Superfactory has just launched a series of online self-paced e-learning modules on the core concepts of lean manufacturing. Professionally developed, the audio/visual modules are ideal for introducing new employees to lean, allowing motivated employees to learn more, and to train offsite or remote employees. An interactive knowledge check ensures the concept was learned, with a report emailed to the training coordinator. Learn more about the new Superfactory Online Learning Center.

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- Kevin Meyer

• Harbour Report finds North American productivity improving
  Auto Industry, UK - Jun 1, 2007
• A new way of thinking
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - May 30, 2007
  
• Toyota’s vault to No. 1 puts focus (good and bad) on lean
  Reliable Plant Magazine, OK - May 30, 2007
  
• Front Office Lean - Beyond the Shop Floor
  IndustryWeek - May 29, 2007
  
• 'Lean' Manufacturing At Letterkenny Saves Soldier Lives
  Earthtimes.org - May 29, 2007
  
• Lean vs. Lean Maintenance
  Plant Services, IL - May 25, 2007
  
• Going ‘lean' is best way to be successful in manufacturing
  Rhinelander Daily News, WI - May 23, 2007
  
• Crunch Time for Boeing
  MSNBC - May 23, 2007
  
• New Competencies for HR
  HR Magazine, VA - May 30, 2007
  
• Good news for GM in its battle with Toyota
  Detroit Free Press, MI - Jun 1, 2007
  
• Plants need skilled labor, and Va. project wants to help
  Charlottesville Daily Progress, VA - Jun 2, 2007
  
• Change drives Eggers
  Herald Times Reporter, WI - Jun 3, 2007
  

Visit the Superfactory Events Calendar for the full list of events.

Breaking Through to Flow
  by Ian Glenday

If you want to become truly lean but cannot imagine how to get beyond the fire-fighting associated with constantly changing plans, then this workbook is for you. A growing number of people are recognising that there is a lot more to lean than simply eliminating waste from current processes. But they struggle to see how to redesign their operations and abandon old ways of working. This workbook introduces a new pathway that is helping many organisations to overcome this hurdle and to launch them on the next phase of their lean journey - breaking through to flow.

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There is a misconception that Lean Thinking only applies to highly repetitive production environments. This misconception is perpetuated by the fact that most examples provided in books on the subject typically involve such companies. However, this is not the case. Manufacturers involved in high mixed model production can realize greater benefits from the application of Lean concepts than their repetitive counterparts. The very nature of Job Shops makes this statement true. It is a Job Shop that can reap the maximum benefits from the flexibility that is characteristic of a truly Lean Enterprise.

Now, it is also true that the application of Lean concepts is more difficult in a non-repetitive production environment. However, this fact should not discourage organizations from pursuing Lean. The potential benefits are just too great to ignore. It does require a deeper understanding of the concepts in order to determine the best implementation approach. Organizations must fully understand the concepts of flow, pull, and visual organization - just to name a few - so that they can overcome the circumstances unique to Job Shops, and successfully implement the concepts while maximizing the results.

So let's identify the challenges facing Job Shops. These include, but are not limited to: variable work content between products, variable product routings through the production process, frequent changeover of equipment. In addition, Job Shops typically have to cope with a high degree of demand variability (e.g. different order quantities) which translates to variable capacity loading. Further, the amount of information required in a Job Shop tends to be greater as well. Therefore, Job Shops need a high degree of flexibility, excellent information quality, short lead times, and outstanding workplace organization. Just the benefits that Lean provides!

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Watch Out for the Toolheads
by John Seddon

Many management fads appeal to managers because of the means of intervention; managers like to think of change as something you do with training and projects. I gained an antipathy to change by tools training and projects in the early 1980s while studying TQM programmes that failed. Of course, people do get improvements with tools, but they are insignificant when compared to the benefits from changing the system. I took the view that it is better to teach perspective — how to think — and if tools help, people will ‘beat a path’ to the cupboard door. For example, it is more important to teach the value, importance and issues associated with managing flow than teaching how to map a flow. I am still of that view. What’s more, teaching tools very rarely results in a change to the system.

It is a problem of intervention. If the object of a change is to change the system, tools can, at best, be only an aid. It is a common fallacy to believe that change is no more than a matter of education. This was the fallacy of TQM programmes and today is the fallacy behind the promotion of the Toyota System as a set of tools. Managers are being told that tools such as 5S, takt time, Poke Yoka and Value Stream Mapping are the means by which they can emulate Toyota. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how these tools got developed and assess their suitability for making effective change in service organisations.

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