an arduous process that requires over
sixty hours of meticulous labor. The pattern must be drafted and perfected.
The uppers must be cut and fashioned to the lasts. The infrastructure must
be constructed, and the welts must be hand-sewn to the insole. My bespoke
shoes are constructed entirely of leather and provide the foot unparalleled
support; the result is strong, structurally sound footwear.
Ä Before the shoe is soled, I meet again with the client. This additional fitting
allows me to make whatever small revisions are necessary to achieve a
flawless fit. The shoe is then soled and exquisitely finished with hand-
painted London waists and natural waxes. When every detail is perfected, I
will personally deliver or ship the finished shoes, along with custom trees
and flannel bags, to the customer.
From http://www.perryercolino.com/bespoke_shoes.php
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Ä 1 skilled worker does all tasks
Ä Focus: quality
Ä Pros
Ä Workers engaged, interested
Ä Responsibility for the final product improves quality
Ä Cons
Ä High wage workers (need to understand whole process)
Ä Long lead times
Ä Worker absences lower production
Ä Long and risky training cycles

   ã 

Ä Workers do 1 or 2 simple tasks
Ä Products built to forecast
Ä Focus: economies of scale
Ä Pros
Ä Low wage, easily trainable workers
Ä Large quantities possible
Ä Cons
Ä Long lead times
Ä Boredom
Ä Variable quality
Ä High WIP
Ä Dependent on forecast


Ä Pro
Ä Economies of scale
Ä Low setup costs 

 


Ä Cons
Ä Need advance planning (overproduction)
Ä Need storage (queues waste time)
Ä Need financing (inventory waste)
Ä Transport and storage on floor (wasted transportation and
motion)
Ä Tracking complexity (over-processing)
Ä Lag in realizing defects
Ä Lot-wide defects

Ä Pros
Ä Still 1 or 2 tasks/worker
Ä Workers engaged by process improvement
Ä Workers goal-oriented
Ä Produce to customer demand, not forecast
Ä Reduce inventory
Ä Cons?
   
1. Overproduction through forecasting errors
2. Queues
3. Transportation
4. Inventory
5. Unneeded motion
6. Over-processing (no-value added processing)
7. Defects
A
   
 
Ä Cons:
Ä Increases WIP and lead time even in well-balanced processes
Ä Decreases quality
Ä Coping with variability
Ä Junk defects and produce with overtime
Ä Ship to customers, pay warranty costs
Ä Rigorous end-of-line testing
Ä Œdapt design
Ä Root-cause analysis
Ä Perform experiments
Î 
    

Ä Push: ´build it and they will come.µ Plan. Then do.

Ä Needed if lead times are very long
Ä Immediate product availability
Ä Pull: Don·t act until asked.
Ä Œdapts to demand changes
Ä Configuration is possible
Ä Uncovers quality problems more quickly. (Why?)
 ' 
Ä Japanese for ´cardµ*
Ä What to produce when and in what quantity
Ä Steps
1. User takes product with a kanban attached.
2. Kanban is sent to the producer as a signal to restock product.
3. Producer delivers product with kanban.
Ä Doesn·t need to be a card
Ä http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPyEtuLTBmM

* = Many lean terms are taken Japanese even if there are perfectly good English equivalents.
Worse, redundancies like ´kanban cardsµ are regularly used.
 

Ä Cons
Ä Inventory can be a buffer to problems (also a pro)
Ä Barriers to implementation
Ä Works best in already well controlled processes allowing
experiments
Ä Seemingly obvious (Examine further in Toyota case)
Ä Day-to-day problems can soak up process improvement time
Ä Requires managers give up some control to workers
Ä ´Plan. Then do.µ is more intuitive.
Ä Traditional goal of production is plan execution, not process
improvement
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Ä Just-in-time
Ä Products available ´just in timeµ for use.
Ä Toyota Production System
Ä Perform repeatable experiments
Ä See the Toyota case and ´Decoding the DNŒ of the Toyota
Production Systemµ in HBR by Spear and Bowen (1999)
Ä Lean operations
Ä Focus on elimination of waste
Ä Terms used interchangeably in practice
—

1. Understand lean operations and its differences with mass
production.
2. Recognize the 7 wastes.
3. Learn the differences between push and pull systems
4. Describe how kanban works in a pull system.
5. Identify the ways of coping with variability in the
production process