This handy book is a working reference for practitioners using the MCT metric. MCT is a time-based metric that supports continuous improvement projects, since it quantifies an organization's total system-wide waste. Properly used, MCT does not need to be data-intensive and can be relatively easy to apply. Thus, by comparing "before" and "after" values, MCT provides a simple yet powerful metric with which to measure improvement.Although the origins of MCT are in manufacturing - the acronym stands for Manufacturing Critical-path Time - the metric can be used in many other contexts including insurance, banking, health care, and other industries.This Guide provides the key rules and guidelines for using MCT. It serves as a reminder of the main points as well as a checklist to ensure that you have taken into account the major items needed for MCT calculation and use.Practitioners will appreciate the concise and easy-to-follow format. In particular, the formatting and binding of the Guide allows you to lay the Guide flat and easily reference all the points for a given topic at one time.This Guide is a "must-have" for anyone using MCT in continuous improvement projects!

POLCA (Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization) is a card-based visual control system that manages the flow of jobs through the shop floor: at each operation, it controls which job should be worked on next to meet delivery targets. POLCA ensures that upstream operations use their capacity effectively by working on jobs that are needed downstream, while at the same time preventing excessive work-in-process (WIP) build-ups when bottlenecks appear unexpectedly. POLCA is particularly suited to companies manufacturing high-mix, low-volume and customized products. Such companies struggle with long lead times, late deliveries, and daily expediting to meet delivery dates. ERP systems are not designed to deal with this highly variable environment, and add-on software such as Finite Capacity Scheduling systems can require complex installation. Also, the Kanban system does not work well with low-volume or custom production. POLCA has delivered impressive results in such environments. It does not require any complex software implementation: it can be used without an ERP system or it can seamlessly complement an existing ERP system. This book: Provides a step-by-step roadmap on how to implement POLCA; invaluable for both companies that wish to implement POLCA as well as consultants and academics advising such companies. Explains the concepts in practical and easy-to-understand terms by showing detailed shop-floor examples. Includes more than 100 illustrations for understanding how POLCA works as well as for elaborating on details of the implementation steps. Contains case studies written by company owners and executives documenting their POLCA implementation process and the results achieved in various industries in six countries.

In the decade since the publication of Rajan Suri’s landmark book, Quick Response Manufacturing, the innovative principles of QRM have been proven with impressive results at many companies, big and small, in a variety of industries. While the key principles of QRM remain unchanged, after a decade of teaching QRM workshops to senior executives, Suri has developed a clear, concise, and accessible method of presenting QRM strategy using four core concepts: 1. The Power of Time – the huge impact time has on your entire enterprise 2. Organization Structure – how to structure your organization to reduce lead times 3. System Dynamics – understanding how interactions between jobs and resources impact time to make better decisions on capacity, lot sizes, and similar issues 4. Enterprise-Wide Application – QRM is not just a shop floor strategy, it extends across your whole enterprise including material planning and control, supply management, office operations, and new product introduction Presenting new case studies on QRM implementation, It's About Time: The Competitive Advantage of Quick Response Manufacturing illustrates how QRM can not only reduce lead times but also improve quality, reduce operating costs, and enable companies to gain substantial market share. This practical reference explains how factories in advanced nations can use QRM strategy to compete with manufacturers in low-wage countries. In addition, it provides helpful pointers for QRM implementation, including accounting strategies, novel cost-justification approaches, and a stepwise process for implementation. Also included are downloadable resources with five appendices that provide a number of practical details to assist in the success of your QRM implementation. When you are ready to start implementing QRM, you will find that these appendices contain time-saving tips to help you work through implementation issues¿including simple calculation methods and tools to support the design of your QRM strategy. You can also access these Appendices on the Downloads and updates tab on https://www.crcpress.com/9781439805961. The author, Rajan Suri, recently became one of only 10 people to be inducted into Industry Week's 2010 Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Developed by the author and now being employed by a number of businesses, Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is an expansion of time-based competition, aimed at a single target with the goal of reducing lead times. The key difference between QRM and other time-based programs is that QRM covers an entire organization, from the shop floor to the office, to sales and beyond. Providing guidelines for establishing a QRM enterprise, this volume builds upon kaizen, TQM, TPM, and other practice to help organizations streamline all functions of their operation. It shows how to quickly introduce products, along with ways to rethink materials and production management.

Although there are numerous books on alternative accounting methods, such as Lean accounting, none focus on the impact of time and how accounting practices can be modified to acknowledge the power of time. This book addresses this need. The Monetary Value of Time: Why Traditional Accounting Systems Make Customers Wait presents a framework for assessing the value of time in terms of organizational strategy and competitive advantage. The framework presented will enable organizations to develop consistent measures and ensure that their cost accounting system isn’t motivating behaviors that add to lead time and make customers wait. The framework outlined in this book is relevant to the managerial and cost accounting practices in today’s manufacturing environment, which is increasingly moving away from mass production to custom manufacturing. The framework is supported by high-level metrics, which are reinforced by operational metrics. This is supported by accounting data that recognize the value of time. Pricing models that incorporate the concept of time are presented. The book provides many examples of how the use of standard costing and traditional accounting practices in a high-mix/low-volume production environment can produce contradictory or even inaccurate results that form the basis for poor decisions that may actually move your organization farther from its objectives. The book arms readers with options for overcoming traditional barriers by applying direct costs at an item level, while applying overheads at a macro or value stream level. For example, while GAAP requires overhead application for inventory valuation, a common misconception is that overhead must be applied at an item level. In fact, overhead can be absorbed by one journal entry. Demonstrating the linkages between time-based accounting data and meaningful business metrics that drive bottom line results, the book presents methods and metrics that have been successfully applied by the author in manufacturing environments.

Abstract: This text is intended to make available to the physician the clinically significant parts of the knowledge of nutrition and metabolism in a way that enables utilization of this knowledge in daily practice. Topics covered in this quick reference include: diet advice to the healthy patient, a design for the clinical evaluation of nutritional status, diet therapy of specific systemic diseases, and diet plans for special clinical problems.

If you're preparing for the new CompTIA 2006 certification in A+, or the current Network+ and Security+ certifications, you'll find this book invaluable. It provides all the information you need to get ready for these exams, including the four new A+ exams -- the required Essentials exam and three elective exams that pertain to your area of specialization. As with other O'Reilly Nutshell books for certification exams, A+, Network+ and Security + in a Nutshell follows a proven style and approach. It reviews all of the topics needed to master each exam in a remarkably concise format, with required knowledge boiled down to the core. Instead of plowing through 500 to 700 pages to prepare for each exam, this book covers each one in approximately 150 pages. And because the objectives for the three elective A+ exams are redundant, and the book covers them in one section. The exams covered include: A+ Essentials: Required for A+ 2006 certification EXAM 220-602: For the A+ IT Technician specialization EXAM 220-603: For the A+ Remote Support Technician specialization EXAM 220-604: For the A+ IT Depot specialization EXAM N10-003: For Network+ Certification EXAM SYO-101: For Security+ Certification Each exam is covered in three parts: Exam Overview, Study Guide and Prep and Practice. Plenty of detailed tables and screen shots are included, along with study notes and practice questions. Once you have completed the exams successfully, you will find this all-in-one book to be a valuable reference to core administration and security skills.