| | |  | Training Within Industry (TWI) | Home » » » Made-to-Order Lean: Excelling in a High-Mix, Low-Volume Environment | | | | | | | Description: | | Toyota Production System methods have rendered remarkable results in high-volume manufacturing plants, but they have not been fully understood and correctly applied in high-mix, low-volume environments. While lean principles do apply, the implementation methods and tools must be adapted and alternate methods embraced in a low-volume environment. This volume is specifically geared for manufacturers that have hundreds to thousands of active part numbers with few or no ongoing forecasted volumes, and for job shops that build only to order. The primary focus is eliminating non-value-added activities and instituting improvements on the most repetitive jobs, a strategy that gives you more time to produce your low-volume work or one-offs. About the author: Greg Lane is a faculty member of the Lean Enterprise Institute and an advisor to the Instituto de Lean Management in Spain. During his time with Toyota, he was one of a handful of candidates selected for a one-year training program conducted by the company’s masters. He became certified as a Toyota Production System (TPS) Key Person and continued his work with Toyota, training others in TPS. He has been highly active in working on implementing lean around the world, supporting large and small companies alike. In 1998, he began to focus his lean endeavors on meeting the specific needs of high-mix, low-volume enterprises. During his time as an independent consultant, Greg purchased and operated his own manufacturing company, which specialized in fast turnaround on high-mix, low-volume parts. Greg used TPS to grow the business and nearly double its sales. Greg and his associates have experience not only at adapting the methods contained in this book, but also in applying other tools that are too numerous to detail here. They can be reached for further support with your lean transformation via email: glane@lowvolumelean.com | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Greg Lane | | Paperback:
| 192 pages | | Publisher:
| Productivity Press | | Publication Date:
| August 15, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1563273624 | | Product Width:
| 217.0 centimeters | | Product Height:
| 272.5 centimeters | | Product Weight:
| 1.41 pounds | | Package Length:
| 10.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 6 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Must read for the lean practitioner in high-mix, low-volume environmentsNov 27, 2007
By Samuel D. Beaird
Made-To-Order Lean provides the lean practitioner excellent guidance and instructions for applying the powerful concepts and methodologies of lean thinking to the most difficult of production environments, the job shop. As such, this book takes a major step forward in extending the reaches of lean thinking to high-mix, low-volume operations. It addresses the lean practitioner, someone who already has a basic understanding of lean principles and tools, and illuminates the ideas, tools, and principles that are most appropriate to the high-mix, low-volume environment. It is written in a very easy-to-read, down-to-earth manner. This is a guide book on how to do it with an abundance of great practical ideas and solid framework for implementing lean in the job shop. Mr. Lane starts off by showing how to use appropriate visuals to manage from the shop floor in real time. The use of visual management is built upon and emphasized throughout the book. For example, Mr. Lane explains how to use day-by-hour boards or FIFO boards and lanes to more effectively plan and control the flow of work through shared resources typically found throughout job shops. Mr. Lane is particularly effective in explaining how to use the powerful value stream mapping tool in the low-volume environment whereby the practitioner is faced with a multitude of products being produced across numerous shared resources. He gives great insight as to areas in the current state to evaluate for improvement in the future-state value stream. Mr. Lane explains how to manage inventories in the high-mix environment by having MRP manage the low-volume parts while utilizing a pull system (usually a kanban system) to manage the higher-volume repeating parts (the runners). This clever hybrid solution of combining kanban and MRP is thoroughly explained. These are but a few examples of the insightful explanations given for deploying lean principles in the high-mix, low-volume environment covered in Made-To-Order Lean. For me the book clarified many issues I was having applying lean thinking to the job shops with which I am associated. I came away with numerous ideas and a good grasp on how to greatly improve the operations with which I am involved. It is definitely a must-read book for the lean practitioner trying to improve make-to-order operations through the application of the powerful principles and tools of lean.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Low Volume MFGJul 02, 2008
By Robert A. Drensek
This book could have been better for me, but overall I liked it and found it useful. I work for a low volume Hi-mix company coming from a a hi-mix, hi-volume background. I found the traditional approaches were not going to work. Groping in the dark and some trial and error, I was coming to myown conclusions, when I found this book.
It is not a complete compendium of all lean tools. It refers you out to Duggan's Book (Mixed Models) and others for deeper dives into particular tools.
What is does do is give you a frame work to apply known tools to the low-volume problem. Traditional pull is ineffective if you make once or once or twice a year. Pull is still good, but the application of the tool is different because the circumstance is different.
The big learning out of this for traditional lean guys is; the tools still work, how and when to apply them changes. The skill in the practioner is learning the new how and when.
Quick overview in lo-volume: Traditional product families will be harder. Value stream maps are less important. Employee contribution and understand are much more critical. Focus on flow through the system. Focus on visual management of the team/cell, train the managers how to manage in that environment. Pull what you can pull... flow the rest. Mix kanban and MRP. Mix pull and push/flow. Focus on what works.
I would have liked a more definitive answer, but as the author wrote, the different circumstances of company's varies so much at this end of the spectrum, what is right for the 4 a day guy may not be for the 4 a month or 4 a year. Principles hold.... tools and applciations change.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Kind of basic.Nov 05, 2007
By GP The Engineer
Given the lack of "Lean for low volume" books out there, my hope was this book would be full of meaningfull tools. It ended up more like the a re-hash of any of the available Toyota books.
Would have liked a more consistent stlye to the book. It ranges from digital photos to cartoonish sketches to Excel charts when giving examples.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Not High Mix, Low Volume, but GoodDec 28, 2007
By MCM in MN
While this book claims to disseminate high mix, low volume production, it leaves the meat to Kevin Duggan's book "Creating Mixed Model Value Streams". Duggan's book is quite good, so the reference is appropriate.
The book has some great visual management examples that are useful, but the planning and execution of high mix, low volume or even high mix, high volume is missing.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A must have for high-mix low-volume manufacturersSep 04, 2009
By Improvement Fanatic
This is a true "how to" book for implementing Lean concepts into Low-Volume High-Mix manufacturing. The author assumes the reader has some prior experience with the traditional lean concepts, so the emphasis is on how to apply those concepts to the low-volume high-mix environment without re-explaining the why or what, but rather just the how.
A few of the concepts I found to be the most "enlightening" were: how to get the biggest impact from visual controls; the combination kanban, work order, & FIFO boards; pushing at the first operation and flowing through the rest; handling shared resources; using work diaries to aid in office kaizen; using FIFO boards in office processes; and making improvements in the shop & office when you have excess capacity.
The book is stuffed with examples using pictures, charts, & drawings that make the concepts even easier to understand and apply. Many of the concepts include some commentary on the order to implement them in to achieve the greatest chances of success. The author does refer to several other books for more detailed information on a few topics. These include: A Revolution in Manufacturing: the SMED System by Shigeo Shingo, Creating Mixed Model Value Streams by Kevin J Duggan, Learning to See by Rother & Shook, and Integrating Kanban with MRP II by Raymond Lewis.
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