The Future Clearly Presented, No Smoke and Mirrors
Experts on the Toyota Development System and Lean Manufacturing explain how early adopters of new methodologies will jump ahead of the competition

In 2003 Michael Kennedy’s Product Development for the Lean Enterprise was published. Other books that also explained the Toyota development system followed, and soon the way products were being created came under review in most major corporations. The question was, could Toyota’s system be made to work in a western environment and culture? This continuation of Kennedy’s seminal work documents what has been learned by the author and his colleagues in this regard during five years of hard work with major corporations across the globe in their efforts to adapt and implement Toyota’s “learning first” system. Included are case histories detailing the hows and whys of success -- case histories that identify the pitfalls, the lessons learned and the astonishing results achieved. Whether a group of engineers is developing new cars, software applications, aerospace equipment, kitchen appliances, controls, sensors, or any of thousands of different items, the process they follow used to be pretty much the same in almost every business except Toyota. But this is now changing, and the rate of change is bound to accelerate because of this new book. Rightly so. Companies that are early adopters of the Toyota system are certain to realize tremendous advantages over their competitors, making this a must-read for everyone on the management team. Learn more >>>

Many experts thought the application of Lean manufacturing in complex and variable environments was impossible. Level scheduling and standard processes –– two hallmarks of Lean manufacturing –– are difficult to achieve in industries that produce complex products that must be customized for specific applications. The widely varying processing times that result from the fabrication of different combinations of subassemblies make the maintenance of continuous flow –– another hallmark of Lean manufacturing –– seem an insurmountable goal. But the authors have found ways to deal with these challenges and to employ Lean manufacturing techniques in order to maximize labor, plant and equipment productivity. A key aspect of the methodology explained is the use of sophisticated scheduling software to eliminate bottlenecks and to minimize downtime in the pursuit of continuous flow. Another is to lay out production lines in a way that arranges the different machines used to create product variations so that each product variation can be routed through assembly on the shortest and most efficient path. Depending on the level of customization, one may take a direct route while another requiring more work might be diverted to a side track. The authors compare this to local trains that take side trips off the main line while express trains continue on to arrive at the terminal sooner. Learn more >>>

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