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Reflections and Lessons From 1997

The Lean Thinker

to Rick from the factory where I had spent a week working with Mr. Shimura of Shingijutsu and Reiko, his interpreter. I was making the transition from teaching classes and running simulations to making real change in real factories (that weren’t mine!). MONDAY: 2 PERS 1 MACHINE. TODAY: 1 PERSON 2 MACHINES.

Factories 243
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Learning to See in 2023

The Lean Thinker

A plant manager asked me to build a map of the flows in his factory. With all of that information, I mapped out the factory’s flows. I learned a lot , not only about mapping a process, but about the way this factory functioned, and had pretty compelling evidence that the bottleneck was not what the common knowledge said it was.

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“95 Thesis” on Kaizen Events and TPS

The Lean Thinker

Thus, focusing on implementing the tools of TPS (takt time, flow, pull, etc) outside of the immediate response and problem solving context is an exercise which expends energy and gains very little sustainable change. This is independent of whether it is done in a week-long intense event or not.

Events 44
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Using OEE and MOM with older manufacturing equipment

SYSPRO Smarter ERP

The problem is that many factories are limited in this area because they have older legacy equipment. In the first blog, it was pointed out that any project to optimize manufacturing operations should start with a value stream mapping (VSM) exercise.

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What are Reverse Logistics?

Logistics Bureau

However, remember that products or subassemblies that never made it out of the factory may need to travel backwards one or more stages along the supply chain. On the other hand, a very high-end fashion company might insist that all excess inventory was returned to the factory for recycling, rather than see its brand in low budget shops.

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Key challenges and solutions for the fabricated metals industry

SYSPRO Smarter ERP

The shift from oversupply to the current worldwide shortage has impacted raw materials, inbound logistics, the factory floor, and the outbound warehouse. Challenge: Skills gap on the factory floor. The metal fabrication industry faces challenges in finding and keeping qualified welders, finishers, and assemblers.

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How OEE and MOM can be used to streamline manufacturing

SYSPRO Smarter ERP

It involves using data to uncover and unlock value in different areas of a factory, such as: reducing inventory holding costs; increasing labor productivity; reducing machine downtime; increasing manufacturing throughput. In other words, VSM was an exercise, not part of a plan for improvement with a deployment strategy.