Executive Summary Taiichi Ohno’s book on the Toyota Production System is considered the definitive classic of JIT/Lean. The question remains, how well does this supposedly classic book hold up? Introduction When you talk to JIT/Lean proponents, they often tell you that to understand the Toyota Production System (TPS), you should go back and read Toyota…
Executive Summary Something little-discussed regarding the TPS is how Toyota communicated requirements. We cover what makes the TPS different from the conventional explanation. Introduction This article was created to answer a question in the article How to Understand DDMRP as Yet Another Repackaging of JIT and Lean. Question: On Material Need Communication I have no…
Executive Summary How Deloitte’s strategy consultants make up false stories about what other companies do. What Lessons can be Taken from This? How Deloitte Works This comes out of Deloitte’s strategy consulting. Their approach is to make a change, change, and propose enormous cost savings with the result from it. One partner who works out of…
Executive Summary What was missed when people went to try to figure out what the Japanese had done with quality? What role did unionization play in the Japanese success story, and why was it de-emphasized? Introduction An entire cottage industry was built around taking manufacturing concepts perfected by the Japanese and applying them to the…
Executive Summary We cover the definition of a bottleneck resource, as well as the bottleneck production rate. The concept of bottleneck resources was based upon Eliyahu Goldratt and the book The Goal. Bottleneck resources don’t apply to non-sequential production lines. Introduction to Bottlenecks Much of the production planning and scheduling philosophy is based upon managing…
Executive Summary Cycle time calculation has a definition along with production cycle time and the manufacturing cycle time. There is also something called the cycle rate, which is critical for production planning. We cover how to perform cycle time analysis and calculate cycle time with a cycle time calculator and cycle time formula. Introduction to…
Executive Summary Statistical process control was one leg of the methods applied by Deming and the Toyota Production System. While the other methods have been de-emphasized, statistical process control has been overemphasized, which is for a premeditated reason. Introduction Toyota is often put forward as an exemplar of what to follow — and there is…