Zero Inventories is the definitive work on JIT! It is written for the key people in industry--managers, engineers, staff professionals and foremen, showing how to solve inventory problems and achieve stockless production. Its wide range of topics include: forecasting and inventory control methods; material requirements planning; systems for scheduling operations in manufacturing, procurement, logistics and project planning; systems for master scheduling and corporate planning; organizational problems of installing and managing new systems.

Engineers and reliability professionals are increasingly being held accountable for materials and spare parts inventory management and in response they need to gain a better understanding of materials and spare parts inventory management principles and practices. This practical book delivers just that. This new edition will help you get the right parts, in the right place, at the right time, for the right reason. Fully revised, it provides specific coverage of the issues faced in, and requirements for, managing engineering materials and spare parts and what to do to improve your results. It includes 29 exclusive examples and real life case studies to demonstrate the application of the concepts and ideas so that you will easy and quickly understand how to implement them. What's more it will show you: What to do to truly optimize your inventory holdings, Why inventory levels are almost always too high, How to identifying the factors that have greatest impact on your inventory levels, When to apply the 7 Actions for Inventory Reduction, Where to focus your efforts for greatest effect, and Who to involve in taking action. The concepts, ideas, tools, and processes in this book have helped many companies achieve and sustain results that other inventory tools and approaches just could not match. And it is sure to help you achieve true inventory optimization as well! Features The second edition includes... A new chapter on The Mechanics of Inventory Management, a pragmatic review of the management of inventory including... Introducing the Materials and Inventory Management Cycle, Comparing theoretical and actual inventory outcomes, Discussion on normal and Poisson distribution models, How to determine the re order point, How to determine the re order quantity, and Commentary on Monte Carlo simulation. An expanded chapter on the financial impact of inventory, including a discussion of the key reports that need to be understood. Chapters on the influence of policies, procedures, and people. Additional discussion on issues faced and how to address them. An expansion of the central process discussed in the first edition to a more comprehensive review process...Inventory Process(TM) Optimization. An expanded section on executing an inventory review program. A closing 'where to from here' chapter. 57 figures and diagrams - 30 of them new and the others all revised and updated and six new tables (with 8 in total). Eight new checklists - specifically included as a new tool for the reader and is the result of direct reader requests. An expanded glossary.

This book examines the problem of managing the flow of materials into, through, and out of a system in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of materials management. The subject is crucial for global competitive advantage, as materials constitute the largest single cost factor in manufacturing and service, and their effective management enhances value for money. In this context, inventory is a barometer of materials management effectiveness, along with wastage of materials. The book adopts a comprehensive, integrated systems approach and covers almost all aspects of materials, considering the specification, procurement, storage, handling, issue, use and accounting of materials to get the most out of every dollar invested. Combining conceptual clarity and quantitative rigor, it will be a highly useful guide for practicing managers, academics and researchers in this vital functional area.

Our economy and future way of life depend on how well American manufacturing managers adapt to the dynamic, globally competitive landscape and evolve their firms to keep pace. A major challenge is how to structure the firms environment so that it attains the speed and low cost of high-volume flow lines while retaining the flexibility and customization potential of a low-volume job shop. The books three parts are organized according to three categories of skills required by managers and engineers: basics, intuition, and synthesis. Part I reviews traditional operations management techniques and identifies the necessary components of the science of manufacturing. Part II presents the core concepts of the book, beginning with the structure of the science of manufacturing and a discussion of the systems approach to problem solving. Other topics include behavioral tendencies of manufacturing plants, push and pull production systems, the human element in operations management, and the relationship between quality and operations. Chapter conclusions include main points and observations framed as manufacturing laws. In Part III, the lessons of Part I and the laws of Part II are applied to address specific manufacturing management issues in detail. The authors compare and contrast common problems, including shop floor control, long-range aggregate planning, workforce planning and capacity management. A main focus in Part III is to help readers visualize how general concepts in Part II can be applied to specific problems. Written for both engineering and management students, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of a rule-based and data driven approach to operations planning and control. They advance an organized framework from which to evaluate management practices and develop useful intuition about manufacturing systems.

"This newly-revised and greatly expanded volume aims to provide a readable, real-world roadmap for putting into place the indispensable strategy and tactics managers need to make lean work and move their organizations - whether manufacturing or service-based - toward a world-class production system. Drawing upon decades of experience in the front lines of lean production and organizational transformation, the author provides cases, anecdotes, examples, rationales, and concrete tools to help business leaders stop talking about lean production and actually make progress toward achieving it. It's the perfect resource for leaders at all levels who are interested in improving their competitiveness, building more successful operations, and moving toward world-class performance in customer satisfaction, profitability, and employee satisfaction."--BOOK JACKET.

Understand how to integrate management accounting into your TQM and JIT systems * Learn how to use Value Added Accounting to make better strategic decisions * Find out how to use advanced costing techniques to correctly price products and services * Trace the development of modern best practice back to the breakthrough insights of the field's leading experts Every modern company now has to compete in a market environment that is becoming ever faster, more complex and competitive. Management accounting must respond to these changes, otherwise its risks becoming irrelevant to real business needs. This book demonstrates how the discipline can raise itself up to a new level of performance, allowing it to cope with challenges such as flexible manufacturing systems, flatter and leaner organisations, strategic alliances and globalisation. It explains how cutting edge management accounting techniques can transform a firm's operations and prospects, enabling it to become the best of the best.