1st Edition
The Lean Anthology A Practical Primer in Continual Improvement
The Lean Anthology: A Practical Primer in Continual Improvement presents operations management case studies that illustrate a Lean process improvement journey. Ideal for non-engineers, adult learners, and corporate or business education settings, this book can help you and your organization understand and apply Lean practices as part of a plan for saving money, generating revenues, or freeing up resources—particularly in settings not traditionally associated with Lean.
The stories are easy to understand, simple accounts of everyday people negotiating life. The characters observe and integrate the principles of Lean into their personal and professional lives. Each Lean case study will help you understand and apply a different approach to the "relentless pursuit of the strategic elimination of waste."
The stories are organized into a framework for implementing a Lean transformation called The Five Cs: Customer, Capability, Control, Coordination, and Context/Culture. These are the five stages of strategic operations design and improvement. The Five Cs framework is a new approach to understanding a Lean journey that you can apply in many settings. The Five Cs framework can help you become more effective in both your personal and professional lives.
The book includes explanations with each case study, as well as brain teasers suitable for team discussion. These tools supply readers—even those without an operations management background—with an intuitive understanding of how to create value by eliminating waste.
Introduction
PART I: CUSTOMER
Defining the Customer Value Proposition
Theron Hunter’s Coffee Shop
The Value Proposition of the Coffee Shop
Value Proposition
Order-Winning Criteria
Make to Order versus Make to Stock
Voice of the Customer
Competing on Capabilities
Operating System Strategic Design
Managing Variability
Lunch with Guinevere
Managing Variability in Lunch Orders at the Walden-Aster
Accommodating Variability in Demand
Inventory
Capacity
Lead Time
Trade-Offs
Understanding Little’s Law
Dylan and Amelia Have a Cuppa
Moving Customers through a Pipeline
Little’s Law
Pipeline Management
Cash Conversion Cycle
Achieving Single-Piece Flow
Belinda, Bags, and Batches
Batch Sizes at the Grocery Store
Single-Piece Flow
The Social Contract and Perceptions of Fairness
Standard Work and Variability
SMED (Setup Time Reduction)
PART II: CAPABILITY
Managing Constrained Resources
Donna Johnson and the Bottlenecks
Managing the Limited Resources of Time, Capacity, and Money
Bottlenecks
Theory of Constraints
Scale-Up
Identifying Non–Value-Added Activities
Todd’s Balancing Act
Using Lean Techniques to Improve Daily Activities and Achieve a Goal
Value-Stream Mapping
Current- and Future-State Analysis
Identifying and Removing Waste
Top-Line Metrics
Standard Work
Continuous Improvement and Kaizen
Mapping the Value Stream
Rebecca’s Morning Routine
Using Critical Path and Value-Stream Mapping to Establish Standard Work at Home
Critical Path
Value-Stream Map (VSM)
Culture
Establishing Standard Work
Erika, In through the Out Door
Standardizing Work to Reduce Cycle Time in the Kitchen and Entryway
5S
Kaizen
Identifying and Removing Muda
Implementing the 5S System
David and the Case of the Hoarded House
Creating Time and Functionality with 5S
5S
Standard Work
Kanban
PART III: CONTROL
Using Process Behavior Charts
Tracy Scott Manages His Blood Sugar
Health Management through Process Behavior Charts
XmR Charts
Special and Assignable Causes
Reducing Variation
Continuous Improvement
Designing Experiments
Bob’s A-Maize-ing Popcorn
Using Experiments to Create the Best Popcorn
Experimental Design
Six Sigma
Designing a Robust Process
Accuracy versus Precision
Defining and Limiting Variables
Maintaining Reliable Equipment
Missy’s Car Maintenance
Improving Automobile Performance through Total Productive Maintenance
Predictive, Preventive, and Reactive Maintenance
Supplier Relationships
PART IV: COORDINATION
Designing a Supply Chain
Brian and Tonya’s Lunch Dilemma
Managing the Supply Chain for a Home-Cooked Lunch
The Reorder Point System
Periodic Review Systems
Determining Lot Size
Peter Goes Shopping
Determining the Optimal Lot Size for Household Supplies
Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
Reorder Points
Quantity Discounts
Visual Management
Order Quantities and Safety Stock
Brad and Gina and Baby Make Three
The Impact of Cost Estimates on Purchasing Decisions
Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
Setup Cost
Holding Cost
Safety Stock
Cycle Stock
Reorder Points (ROP)
Inventory Management Policies
PART V: CONTEXT AND CULTURE
Enabling Rational Decision Making
Zeke’s Tree
Decision Analysis for Homework Success: Empowering Homework Completion Using Decision Trees
Decision Analysis
Decision Trees
The Socratic Method
The Change Effectiveness Equation
Analyzing Root Causes
Jackson and Wyatt Learn to Share
Building Family Consensus through Root Cause Analysis
Andon Cords
Root Cause Analysis
Employee Teamwork as Part of Continuous Process Improvement
Putting It All Together
Chloe Manages the Family Business
Leading Strategic Change in a Family Setting
Change Management
Employee Development
Employee Buy-In
Designing a Robust Process
Epilogue
Index
Biography
Goldberg, Rebecca; Weiss, Elliott N.
This is a truly creative and engaging book. Like Goldratt’s The Goal, this book teaches the principles and concepts that form the basis for effective management of operations through the medium of stories. Learning is fun and painless and yet the lessons are deep.
—Morris Cohen, Panasonic Professor of Manufacturing & Logistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
What a great book—so inviting, interesting, and creative. Great practical Lean insights from a non-manufacturing point of view.
—Arthur V. Hill, Associate Dean for MBA Programs and Professor of Supply Chain and Operations, University of MinnesotaGoldberg and Weiss take key business concepts and make them accessible for anyone committed to self-improvement. Their approach is simple and effective…and reminds me how much more I can do to apply Lean thinking both in and out of the office for real results!
—Kevin Klau, Senior Vice President, Business Units, Hach Company
The Lean Anthology is full of rich nuggets of gold that can be applied to both personal and professional life. Rebecca Goldberg and Elliott Weiss combine storytelling and teaching through short vignettes that will revolutionize the reader’s thinking and lead to lasting business results bolstering your company’s competitive advantage. This pragmatic approach is certain to transform you, your team, and those around you.
—Monica Barker, Director Strategic Marketing North America, AREVA, Inc.
Even experienced practitioners can use The Lean Anthology to see additional applications for Lean tools. This book is comprehensive, enlightening, refreshing, and fun to read—which allows the reader to easily follow the pragmatic presentation of each Lean concept and practice.
—Frederick S. Buchman, Co-Author of Balanced Scorecard Strategies for DummiesMust-reading for anyone with responsibility for or interest in any form of operations. Few managers understand and embrace the importance of continuous improvement. The challenge is to learn how to do it… this is the need this book fulfills.
—Wallace Stettinius, author of Principles of General Management, The Art and Science of Getting Results Across Organizational Boundaries, and How to Plan and Execute Strategy: 24 Steps to Implement Any Corporate Strategy Successfully
