The methods of lean have been adapted to a wide variety of industries, from military to healthcare, from government to banking. One of these industries is lean construction, where it’s applied to the construction industry. In this post I would like to give you an overview of the similarities and differences, and how to adapt lean methods for construction. Continue reading Lean Construction
All posts by Christoph Roser
Example of Problem Solving – Japanese Men’s Relay Team Rio 2016
Good problem solving can seriously help you with the performance in your plant. John Shook recently pointed out another nice example to me: the Japanese Men’s 4x100m relay team during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. They were the underdogs, with none of their team having ever run 100m in under 10 seconds. Yet they stunningly won the silver medal! They achieved this through good problem solving. Let me show you the details: Continue reading Example of Problem Solving – Japanese Men’s Relay Team Rio 2016
A Good Standard Needs No Explanation
Standards are one of the backbones of lean manufacturing. For a standard to be good and used consistently, it should be self-explanatory. Additionally, you should understand it well enough to easily recognize deviations from the standard. I would like to give you an example of how my thought process works when exploring a standard. Continue reading A Good Standard Needs No Explanation
External Milk Runs
In my previous posts I talked a lot about internal milk runs. However, you can also have milk runs externally across multiple suppliers and plants. There are a few things to consider that are different from the internal milk runs. Let me elaborate … Continue reading External Milk Runs
Frequently Asked Questions for Milk Runs
After discussing a lot about the milk run, its use, and its calculations, here is a post on a number of remaining frequently asked questions. Many of them are pitfalls, where it is easy to make a quick wrong guess (e.g., two milk runs on the same route will not halve your inventory at the assembly locations). Let’s get into more details. Continue reading Frequently Asked Questions for Milk Runs
Milk Run Layout
In this post I will discuss the layout of the milk run as well as the space on the milk-run train, and other topics. It is a continuation of the previous post on the milk-run calculation. Let’s continue. Continue reading Milk Run Layout
Calculating the Material for Your Milk Run
After all the theory on how a milk run works, it is finally time to calculate the quantitative details of the milk run. Since this takes a bit longer, I have split the calculations into two separate posts. Well, here we go! Continue reading Calculating the Material for Your Milk Run
Milk Run Basics
In this second post on the topic of milk runs, I will look at the organizational issues around the milk run: what kind of transport can you use, and what should the source warehouse be like. I will also talk about optional extras like repacking or kitting. Let’s start. Continue reading Milk Run Basics