Lean Systems

"Bohdan W. Oppenheim has pulled together experience-based insights of experts across industry, government, and academia into a comprehensive sourcebook for lean systems engineering principles and practices. This book can educate those new to lean engineering, as well as provide new insights and enablers that best-in-class organizations will want to adopt." Dr. Donna H. Rhodes, Principal Research Scientist, SEAri and LAI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Lean for Systems Engineering is targeted at the practitioner who is trying to make systems engineering more effective in her or his organization or program, yet its scholarly underpinnings make the text very suitable for teachers. Educators and trainers who wish to weave lean thinking into their systems engineering curriculum will find this an invaluable text." Earll M. Murman, Ford Professor of Engineering Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "At last, a book that distills years of research and scholarly inquiry into a concise and coherent form for both the student and practitioner. This book will become the favored guide and 'must read' for any engineer and manager trying to establish and maintain lean practices and principles in their systems engineering/product development processes. J. Robert Wirthlin, PhD, Lt. Col., USAF, Program Director of the Graduate Research and Development Management Program, Air Force Institute of Technology Visiting Faculty, U.S. Air Force Center for Systems Engineering "A vital contribution to linking lean practices to systems engineering. I will definitely use it as a reference for my course and writings on a value approach to product and system development." Dr. Stanley I. Weiss, Consulting Professor, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University "Taking the opportunity to develop and refine the Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering provided clear direction for Lean Engineering Accelerated Planning at Rockwell Collins. The Lean Enablers form a solid basis for Lean Product Development. Following this checklist and methodology promotes Lean value and waste elimination and commonsense best practices." Deborah A. Secor, Principal Project Manager and Lean Master, Rockwell Collins "Bo Oppenheim has been at the forefront of lean systems engineering for the better part of the last decade...An ardent advocate of lean systems engineering, the author has offered an honest appraisal of where lean systems engineering stands today. Practitioners interested in lean systems engineering will find the Lean Enablers especially useful." Azad M. Madni, PhD, Professor and Director, SAE Program, Viterbi School of Engineering; Professor, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Performance management, the primary focus of a Lean organization, occurs through continuous improvement programs that focus on education, belief systems development, and effective change management. Presenting a first-of-its-kind approach, The Lean Management Systems Handbook details the critical components required for sustainable Lean management.

Learn how Lean IT can help companies deliver better customer service and value Lean Enterprise Systems effectively demonstrates how the techniques derived from Lean Manufacturing, combined with the thoughtful application of information technology, can help all enterprises improve business performance and add significant value for their customers. The author also demonstrates how the basic concepts of Lean Manufacturing can be applied to create agile and responsive Lean IT. The book is divided into three parts that collectively explore how people, processes, and technology combine forces to facilitate continuous improvement: * Part One: Building Blocks of the Lean Enterprise sets forth the essentials of Lean. Readers discover where, when, and how Lean IT adds substantial value to the Lean Enterprise through integrated processes of planning, scheduling, execution, control, and decision making across the full spectrum of operations. * Part Two: Building Blocks of Information Systems explores the primary components of an enterprise information system and how these components may be integrated to improve the flow of information supporting value streams. Readers learn how information systems help organize and deliver knowledge when and where it's needed. * Part Three: Managing Change with IT demonstrates how the skillful combination of process and information technology improvements empowers people to continuously improve the Lean Enterprise. Readers develop the skills to exploit emerging information technology tools and change management methods, crafting a Lean IT framework-reducing waste, complexity, and lead time-while adding measurable value. Executives, managers, and improvement teams across a broad range of industries, as well as IT professionals, can apply the techniques described in this publication to improve performance, add value, and create competitive advantage. The book's clear style and practical focus also makes it an excellent textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in business, operations management, and business information systems.

Lean Systems: Applications and Case Studies in Manufacturing, Service, and Healthcare details the various Lean techniques and numerous real-world Lean projects drawn from a wide variety of manufacturing, healthcare, and service processes, demonstrating how to apply the Lean philosophy. The book facilitates Lean instruction by supplying interactive case studies that enable readers to apply the various Lean techniques. It provides an in-depth discussion of the Lean tools (i.e., VSM, standard work, 5S, etc.) and several real-world case studies and applications of Lean that have shown significant improvement in meeting customer requirements. The case studies follow the Six Sigma framework of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) structure for process improvement. The authors include detailed descriptions of each Lean tool and examples of how each Lean technique was applied to a wide variety of manufacturing, service, and healthcare processes. These in-depth descriptions and cases studies can be used by industry professionals and academics to learn how to apply Lean. They provide a detailed, step-by-step approach to Lean and demonstrate how to integrate Lean tools for process improvement and to sustain improvements. But more than this, the approach taken in this book gives readers the tools to effectively apply Lean techniques.

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 MappingPlan for Every PartProcess Design and Standard WorkScheduling and Material FlowMachine ChangeoverQuality and Continuous ImprovementBy 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.

A Practical, Hands-on Guide to Lean Manufacturing This real-world resource offers proven solutions for implementing lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and production aspects as well as the business culture concerns. Filled with detailed examples, the book focuses on the rapid application of lean principles so that large, early financial gains can be made. How to Implement Lean Manufacturing explains Toyota Production System (TPS) practices and specifies the distinct order in which lean techniques should be applied to achieve maximum gains. Global case studies illustrate successes and pitfalls of lean manufacturing initiatives. Discover how to: Rigorously test and retest the state of your "leanness" with unique evaluators Develop and deploy plant-wide strategies and goals Improve speed and quality and dramatically reduce costs Reduce variation in the manufacturing system in order to reduce inventory Reduce lead times to enable improved responsiveness and flexibility Synchronize production and supply to the customer Create flow and establish pull-demand systems Perform system-wide and specific value-stream evaluations Generate a comprehensive list of highly focused Kaizen activities Sustain process gains Manage constraints and reduce bottlenecks Implement cellular manufacturing

As a pioneer in Lean improvement methods, Jim Martin was among the first to suggest that truly successful Lean initiatives are those applied across every facet of an organization, not just on the shop floor. Building on this concept, Martin demonstrates that one of the most effective ways to implement operational improvements across an organization

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.