Written by the industrial engineer who developed SMED (single-minute exchange of die) for Toyota, A Revolution in Manufacturing provides a full overview of this powerful just in time production tool. It offers the most complete and detailed instructions available anywhere for transforming a manufacturing environment in ways that will speed up production and make small lot inventories feasible. The author delves into both the theory and practice of the SMED system, explaining fundamentals as well as techniques for applying SMED. The critically acclaimed text is supported with hundreds of illustrations and photographs, as well as twelve chapter-length case studies.

Winner of a 2009 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize. Notably flexible and brief, the A3 report has proven to be a key tool In Toyota’s successful move toward organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and improvement, especially within its engineering and R&D organizations. The power of the A3 report, however, derives not from the report itself, but rather from the development of the culture and mindset required for the implementation of the A3 system.

The authors first show that the A3 report is an effective tool when it is implemented in conjunction with a PDCA-based management philosophy. Toyota views A3 Reports as just one piece in their PDCA management approach. Second, the authors show that the process leading to the development and management of A3 reports is at least as important as the reports themselves, because of the deep learning and professional development that occurs in the process. And finally, the authors provide a number of examples as well as some very practical advice on how to write and review A3 reports.

Applying lean to the supply chain is a hot topic. While lean operations can produce significant benefits to an organization, the greatest benefits will not be realized unless lean is extended beyond the organization to involve both suppliers and customers. Lean Supply Chain: Collected Practices and Cases provides a variety of case studies.

The hard part of implementing a lean transformation, according to most experts, is dealing with the "soft" issues, such as culture change. Getting employees to live and breathe lean -- actively supporting and buying into lean concepts and philosophy, always searching for ways to eliminate waste, and continuously improving processes and providing greater value for customers -- is the real challenge when building and sustaining a lean culture.

Lean Culture: Collected Practices and Cases provides a variety of case studies taken from articles previously published in Lean Manufacturer Advisor: the monthly newsletter by Productivity Press. All focus on cultural issues, ranging from the role of top management, to training and development of workers and managers, to building buy-in and to sustaining the culture.

Highlights include:

• Practical, in-depth descriptions of cultural issues in a lean transformation, written in a conversational, easy-to-read style.
• Many case studies unavailable from any other single source.
• Articles categorized by specific area - all desired information is easily located.
• Real-world information about culture change collected in one handy book.

Flow is a fundamental concept of lean manufacturing, and its improvement is a challenge to many organizations. After mastering basic visual tools, managers must concentrate on increasing flow. This work provides shopfloor and other lean professionals with what they need to know about how other companies are implementing and sustaining continuous flow improvement.

Improving Flow: Collected Practices and Cases provides a variety of case studies taken from articles previously published in the newsletter Lean Manufacturer Advisor. The book demonstrates how to move products and services to the customer quicker while eliminating waste and improving profits.

The Lean Office: Collected Practices and Cases is a compilation of articles previously published in the Productivity Press newsletter, Lean Manufacturing Advisor. These articles discuss lean implementations in non-manufacturing operations, from design to processing invoices to customer service. Most articles are written in the form of case studies.

Highlights include:

• Practical, in-depth description of lean implementation, written in a conversational, easy-to-read style
• A large quantity of case studies unavailable from any other single source
• Responds to your desire for real-world lean office information

Visual tools are an essential part of any lean transformation, and understanding correct application of appropriate tools is crucial. This book clearly illustrates how successful organizations, such as Boeing and Maytag, have implemented visual tools in their operations. It shows both their respective achievements and the challenges they faced. Visual Tools: Collected Practices and Cases provides a variety of case studies taken from articles previously published in Lean Manufacturer Advisor - the monthly newsletter by Productivity Press.

Featuring strategies employed in Lean, this volume describes the experiences of organizations using TWI more than 60 years after the Training Within Industry program turned the U.S. into the industrial giant that won World War II. Based on their experience implementing TWI in organizations as diverse as Virginia Mason Medical Center and Donnelly Manufacturing, Shingo Prize Winners Patrick Graupp and Robert Wrona prove why many consider them the most successful TWI trainers in the world.

Their hands-on manual provides the tools and templates that can turn your company’s employees into a skilled and invested workforce capable of realizing unprecedented profits

Praise for:

If you want to get from interesting displays to true standardized work, read this book.

- Jeffrey K. Liker, autor, The Toyota Way

… uses cases to explain how to create no-nonsense culture change by teaching people how to do work differently, and how to relate to each other differently in order to work more effectively.

- Robert "Doc" Hall, Editor-chefe, Target Magazine

Graupp and Wrona bring many examples of companies that [improved] competitiveness by improving their capacity to fully engage their workforce...

—Steven Spear, professor senior, MIT Sloan School of Management

Desde a publicação do antecessor vencedor do Prémio Shingo, os programas TWI têm visto um crescimento constante. À medida que um verdadeiro entendimento do Trabalho Padrão foi desenvolvido, a necessidade das aptidões do TWI como ferramentas fundamentais para atingir os objetivos Lean foi consolidada.

The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors, Second Edition has been completely updated to the latest terminology and practice. This edition includes revised forms and tools, as well as new examples that illustrate current day TWI practice. Emphasizing the importance of accident and injury prevention, this edition includes an entirely new section on Job Safety, a fourth TWI module that was developed in Japan using the identical TWI methodology of the original three programs introduced in the original work. This updated edition includes new chapters on:

• Four Steps of Job Safety: Preventing Accidents before They Happen
• Two Key Aspects to Safety: Things and People
• Practicing the JS Method
• TWI’s Problem Solving Training

In addition to a new chapter on the TWI problem-solving methodology, this edition contains a new introduction with a more complete description of how TWI was reintroduced into American industry, including detailed information on the contribution TWI made at Toyota that was not available when the original book was published.

If you're aware of the tremendous improvements achieved in productivity and quality as a result of employee involvement, then you'll appreciate the great value of creating a visual factory. This book explains why conventional work areas, where fragmented information flows from "top to bottom," must be replaced by the "visual workplace," where information flows in every direction. It details how visual management can make the factory a place where workers and supervisors freely communicate so that every employee can take improvement action.

The author's year-long worldwide research resulted in an abundance of practical recommendations. The communication techniques he suggests will:

• Foster cohesion within groups of employees.
• Turn fault-based into fact based communication.
• Overcome such problems as absenteeism and high defect rates.
• Stimulate an unending flow of suggestions from employees.

A valuable resource for plant, operations, and human relations managers, this text discusses how successful companies develop meeting and communication areas, communicate work standard production controls such as kanban, and make goals and progress visible. Over 200 diagrams and photos illustrate the numerous visual techniques discussed.

If your goal is 100% zero defects, here is the book for you — a completely illustrated guide to poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) for supervisors and shop-floor workers. Many poka-yoke ideas come from line workers and are implemented with the help of engineering staff or tooling or machine specialists. The result is better product quality and greater participation by workers in efforts to improve your processes, your products, and your company as a whole.

The first section of the book uses a simple, illustrated format to summarize many of the concepts and main features of poka-yoke. The second section shows 240 examples of poka-yoke improvements implemented in Japanese plants.

The book:

• Organizes examples according to the broad issue or problem they address.
• Pinpoints how poka-yoke applies to specific devices, parts and products, categories of improvement methods, and processes.
• Provides sample improvement forms for you to sketch out your own ideas.

Use Poka-yoke in study groups as a model for your improvement efforts. It may be your single most important step toward eliminating defects completely. (For an industrial engineering perspective on how source inspection and poka-yoke can work together to reduce defects to zero, see Shigeo Shingo's Zero Quality Control.)

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 designed unique one-piece flow systems (parallel, L-shaped, and U-shaped floor plans) to meet their particular needs. One-Piece Flow describes each step in the process of establishing one-piece flow and: (1) provides ample "test your skills" worksheets that guide you through the solution of problems, and (2) includes over 300 illustrations and 14 single-page case studies that show how to cut assembly personnel in various industries.

With this book, plant managers will learn how to eliminate overstaffing waste and build a multi-skilled work force equipped to support JIT manufacturing.

Shingo, whose work at Toyota provided the foundation for JIT, teaches how to implement non-stock production in your JIT manufacturing operations. The culmination of his extensive writings on efficient production management and continuous improvement, this book is an essential companion volume to his other landmark books on key elements of JIT, including SMED and poka-yoke.

It covers:

• Fundamental flaws in European and American production philosophies.
• Basic concepts for improving production systems.
• The "scientific thinking mechanism" -- a new approach to improvement.
• Implementing a production method in an age of authorized stock production.
• Development of production functions in the age of non-stock production.
• Significance of the different production systems.

Dr. Shingo pulls together all the pieces of the production puzzle and thoroughly destroys the myth of the inevitability of waste and inventory.

Equipment downtime can bring a lean manufacturing operation to a complete standstill. Total productive maintenance (TPM) is such a fundamental part of becoming lean because a machine failure at one step of a continuous flow process will halt all the steps before and after it. Strategies aimed at eliminating downtime are essential in any operation.

Autonomous maintenance is an especially important pillar of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) because it enlists the intelligence and skills of the people who are most familiar with factory machines - equipment operators. Operators learn the maintenance skills they need to know through a seven-step autonomous maintenance program. Most companies in the West stop after implementing the first few steps and never realize the full benefits of autonomous maintenance. This book contains comprehensive coverage of all seven steps--not just the first three or four.

It includes:

• An overview of autonomous maintenance features and checklists for step audits to certify team achievement at each AM step.
• TPM basics such as the six big losses, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), causes of losses, and six major TPM activities.
• An implementation plan for TPM and five countermeasures for achieving zero breakdowns.
• Useful guidelines and case studies in applying AM to manual work such as assembly, inspection, and material handling.
• Integrates examples from Toyota, Asai Glass, Bridgestone, Hitachi, and other top companies.

By treating machines as partners and taking responsibility for them, you get machines that you can rely on and help maintain an energized and responsive workplace. For companies that are serious about taking autonomous maintenance beyond mere cleaning programs, this is an essential sourcebook and implementation support.

The powerful knowledge contained in this book can make your workplace more productive, your job simpler, and everything more satisfying. It's about how to do equipment or product changeovers in record time--often in less than 10 minutes. The method you'll learn here is called SMED, short for "Single-Minute Exchange of Die" (the "single" here means a single-digit number of minutes).

Developed from a longer book, A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System, this book is written for frontline production and assembly associates. It presents an overview of the reasons why SMED is important for companies and employees, sets out the three basic stages of SMED, and then devotes a separate chapter to each of these stages. The first chapter of the book is like an "owner's manual" that tells you how to get the most out of your reading time by using the margin assists, summaries, and other features of the book to help pull out exactly what you need.

One of the most effective ways to use this book is to read and discuss it with other employees. The authors planned the book so that it can be used this way, organizing the book into chunks of information that can be covered in a series of short sessions. Each chapter includes reflection questions to stimulate group discussion. A Learning Package is also available, which includes a leader's guide, summarize major points, and examples of SMED applications in different kinds of companies.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a crucial measure in TPM that reports on how well equipment is running. It factors three elements ---the time the machine is actually running, the quantity of products the machine is turning out, and the quantity of good output – into a single combined score. Directly addressing those who are best positioned to track and improve the effectiveness of equipment, OEE for Operatorsdefines basic concepts and then provides a systematic explanation of how OEE should be applied to maximize a piece of equipment’s productivity and recognize when its efficiency is being compromised.

Hiroyuki Hirano’s five pillars of the visual workplace: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain are the most fundamental and often overlooked aspects in continuous improvement initiatives. Together, these concepts form the framework of the 5S System, a set of principles whose simplicity often betrays its powerful impact on the workplace.

So much of the 5S System seems like common sense, that it is astonishing how often such seemingly simple practices are absent in manufacturing operations. That is why Productivity Press is proud to bring you 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace, a hands-on book that explains the principles, rationale and implementation details of the 5S System.

Easy-to-read and apply, each section of the text is loaded with questions, outlines, summaries, diagrams and illustrations. Most importantly, 5S for Operators provides the foundational knowledge that is essential for implementing not just the 5S System, but overall manufacturing improvements like shorter equipment changeovers, just-in-time inventory, total quality management and total productive maintenance.

Since its publication in 1996, 5S for Operators has been and continues to be hugely popular, consistently ranking among Productivity's list of top-sellers, and its popularity is not hard to understand. 5S has proven its worth in one company after another, consistently reducing waste, guaranteeing product quality, ensuring safety and increasing the bottom line. With 5S for Operators, the 5S System can have the same profound effect on your operations.

Like all Shopfloor Series books, Identifying Waste on the Shopfloor presents concepts and tools in simple and accessible language. The book includes many illustrations and examples to explain basic concepts and some of the challenges that are encountered when looking for and eliminating waste.

Identifying Waste on the Shopfloor is the ideal compliment to 5S, TPM, and other tools for building a lean manufacturing operation.

Productivity's Shopfloor Series books offer a simple, cost-effective approach for building basic knowledge about key manufacturing improvement topics. Identifying Waste on the Shopfloor and all our Shopfloor Series books include innovative instructional features that are the signature of the series. The goal: to place powerful and proven improvement tools in the hands of your entire workforce.

Cellular Manufacturing: One-Piece Flow for Workteams introduces production teams to basic cellular manufacturing and teamwork concepts and orients them for participating in the design of a new production cell. Use this book to get everyone on board to reduce lead time, work-in-process inventory, and other profit-draining wastes. Each chapter includes an overview and a summary to reinforce concepts, as well as reflection questions, which can be used to encourage group discussions. This volume is part of Productivity Press’ Shopfloor Series, which offers a simple, cost-effective approach for building basic knowledge about key manufacturing improvement topics.

In a "pull" production system, the final process pulls needed parts from the previous process, which pulls from the process before it, and so on, as determined by customer demand. This allows you to operate without preset schedules and avoid unnecessary costs, wastes, and delays on the manufacturing floor.

Pull Production for the Shopfloor introduces production teams and managers to basic pull production concepts, enabling them to begin understanding, planning, and implementing this lean tool. Use this book to get everyone on board to reduce work in process inventory, lead-time, and other profit-draining expenses. This book will enable plant managers to explain and thereby get support the support they need from higher management for their pull implementation efforts.

Focused Equipment Improvement for TPM Teams is everything your company needs to gain information about focused equipment improvement. Based on the methodology of Productivity's other learning packages, the material contains:

• A Leader's guide
• A copy of Training for TPM: A Manufacturing Success Story
• Five copies of Focused Equipment for TPM Teams
• Overheads
• Worksheets and group agendas

TPM for Every Operator covers the information that needs to be communicated to operators when facilitating a company-wide TPM initiative. It covers the main aspects of TPM, introducing frontline workers to this important manufacturing strategy that encourages them to participate in and even initiate routine maintenance that can help extend machine life and prevent stoppages. Based on actual implementations, this book addresses the challenges which TPM often raises for operators. Concise and accessible, it can be used as part of an extensive TPM training program, especially when paired with the TPM Guide for Workshop Leaders.

Kanban is the name given to the inventory control card used in a pull system. The primary benefit of kanban is to reduce overproduction, the worst of the seven deadly wastes. A true kanban system produces exactly what is ordered, when it is ordered, and in the quantities ordered. It is essentially a dynamic work order that moves with the material.

Each kanban identifies the part or subassembly unit and indicates where each one came from and where each is going. Used this way, kanban acts as a system of information that integrates your plant, connects all processes one to another, and connects the entire value stream to customer demand.

Kanban for the Shopfloor provides a working manual for those seeking to implement this method of production control in any operation. It defines the various terms and methods employed in kanbans, and illustrates how when adhered to, kanban is an element of continuous improvement that ultimately leads to the ideal of one-piece flow."

In addition to reducing the waste of overproduction, kanban will help your company increase flexibility to respond to customer demand, coordinate production of small lots and wide product variety, and simplify the procurement process. About the Shopfloor Series: Put proven improvement tools in the hands of your entire workforce!

Sobre a série Shopfloor: Disponibilize as ferramentas de melhoria comprovadas nas mãos de toda a sua força de trabalho!

TPM involves employees companywide in preventing equipment abnormalities and breakdowns. The first line of defense: equipment operators-the people most familiar with daily operating conditions. In addition to regular cleaning and inspection, team-based improvement activities make effective use of operators' hands-on knowledge.

How do you organize TPM teams and keep them vital? TPM Team Guide tells supervisors, workgroup leaders, and operators how to develop the team-based skills required for successful TPM implementation. Geared toward TPM projects, it describes basic elements of improvement activities for any kind of shopfloor team.

TPM Team Guide gives simple explanations of basic TPM concepts such as the six big losses, and emphasizes the integration of TPM activities with production management. Chapters describe the team-based improvement process step by step, from goal to standardization of the improved operations. Team leaders will learn how to hold effective meetings and deal with the human issues that stand in the way of success. The tools for team problem solving and the steps for preparing a good presentation of results are detailed here as well.

Written in simple language, with abundant illustrations and cartoon examples, this book makes TPM activities understandable to everyone in the company. Frontline supervisors, operators, facilitators, and trainers in manufacturing companies will want to use this practical guide to improve company performance and build a satisfying workplace for employees.

TPM leads to soaring productivity when your operators are positively and energetically involved in the maintenance of their own equipment. Autonomous Maintenance for Operator steaches specific autonomous maintenance activities. For operators, supervisors, team leaders, and TPM coordinators, this book provides useful guidance and case study examples on autonomous maintenance. Activity boards, one-point lessons, photos, cartoons, and actual examples of implementation demonstrate the huge benefits of developing informed, motivated operators who take ownership of and improve their equipment.

Are you ready to implement a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing program but need some help orienting employees to the power of JIT? Here is a concise and practical guide to introduce equipment operators, assembly workers, and other frontline employees to the basic concepts, techniques, and benefits of JIT practices.

Like all Shop Floor Series books, Just-in-Time for Operators presents concepts and tools in simple and accessible language. The book includes ample illustrations and examples to explain basic JIT concepts and some of the changes people may encounter in a JIT implementation.

• Key definitions
• Elimination of process waste
• Leveled production, kanban, and standard work
• U-shaped cells and autonomation
• JIT support techniques

The JIT approach is simple and universal - it works in companies all over the world. Educating employees ensures their full participation and allows them to share their experiences and ideas more effectively.

The philosophy of kaizen, which simply means continuous improvement, needs to adopted by any organization seeking to implement lean improvements that go beyond cost cutting. Kaizen events are opportunities to make focused changes in the workplace. Kaizen for the Shopfloor takes readers through the critical steps for conducting a very effective kaizen event: one that is well planned, well implemented, and well documented. As the newest addition to the Shingo Prize Winning Shopfloor Series, Kaizen for the Shopfloor distills the complexities of jumpstarting lean processes into an easily accessible format for those frontline employees who make lean possible.

About the Shopfloor Series: Put proven improvement tools in the hands of your entire workforce! Progressive shopfloor improvement techniques are imperative for manufacturers who want to stay competitive and to achieve world class excellence. And it's the comprehensive education of all shopfloor workers that ensures full participation and success when implementing new programs. The Shopfloor Series books make practical information accessible to everyone by presenting major concepts and tools in simple, clear language and at a reading level that has been adjusted for operators by skilled instructional designers. One main idea is presented every two to four pages so that the book can be picked up and put down easily. Each chapter begins with an overview and ends with a summary section. Helpful illustrations are used throughout. Other topics in the Shopfloor Series: Kanban, 5S, Quick Changeover, Mistake-Proofing, Just-in-Time, TPM, Cellular Manufacturing.

The Zero Quality Control System (ZQC) is a mistake-proofing approach that prevents defects by monitoring processing conditions at the source and correcting errors that cause defects. Since it is human nature to make mistakes, ZQC does not blame people for errors, but instead finds ways to keep errors from becoming defects. In this breakthrough approach, mistake-proofing devices called poka-yoke are used to check and give feedback about each product or operation in the process, not just a sample. This book introduces operators and assembly workers to the basic methodology of ZQC in an easy-to-read format that covers all aspects of this important manufacturing improvement strategy.

Mistake-Proofing for Operators includes the instructional features that are the signature of the Shopfloor Series. In this series Productivity Press has taken the lead in adult education by teaming with instructional designers to develop complete programs for frontline learning. The goal: to place powerful and proven improvement tools such as ZQC and mistake-proofing in the hands of your company's entire workforce.

Standard work is an agreed upon set of work procedures that effectively combines people, materials, and machines to maintain quality, efficiency, safety, and predictability. Work is described precisely in terms of cycle time, work in process, sequence, time, layout, and the inventory needed to conduct the activity. Standard work begins as an improvement baseline and evolves into a reliable method. It establishes the best activities and sequence steps to maximize performance and minimize waste.

In this book you will learn about:

• The characteristics of standards
• Key benefits and applications of standardization
• Standard work concepts and calculations
• Standard work steps and documentation
• Using standard work manuals, charts, and worksheets
• Cell staffing (line balancing and full work)

Productivity's Shopfloor Series books offer a simple, cost-effective approach for building basic knowledge about key manufacturing improvement topics. Like all our Shopfloor Series books, Standard Work for the Shopfloor includes innovative instructional features that are the signature of the Shopfloor Series. The goal: to place powerful and proven improvement tools such as pull production techniques in the hands of your entire workforce.

The benefits of advanced manufacturing methods can't be realized until they're practiced consistently and proficiently by your entire workforce. Here's a simple, low-cost way to get everyone on board quickly. This small book presents the basic methodology of TPM and focuses on hands-on activities for shopfloor teams to maximize equipment effectiveness.

Feedback from our customers indicates that this book has been used primarily by shopfloor supervisors to lead operator teams in implementing TPM programs. For the most cost effective on-site education, every supervisor and team leader in your operation should read this book.

It presents the basic methodology of TPM in clear, accessible language and will help supervisors implement TPM improvement activities on the shop floor. It's the best way to ensure a companywide understanding of TPM.