As part of the APMS Conference 2018, we visited the Hyundai Mobis Asan plant in South Korea. They are a good example of supplying parts just in time to the nearby Hyundai plant. The site also had some other nice features. Let me show you the details: Continue reading Just in Time at Hyundai Mobis in Korea
Toyota Kata
There is one word that currently takes the lean world by storm: kata, or more properly Toyota Kata, a method developed by Mike Rother. The idea behind it is not only a bunch of buzzwords (like all too often) but actually goes in the right direction. Overall, I like the concept, although the attention it gets sometimes feels overdone. Let me give you the gist of kata. Continue reading Toyota Kata
Happy 5th Birthday AllAboutLean.com
Wow, it is now five years already and 265 posts since I started this blog! I am amazed (a bit) that I managed to publish one blog post with at least 1,000 words every week. I am also among the top 400,000 websites in the United States and the world! Thanks to all for your interest in my work! Time to celebrate (again). Continue reading Happy 5th Birthday AllAboutLean.com
Calculating the Number of POLCA Cards
In my previous posts I explained how POLCA works and discussed the pros and cons of POLCA. In this post I will explain how to calculate the number of POLCA cards. While POLCA is overall a feasible method, I do have some critical comments on the method to calculate the number of POLCA cards. Continue reading Calculating the Number of POLCA Cards
Advantages and Disadvantages of POLCA
In my previous post I described how POLCA (Paired-Cell Overlapping Loops of Cards) is supposed to work. Now let me look at the advantages and disadvantages of the method. Overall POLCA is a valid method of managing job shops. If it is the right one for you depends very much on your production system. Continue reading Advantages and Disadvantages of POLCA
What Is POLCA?
POLCA stands for Paired-Cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization and was developed by Rajan Suri around 1990. It is sometimes mentioned alongside kanban and CONWIP as a production control system. Let me explain to you how POLCA works. In my next post I look at the pros and cons of POLCA. In my last post of this mini-series, I will show you the calculation for the number of POLCA cards, including some critical comments.
The similar-sounding word Polka is also a Czech dance music and textile pattern, hence the colorful illustration of the polka dots on the left (don’t worry, more technical diagrams will follow below). Continue reading What Is POLCA?
Lean and Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is one of the hot topics of modern manufacturing, although some (myself included) say that it is overrated. Lean is one of the older but also still important topics in manufacturing. In this post I would like to compare lean and Industry 4.0. What are the differences, what are the commonalities? Can they complement each other or do they conflict? Continue reading Lean and Industry 4.0
Examples of Jidoka
In my last two posts I talked a lot about what jidoka is, and the underlying philosophy. Many articles do so. But there are almost no actual examples out there of jidoka. But without examples it is difficult to really understand a concept. A great historic example of this is the Toyoda Model G automatic loom from 1925. This is well known, but here I would like to show you how it connects to jidoka. I will also give you a more modern example of a product that you may even own.