"Lean Manufacturing for Job Shops" - a great new book

A great new book and resource has just been published: Lean Manufacturing for Job Shops by Robert J. Tristani and Dr. Shahrukh A. Irani. The information site is www.geocities.com/Robert_Tristani .



The book has a unique format which adds to its usefulness. The story of Southern Foundry and Pattern Works, a fictional job shop implementing the job shop lean principles, is intertwined with the textbook portion of the book. This format really helps the reader grasp the concepts and how to apply them. It also helps the reader visualize how these critical principles can be applied to other job shop and high-variety manufacturing scenarios.



The book is packaged with two additional resources: a CD about Value Network Mapping (VNM) and a CD entitled "How a Jobshop Developed their In-House Training Video on Waste Elimination." Anyone who has tried to do a Value Stream Map of a non-repetitive process knows the limitations thereof. Value Network Mapping solves those problems.

I strongly encourage everyone in high-variety manufacturing to get this book and its companion resources. I foresee using it as not just a resource for the shop floor but for management, as well.

Implementing a Lean Manufacturing Program in a Jobshop - webminar

Here is a webinar worth attending:

Lean Manufacturing is a proven manufacturing strategy that is based
completely on the Toyota Production System. It helps to increase capacity
and to reduce lead times, setup times and inventories. But, even if the
principles of the Toyota Production System are universal, there are
significant differences in the design and operation of production systems
designed for low-mix high-volume manufacturing versus high-mix low-volume
manufacturing, especially small-to-medium sized contract manufacturers. At
this unique and interesting online event, the speakers will discuss
implementing Lean Manufacturing programs specifically for the jobshop
environment.

Speakers:
Shahrukh A. Irani (The Ohio State University),
Louis Marecek (Parker-Hannifin)
David Lechleitner (Exact JobBOSS)

Date: March 11, 2008
Time: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Central

Website for Registration: http://www.exactamerica.com/jobboss/webinarform.php?date=March-11&source=website

Production information quality call to action

With all the focus and investment in lean and Six Sigma and all the other methodologies, why do so many companies settle for ineffective, inefficient, and some times just plain incorrect order and manufacturing documentation?

This is a special vice of high-variety manufacturing as, almost by definition, each order and manufacturing packet can be different.

The content and format of manufacturing packets are the inputs to manufacturing value streams. Efficiency and effectiveness of that information is as important to a streamlined and productive production process as any kaizen event. Yet time and time again, I see horrifically inefficient project engineering processes; reliance on manual data management; manual drafting instead of automated, smart drawings and models; poorly constructed and confusing shop floor information packets; manual programming of CNC machines; and so forth.

There are so many opportunities to improve the quality of this information. In many cases, its just making better use of the tools at hand whether it’s 2D CAD, solid modeling, ERP or MRP. The problem is that inertia sets in with how these tools are used, the users are not trained in the application capabilities beyond minimum functionality, and management does not demand an appropriate level of performance accountability.

My call to action for anyone involved in high-variety manufacturing is to really start questioning whether your information foundation and content is really supporting your lean, quality and process improvement programs.

Fun demo of TWI combined with video

I think the demo available at the following link, http://highvarietymfg.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1799974%3ATopic%3A2688 ,
shows the continuing relevance of TWI (Training Within Industry).

Using the "2-second T-shirt fold," Vic Uzumeri, a professor at Auburn University, shows how simple video can enhance the structured training benefits that TWI offers.

Be sure to follow the discussion thread for his remarks on why it is important to include both a full-speed demo and a step-by-step clip.

(And you may gain some laundry tips, as well!)

The Lessons of the Commoditization of Starbucks

"Overhaul, Make It A Venti," an article in the Wednesdays, January 30, 2008, New York Times discusses the current restructuring of Starbucks. The article references a memo written by Howard Schultz, its long-time and newly rehired CEO, entitled "The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience." As I read the article I started wondering whether some very cogent lessons for high-variety manufacturers, can be derived from the Starbucks experience.

The Times article quotes several analysts:
"…replacing mystique with relentless commerce."
"…the mystique that so thoroughly defined the initial experience is conspicuously absent - trampled in the stampede of proliferation."

Starbucks tried to become everything to everybody. They loaded up their stores with absolutely everything they could sell: music, food, cutesy beverages, appliances, gifts, etc. They tried to be everywhere. And their biggest mistake: they replaced the experience of the barista-made cappuccino with automatic machines.

So how does this relate to job shops, mass customizers, build-to-order, and the like? It is very easy, especially in a time of economic uncertainty and pressure, to accept every possible order if one has the slightest capability to deliver it. It is very easy to try to create a "product" from every possible idea a customer or an employee may have.

What this sort of reaction can do, however, is destroy the very competencies and customer values that have contributed to the growth and success of the business to date.

Being a job shop, a mass customizer, or other sort of high-variety manufacturer requires an exceptionally-disciplined focus on what it is that you do well and what value you deliver to your customer. If you are accepting every order that comes in the door, what impact does that have on your quality? On meeting your delivery deadlines? On managing your production schedules? On the perception of your most profitable customers as to who you are?

Starbucks lost sight of those items, is experiencing declining customer traffic, and is closing stores. The NY Times article frames its discussion by profiling a neighborhood coffee shop that has four Starbucks stores within one mile of its location. At least one of those Starbucks is closing. The neighborhood coffee shop? It's continuing to thrive, with coffee roasted by hand, free refills, and a funky atmosphere.

The importance of a New Product Development process

A couple of recent conversations have re-enforced in my mind the need for a good, disciplined New Product Development (NPD) process for any company and for high-variety and mass customization manufacturers in particular. The danger of being used to variety and variability and having flexibility is that it is easy to say yes to just about anything. High-variety and mass customization do not absolve you from the need to understand what your competencies are, who your market is, and where your profitability arises.

The statistics regarding the benefits of a structured NPD program are quite dramatic. For instance, companies that use a disciplined NPD approach:

• are two and one-half times more likely to launch a successful product,
• will capture two times the market share, and
• will generate two times the profit.

(from the Product Development and Management Association, http://www.pdma.org/, Best Practices Study)

A job shop may say that they don't have a "product," just capabilities or services that they sell to their customers. In reality both those services and the types of parts they produce on a regular basis are products within a NPD definition. The decision to add a new service or take an order for a new type of part should be just as carefully considered as the development and marketing of a product product by a mass-production manufacturer.

This is a link to a white paper on my website that may be useful to any manufacturer looking at implementing or improving an NPD program.

New Product Development - A Cornerstone of Competitive Strategy

Additional materials are available upon request.

High-Variety Manufacturing Professional Community

I'm pleased to announce the launch of a professional community for High-Variety Manufacturing, http://highvarietymfg.ning.com/. I'm also pleased to say that I'm acting as site administrator.


This site is directed at all people involved in high-variety manufacturing, whether in operations, sales & marketing, product development and management, or any other job role. It is also directed at all flavors of high-variety manufacturing: job shop, HMLV, mass customization, contract, mixed model, etc.


I would like to invite all interested parties to join this community. It will become what its members want it to be. I hope that it becomes a true resource center for sharing and support for this challenging environment.



So please join, take part in discussions, join SIGs and other groups, post content, and interact with other members. If you have any questions or problems joining, feel free to contact me through this blog.