Nov 16 2014
Are Radical Improvements Too Risky? | John Dyer | IndustryWeek
Source: www.industryweek.com
” […] I can remember the day I shut down a major GE manufacturing plant like it was yesterday. The year was 1988 and I was working as a process engineer on the shop floor of building 5 in Appliance Park where we made refrigerators. […]”
The two stories in this article — about refrigerator assembly and a heating process — have the ring of truth. I have had similar experiences, both positive and negative
Both stories are morality tales and I don’t want to spoil them for you, so I won’t go into specifics. Read past the business-speak of “paradigms” and “significant changes, ” go straight to the stories, and draw your own conclusions as to their lessons on management.
Dyer’s own conclusions that follow, and his recommendations of tools like FMEA or DMAIC, are too specific for my taste. I understand he is explaining his approach, but it is beyond what is directly supported by the stories.
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
Oct 12 2018
For Lean Production to Work, a Company Needs to Be All In | Ellen Rosen | The New York Times
“For a company in Chesterfield, Mo., it involved something as seemingly simple as attaching a trash can to an employee’s chair. For one in St. Louis, it meant leaving the cover off an electronic temperature controller. For others it’s meant gathering employees from the chief executive on down for what’s known as Kaizen events — based on the Japanese word for continuing improvement. What do these seemingly unconnected efforts have in common? They are approaches to what is known as lean manufacturing — or, more recently, lean production — aimed at streamlining production processes, enhancing employee engagement and increasing profits.”
Source: The New York Times(10/11/2018)
Michel Baudin‘s comments: Thanks to Kevin Hop for drawing my attention to this article. Like him, I do read The New York Times regularly and usually appreciate the quality of its reporting. This article, however, does not measure up. It reflects the conventional wisdom on Lean manufacturing which, if anything, explains why so many implementations fail.
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By Michel Baudin • Press clippings • 1 • Tags: Cellular manufacturing, industrial engineering, Lean, Manufacturing engineering, process engineering, Production Engineering, Toyota, TPS