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New LEI Workbook Tackles Lean Production Control and System Kaizen

BROOKLINE, Mass., April 5 -- Creating Level Pull, the new workbook from the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), shows readers how to advance a lean transformation from a focus on isolated improvements to improving the entire plantwide production system by implementing a lean production control system.

"The workbook is unique because it is a step-by-step case study on how to implement a level, pull-based production control system," said author Art Smalley. "This is a new step towards 'system kaizen' that is not yet well understood outside of Toyota."

The lean efforts at most companies focus on "point kaizen" (e.g., reducing setup times, implementing 5S, etc.) that improves a small portion of the value stream running from raw materials to finished products. Or they focus on "flow kaizen" that improves the entire value stream for one product family. Creating Level Pull shows how companies can make the leap to "system kaizen" by introducing a lean production control system that ties together the flows of information and materials supporting every product family in a facility. With this system implemented, each production activity requests precisely the materials it needs from the previous activity and demand from the customer is leveled to smooth production activities throughout the plant.

"A truly lean production-control system that rigorously controls production at every step and levels demand from the customer has proved a great challenge for most firms," said James Womack, LEI president and founder, "but Art gives you all the knowledge needed to succeed."

Using a realistic example facility, Smalley shows readers how to make the transition to a robust pull system by answering a series of 12 critical questions including what items to hold in finished goods inventory, what items to make to order, how to buffer the system against instability, how to schedule batch processes, and how to level the production schedule. Careful attention to leveling (called heijunka) permits facilities to accommodate variations in demand with minimum inventories, capital costs, manpower, and production lead time.

The 114-page illustrated workbook is available for $50.00 from LEI at www.lean.org.

Smalley was one of the first foreigners made a permanent employee of the Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, assisting with the startup of Toyota facilities in the U.S. and other countries. He subsequently was Director of Lean Production Operations at Donnelly Corporation and manager of the Production System Design Center at McKinsey and Company. To schedule an interview, please contact Chet Marchwinski at (203) 778-0670 or cmarchwinski@lean.org .

Based in Brookline, Mass., USA, the Lean Enterprise Institute is a nonprofit training, publishing, and research organization founded by James Womack, PhD, in August 1997. It has developed simple but powerful tools for implementing a set of ideas known as lean production and lean thinking, based initially on the Toyota Production System and now extended to an entire Lean Business System. For more information, visit the LEI News page.