Lean manufacturing cannot happen in a factory that lacks dependable, effective equipment. Breakdowns and processing defects translate into excess work-in-process and finished inventory, kept on hand just in case. Recurring minor stoppages force employees to watch automated equipment that should run by itself. TPM gives a framework for addressing such problems, but many companies implement TPM at a superficial level, and the resulting productivity gains fall short of their potential. If your TPM implementation has resulted in posters and logos rather than a rise of productivity, how are you...

By reconfiguring your traditional assembly lines into production cells based on one-piece flow, you can drastically reduce your lead time, staffing requirements, and number of defects. Kenichi Sekine studied under the late Shigeo Shingo and is responsible for many recent advances in the deployment of the Toyota Production System in Japan. In this comprehensive book, Sekine provides an in-depth education into the why's and how's of the restructuring process. Sekine first examines the basic principles of process flow building, then offers detailed case studies of how various industries...

Changeovers in 3 minutes or less

Picking up where Dr. Shingo's Single Minute Exchange of Die left off, this book streamlines the process even further to reduce changeover time, while simultaneously cutting staffing requirements in half. To instruct on how to achieve quick changeover in virtually any type of production environment, the book includes--

A succinct eight-step process for setup improvement

Nine basic principles for eliminating changeover waste

The book begins by outlining the tactical principles for improving the three phases of...