1st Edition
by Mike Elbert (Author)
A hands-on guide to adapting Lean principles and the Toyota Production System to high-mix/low-volume environments, Lean Production for the Small Company uses
charts, pictures, and easy-to-understand language to describe the
methods needed to improve processes and eliminate waste. It walks
readers through the correct order of implementation and describes
problems and pitfalls along with time-tested solutions.
Explaining
how to incorporate existing systems into a Lean strategy, the book
starts with the fundamentals and builds on them to describe the full
range of tools and processes needed to implement Lean. It outlines how
to design factories for Lean manufacturing and demonstrates how to
remove variations within business and manufacturing processes to achieve
a smooth continuous flow of product that delivers your product on time
to customers.
The tools, methods, and ideals discussed
are applicable in any industry and all parts of your business―from
manufacturing and sales to human resources. The text unveils new methods
and tools that can help you reduce inventory, improve inventory turns,
and facilitate raw material flow through the factory. It details how to
use customer order demands to schedule the production floor, rather than
using estimated production schedules. It also considers the accounting
process and explains how to improve your cash-to-cash cycle time.
Drawing
on the author’s decades of experience transforming high-mix plants to
Lean, the text brings together coverage of the tools and processes that
have made Toyota so successful. All the chapters in this book, when
implemented, will result in a culture change that will transform your
company into a learning organization that continuously eliminates waste
and improves its processes.
