Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award Lean Production Simplified, Second Edition is a plain language guide to the lean production system written for the practitioner by a practitioner. It delivers a comprehensive insider's view of lean manufacturing. The author helps the reader to grasp the system as a whole and the factors that animate it by organizing the book around an image of a house of lean production. Highlights include: A comprehensive view of Toyota1s lean manufacturing system A look at the origins and underlying principles of lean Identifying the goals of lean production Practical problem solving for lean production Activities that support involvement - Kaizen circles, suggestion systems, and problem solving This second edition has been updated with expanded information on the Lean Improvement Process; Production Physics and Little's Law - the fundamental equation for both manufacturing and service industries (cycle time = work in process/throughput); Value Stream Thinking - combining processes required to bring the product or service to the customer; Hoshin Planning -- using the Planning and Execution Tree diagram and Problem Solving -- including the "Five Why" method and how to use it. Lean Production Simplified, Second Edition covers each of the components of lean within the context of the entire lean production system. The author's straightforward common sense approach makes this book an easily accessible on-the-floor resource for every operator.

Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award Lean Production Simplified, Second Edition is a plain language guide to the lean production system written for the practitioner by a practitioner. It delivers a comprehensive insider's view of lean manufacturing. The author helps the reader to grasp the system as a whole and the factors that animate it by organizing the book around an image of a house of lean production. Highlights include: A comprehensive view of Toyota1s lean manufacturing system A look at the origins and underlying principles of lean Identifying the goals of lean production Practical problem solving for lean production Activities that support involvement - Kaizen circles, suggestion systems, and problem solving This second edition has been updated with expanded information on the Lean Improvement Process; Production Physics and Little's Law - the fundamental equation for both manufacturing and service industries (cycle time = work in process/throughput); Value Stream Thinking - combining processes required to bring the product or service to the customer; Hoshin Planning -- using the Planning and Execution Tree diagram and Problem Solving -- including the "Five Why" method and how to use it. Lean Production Simplified, Second Edition covers each of the components of lean within the context of the entire lean production system. The author's straightforward common sense approach makes this book an easily accessible on-the-floor resource for every operator.

Lean Thinking was launched in the fall of 1996, just in time for the recession of 1997. It told the story of how American, European, and Japanese firms applied a simple set of principles called 'lean thinking' to survive the recession of 1991 and grow steadily in sales and profits through 1996. Even though the recession of 1997 never happened, companies were starving for information on how to make themselves leaner and more efficient. Now we are dealing with the recession of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2002. So what happened to the exemplar firms profiled in Lean Thinking? In the new fully revised edition of this bestselling book those pioneering lean thinkers are brought up to date. Authors James Womack and Daniel Jones offer new guidelines for lean thinking firms and bring their groundbreaking practices to a brand new generation of companies that are looking to stay one step ahead of the competition.

A Practical, Hands-on Guide to Lean Manufacturing This real-world resource offers proven solutions for implementing lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and production aspects as well as the business culture concerns. Filled with detailed examples, the book focuses on the rapid application of lean principles so that large, early financial gains can be made. How to Implement Lean Manufacturing explains Toyota Production System (TPS) practices and specifies the distinct order in which lean techniques should be applied to achieve maximum gains. Global case studies illustrate successes and pitfalls of lean manufacturing initiatives. Discover how to: Rigorously test and retest the state of your "leanness" with unique evaluators Develop and deploy plant-wide strategies and goals Improve speed and quality and dramatically reduce costs Reduce variation in the manufacturing system in order to reduce inventory Reduce lead times to enable improved responsiveness and flexibility Synchronize production and supply to the customer Create flow and establish pull-demand systems Perform system-wide and specific value-stream evaluations Generate a comprehensive list of highly focused Kaizen activities Sustain process gains Manage constraints and reduce bottlenecks Implement cellular manufacturing

A how-to guide to shortening delivery times, eliminating waste, improving quality, and reducing costs. It describes not only what to do, but includes many tools useful to the reader describing how to do it. It explores tools including kaizen, value stream mapping, takt time, determining optimum lot sizes, setup reduction and problem solving.

Every lean practitioner occasionally wishes for a simple, fun, and quick-read introduction to lean thinking to give acquaintances, associates, and family members -- even to our kids. If lean thinking often entails unlearning a plethora of bad habits, wouldn't it better if we learned better thinking -- and habits -- from the beginning? Everything I Know About Lean I Learned in First Grade is just that sort of book. It brings lean back to its original simplicity by showing how lean is alive in a first grade classroom. The book connects common lean tools to the broader lean journey, shows how to identify and eliminate waste, and aids the reader in seeing lean for what it truly is: a way to create a learning and problem- solving culture. Written to educate the entire organization on the fundamentals of lean thinking, this is the perfect source to engage all team members at all levels of an organization. Originally self-published in 2008, LEI is proud to re-issue this book and make it available to the broader lean community.

Following in the tradition of its Shingo Prize-winning predecessors, Lean Production Simplified, Third Edition gives a clear overview of the structure and tools of the Lean production system. Written for the practitioner by a practitioner, it delivers a comprehensive insider's view of Lean management. The author helps readers grasp the system as a

Second Edition of a Shingo Prize Winner Based on the author's personal experience with Toyota‘s master teachers and with companies in the midst of great change, Andy and Me: Crisis and Transformation on the Lean Journey, now in its second edition, is a business novel set in a failing New Jersey auto plant focusing on the tribulations of Tom Pappas,

The Breakthrough Program for Increasing Quality, Shortening Cycle Times, and Creating Shareholder Value In Every Area of Your Organization Time and quality are the two most important metrics in improving any company's production and profit performance. Lean Six Sigma explains how to impact your company's performance in each, by combining the strength of today's two most important initiativesLean Production and Six Sigmainto one integrated program. The first book to provide a step-by-step roadmap for profiting from the best elements of Lean and Six Sigma, this breakthrough volume will show you how to: Achieve major cost and lead time reductions this year Compress order-to-delivery cycle times Battle process variation and waste throughout your organization Separately, Lean Production and Six Sigma have changed the face of the manufacturing business. Together, they become an unprecedented tool for improving product and process quality, production efficiency, and across-the-board profitability. Lean Six Sigma introduces you to today's most dynamic program for streamlining the performance of both your production department and your back office, and providing you with the cost reduction and quality improvements you need to stay one step ahead of your competitors. "Lean Six Sigma shows how Lean and Six Sigma methods complement and reinforce each other. If also provides a detailed roadmap of implementation so you can start seeing significant returns in less than a year."--From the Preface Businesses fundamentally exist to provide returns to their stakeholders. Lean Six Sigma outlines a program for combining the synergies of these two initiatives to provide your organization with greater speed, less process variation, and more bottom-line impact than ever before. A hands-on guidebook for integrating the production efficiencies of the Lean Enterprise with the cost and quality tools of Six Sigma, this breakthrough book features detailed insights on: The Lean Six Sigma Value PropositionHow combining Lean and Six Sigma provides unmatched potential for improving shareholder value The Lean Six Sigma Implementation ProcessHow to prepare your organization for a seamless incorporation of Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques Leveraging Lean Six SigmaStrategies for extending Lean Six Sigma's reach within and beyond your corporate walls "Variation is evil."--Jack Welch Six Sigma was the zero-variation quality lynchpin around which Jack Welch transformed GE into one of the world's most efficientand valuablecorporations. Lean Production helped Toyota cut waste, slash costs, and substantially improve resource utilization and cycle times. Yet, as both would admit, there was still room for improvement. Lean Six Sigma takes you to the next level of improvement, one that for the first time unites product and process excellence with the goal of enhancing shareholder value creation. Providing insights into the application of Lean Six Sigma to both the manufacturing processes and the less-data-rich service and transactional processes, it promises to revolutionize the performance efficiencies in virtually every area of your organizationas it positively and dramatically impacts your shareholder value.

This is an honest look at the origins of lean, written in the words of the people who created the system. Through interviews and annotated talks, you will hear first-person accounts of what these innovators and problem-solvers did and why they did it. You¿ll read rare, personal commentaries that explain the interplay of (sometimes opposing) ideas that created a revolution in thinking.