Changing an organization from a mass manufacturing environment to a lean environment is significant and affects all levels of the company if the implementation is done correctly. Many times, however, lean implementers become so involved with the nuts and bolts of lean implementation that the "people" side of the business is neglected. Transform your HR Department into an Agent of Change during Lean Implementation. With an HR perspective, veteran consultants Chris Harris and Rick Harris walk readers through a simple, step-by-step proven method for transforming a mass production workforce into a lean thinking one that possesses the necessary skills, training, and attitude to march in a new direction. They explain the role of human resources in a lean-oriented facility, emphasizing systematic training that continues for all employees. They also discuss the value of promoting employees from within a facility to team leader and group leader positions, and the importance of flexibility. This critically acclaimed book includes sample training sessions with explanations. Most of us are now far enough down the path in lean production to realize that the results lie in the details. This short volume presents all of the details you will need to create a frontline workforce and system of direct supervision that can effectively plan, do, reflect, and adjust, as you move your own operations steadily ahead. --James Womack, Chairman, Lean Enterprise Institute

Although there are many organizations that have implemented Lean production systems and become more profitable as a result, there can be a gap between what those organizations currently do and how they should plan for and profit from new business. Capitalizing on Lean Production Systems to Win New Business: Creating a Lean and Profitable New Product Portfolio explains how to create a Lean product portfolio to fill that gap so you can become more profitable from that new business. Providing a fundamental understanding of the Lean enterprise production system, this book can help an organization take its current Lean knowledge and translate that knowledge into a step-by-step methodology to win and launch new business. Lean topics covered include: Value Stream Mapping Plan for Every Part Process Design and Standard Work Scheduling and Material Flow Machine Changeover Quality and Continuous Improvement By developing the New Product Acquisition and Launch Portfolio presented in this book, you can dramatically improve your ability to produce the products customers desire and deliver them on time. Focusing on the concepts that are critical to the longevity of your Lean enterprise system, this book will help you understand how to deliver a product that meets the quality and delivery standards of your customer. It will also help you understand how this new product fits into your Lean enterprise system. Detailing how to achieve a successful new product launch through upfront planning, this book provides you with the tools to enhance efficiencies throughout your supply chain.

This workbook explains in simple, step-by-step terms how to introduce and sustain lean flows of material and information in pacemaker cells and lines, a prerequisite for achieving a lean value stream.A sight we frequently encounter when touring plants is the relocation of processing steps from departments (process villages) to product-family work cells, but too often these "cells" produce only intermittent and erratic flow. Output gyrates from hour to hour and small piles of inventory accumulate between each operation so that few of the benefits of cellularization are actually being realized; and, if the cell is located upstream from the pacemaker process, none of the benefits may ever reach the customer.This sequel to Learning to See (which focused on plant level operations) provides simple step-by-step instructions for eliminating waste and creating continuous flow at the process level. This isn't a workbook you will read once then relegate to the bookshelf. It's an action guide for managers, engineers, and production associates that you will use to improve flow each and every day.Creating Continuous Flow takes you to the next level in work cell design where you'll achieve even greater cost and lead time savings. You'll learn: where to focus your continuous flow efforts, how to create much more efficient work cells and lines, how to operate a pacemaker process so that a lean value stream is possible, how to sustain the gains, and keep improving.Creating Continuous Flow is the next logical step after Learning to See. The value-stream mapping process defined the pacemaker process and the overall flow of products and information in the plant. The next step is to shift your focus from the plant to the process level by zeroing in on the pacemaker process, which sets the production rhythm for the plant or value stream, and apply the principles of continuous flow.Every production facility has at least one pacemaker process. The pacemaker processes is usually where products take their final form before going to external customers. It’s called the pacemaker because how you operate here determines both how well you can serve the customer and what the demand pattern is like for your upstream supplying processes.How the pacemaker process operates is critically important. A steady and consistently flowing pacemaker places steady and consistent demands on the rest of the value stream. The continuous flow processing that results allows companies to create leaner value streams.[Source : 4e de couv.]

As organizations strive to meet stringent budgets, the mandate to produce greater results with fewer resources is no longer sufficient. Rather than accepting less, managers and executives must strive for better--evaluating every process and every role and doing away with assumptions about how work gets done and who does it in order to streamline processes and maximize efficiency. William Rothwell, who was honored with the ASTD Distinguished Contribution Award in Workplace Learning and Peformance, presents a system for analyzing work and selecting the ideal combination of cost-effective resources--employees, consultants, contractors, temporary workers, and vendors--to accomplish it. Lean but Agile does this by teaching readers to focus on outcomes and work backwards--exploring the introduction, implementation, and management of lean work and agile staffing methods that will produce those outcomes. You’ll also learn about advantageous changes in hiring, goal-setting, learning and development, and performance management, and the fundamental role technology can play in transforming your processes. Packed with practical advice, examples, guides, worksheets, diagrams, and metrics, Lean but Agile will help leaders, managers, and human resource professionals optimize their workforces while still achieving superior results.

Lean Thinking was launched in the fall of 1996, just in time for the recession of 1997. It told the story of how American, European, and Japanese firms applied a simple set of principles called 'lean thinking' to survive the recession of 1991 and grow steadily in sales and profits through 1996. Even though the recession of 1997 never happened, companies were starving for information on how to make themselves leaner and more efficient. Now we are dealing with the recession of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2002. So what happened to the exemplar firms profiled in Lean Thinking? In the new fully revised edition of this bestselling book those pioneering lean thinkers are brought up to date. Authors James Womack and Daniel Jones offer new guidelines for lean thinking firms and bring their groundbreaking practices to a brand new generation of companies that are looking to stay one step ahead of the competition.

The Highly Effective Office covers the transformation journey required to change the culture in the workplace from processes that suffer from functional separation and "silo-ed" departments to efficient and integrated systems. Most office processes have evolved into separate and autonomous stand-alone functions that are sub-optimized. The result is added wastes in the processes, and the customers are often the first to notice. The wastes parallel the manufacturing floor wastes and deserve the same attention for identification and removal. Yet, the culture of the office is predisposed to work by a separation of duties. Roles and responsibilities are not aligned around processes. The same type of dramatic transformations that were enabled on the concrete factory floor are needed in carpeted offices. This book describes methods to transform the value streams in the office and administrative areas of organizations, and it outlines why Lean works just as well in the office as it does in manufacturing. Wastes typically reach 50% of the process effort, and these processes are ripe for improvement. Throughout the book, waste removal in office processes are fully illustrated with descriptions of applying Lean tools to achieve flow. Case studies from the corporations, non-profits, and higher education institutions demonstrate how various types of organizations have reached success by applying Lean principles to their processes. Lean expert Timothy Schipper outlines the structural and leadership changes that are required to create a transformational journey for process change and continuous improvement. Leadership activities are outlined along with descriptions of how to assign ownership and responsibility for the changes inside the organization. Various leadership behaviors are explored that support and help to sustain the effort. Attention is given to how to start the journey, how to select projects and launch them with clear goals and objectives, and how to run successful workshops, as well as visual tools and techniques and educational content. Finally, and most importantly, a description of the mature Lean culture is offered to show how to embed process improvement into the organization.