
The Perfect Engine
Driving Manufacturing Breakthroughs with the Globa
The Free Press
Published on 7. May 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-4516-4085-4 (ISBN)
Description
Most manufacturing companies with batch-and-queue "push" production systems have been blindsided by today's consumer who expects quality products and services delivered on demand and customized to individual taste. In The Perfect Engine, manufacturing experts Anand Sharma and Patricia E. Moody describe for the first time how leading "pull" production pioneers build to order by reducing inventory, decreasing cycle time, minimizing floor space, and eliminating waste.
Drawing on scores of examples and detailed case studies of three leaders in the demand economy field -- Maytag, Pella, and Mercedes-Benz -- Sharma and Moody demonstrate how these companies achieved astonishing results using the pathbreaking LeanSigmaSM Transformation. Combining lean production and quality elements from the famous Six Sigma process, LeanSigma produces annual productivity gains of 15 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the authors show, inventory turns more than quadruple; cycle times drop by more than 70 percent; and floor space reductions of 30 percent to 50 percent are not uncommon. Sharma and Moody provide immensely readable explanations of key technical aspects of the process--for example, how cell-based one-piece flow can replace batch-and-queue with dramatically improved lead times and inventory turnover. A chapter on a revolutionary design technique the authors call Design for LeanSigma or 3P (product and production preparation) shows how to build flexibility into the product design and the production systems at very low risk, which will be especially helpful when forecasts and customer orders deviate from original projections, as they usually do. Further, the Design for LeanSigma method is devised to produce profitability at short-term volume projections, which makes it a perfect tool for the new demand economy. Essential, timely, and important, The Perfect Engine is perfect reading for this new manufacturing era.
Drawing on scores of examples and detailed case studies of three leaders in the demand economy field -- Maytag, Pella, and Mercedes-Benz -- Sharma and Moody demonstrate how these companies achieved astonishing results using the pathbreaking LeanSigmaSM Transformation. Combining lean production and quality elements from the famous Six Sigma process, LeanSigma produces annual productivity gains of 15 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the authors show, inventory turns more than quadruple; cycle times drop by more than 70 percent; and floor space reductions of 30 percent to 50 percent are not uncommon. Sharma and Moody provide immensely readable explanations of key technical aspects of the process--for example, how cell-based one-piece flow can replace batch-and-queue with dramatically improved lead times and inventory turnover. A chapter on a revolutionary design technique the authors call Design for LeanSigma or 3P (product and production preparation) shows how to build flexibility into the product design and the production systems at very low risk, which will be especially helpful when forecasts and customer orders deviate from original projections, as they usually do. Further, the Design for LeanSigma method is devised to produce profitability at short-term volume projections, which makes it a perfect tool for the new demand economy. Essential, timely, and important, The Perfect Engine is perfect reading for this new manufacturing era.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
493 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4516-4085-4 (9781451640854)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Anand Sharma, named one of "America's Heroes of Manufacturing" by Fortune, is the founder, president, and CEO of TBM Consulting Group, the fastest-growing manufacturing consulting firm in the world. He has spent the last two decades developing and implementing manufacturing improvement programs in a variety of companies throughout the world. He has worked extensively with some of the leading consultants responsible for the Japanese Industrial Miracle at Toyota Motor Company.
Content
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD BY LLOYD WARD, FORMER CEO OF MAYTAG CORPORATION
PREFACE: TODAY'S MANUFACTURING CHALLENGE
Chapter 1 A Better Way
Chapter 2 WHACK! What Doesn't Work and Why
Chapter 3 LeanSigma Leadership
Chapter 4 Preparation for Transformation and Innovation
Chapter 5 The Lean Production System
Chapter 6 Lean Ergonomics and Safety
Chapter 7 Design for LeanSigma
Chapter 8 Maintaining the Gains in a Culture of Change
Chapter 9 The Value Chain
Chapter 10 The Future
LIST OF FIGURES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD BY LLOYD WARD, FORMER CEO OF MAYTAG CORPORATION
PREFACE: TODAY'S MANUFACTURING CHALLENGE
Chapter 1 A Better Way
Chapter 2 WHACK! What Doesn't Work and Why
Chapter 3 LeanSigma Leadership
Chapter 4 Preparation for Transformation and Innovation
Chapter 5 The Lean Production System
Chapter 6 Lean Ergonomics and Safety
Chapter 7 Design for LeanSigma
Chapter 8 Maintaining the Gains in a Culture of Change
Chapter 9 The Value Chain
Chapter 10 The Future
LIST OF FIGURES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHORS