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Informationen zum Autor Kiyoshi Klappentext As a consultant, Kiyoshi Suzaki has helped scores of Fortune 500 clients improve manufacturing operations and get the job done faster, cheaper, better, and safer. Now, in this detailed "operating manual" -- full of more step-by-step applications than any other book available -- Suzaki spells out new options in production and employee resources that can help American industry regain the cutting edge in price, quality, and delivery of products. A well-known expert in the field, Suzaki begins with the premise that "if it doesn't add value, it's waste" -- a concept devised by Henry Ford and later used by Toyota. He recaps what Toyota identifies as the seven most prominent forms of waste in factories. Most importantly, he meticulously details steps individuals can take to "simplify, combine, and eliminate operations" -- thereby reducing waste, improving quality, and saving money. Describing in detail the basic techniques culled from Japanese industrial philosophy and procedure, Suzaki shows how small, family-run businesses and billion-dollar American corporations from a wide range of industries -- automotive, electronics, cosmetics, and even defense contractors -- are meeting the manufacturing challenge today -- demolishing the widely held belief that most American manufacturers have become distribution organizations for products manufactured overseas. In addition, he links his methodology with several successful production systems, from Just-In-Time Production, Total Quality Control, Total Productive Maintenance to Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Throughout this practical handbook, he places emphasis squarely on the shop floor and grounds his approach in easy, yet powerful techniques everybody can understand and implement today. Illustrated with numerous charts and exhibits, The New Manufacturing Challenge shows how to integrate people and techniques to improve the workplace and, thus, strengthen any company's competitiveness in the global marketplace. Chapter 1 Eliminating Waste Unfortunately there is too much waste in our work environment. While we talk constantly about the difficulties in making money, we tend to ignore the waste that surrounds us and to overlook opportunities for improvement. We tend to look at time as something that adds value. Job experience, for example, is considered a function of time based on accumulated experiences or hours spent in producing goods. Instead, we should view time as something that erodes value when it is misspent. We should take specific actions to accelerate the improvement of operations and thereby run our workplaces more efficiently -- so that we can move forward. Scenes in the Factory Before talking about what we can or should do to improve our workplaces, let us first get a few comments from the people in the factory: Shop foreman: "Most of our people are working very hard. We are doing everything possible to improve our practice here. It just takes time for us to get to where we want to be." Plant manager: "We have many things going on in our factory. We are doing SPC [statistical process control] training and quality circle activities. We have implemented a suggestion program. We have MRP [material requirements planning]. We have even introduced robotics and an automated warehouse. But somehow, I have a feeling that things are not going well. For example, the number of suggestions is low, machines are still breaking down, quality level is not as high as I want to see it, sudden schedule changes are still common, and so on. Because of these things, I spend too much time chasing fires and attending daily meetings." Chief executive officer: "I don't know what's going wrong. I have attended seminars and conferences; I have looked around and hired consultants for help. But what I have accumulated so far are lots o...
