In this series of posts I will talk about how strategic management developed (i.e., how to have a big-picture view of where your company is and where it should be, and especially how to get there). In my last post, I looked at the situation before there was any strategic management. This posts looks at the time between roughly 1900 and World War II. It will be mostly about managing money and operational efficiency, but there are already a few big-picture view companies popping up.
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The Evolution of Strategic Management—Before Strategic Management
Running a company is not easy. A lot of lean tools help you with the small details and fuel the continuous improvement process. However, you should not neglect the big picture. How do you make not only small or large operational changes (i.e., the tactics), but also actually use a strategy to win the war (i.e., to lead a company to success)? That is strategic management. This series of posts will look at how strategic management evolved over time, with particular focus on its use in manufacturing. And yes, Hoshin Kanri will (eventually) be part of this short post series.
What If Your Customer Takt and Your System Takt Do Not Match—Excess Capacity
This is the third post in this small series on mismatches between customer takt and the line takt (i.e., mismatches between the customer demand and the ability to meet this demand). The first post looked at small fluctuations, which mostly handle themselves through inventory (for make-to-stock) and through lead time and utilization (for make-to-order). The second post looked at customer demand exceeding your capacity. And, finally, in this last post will look at customer demand being lower than your capacity.
What If Your Customer Takt and Your System Takt Do Not Match—Lack of Capacity
The customer takt represents the demand of your customers for your your products. The line takt represents the ability of your production system to produce. Hence, the customer takt should meet the line takt. This series of blog posts looks into what to do if they do NOT match. In my previous post I talked about small fluctuations… which are pretty much no problem in the short term, as inventory (for make-to-stock) or lead time and utilization (for make-to-order) will handle these. However, if the fluctuations trend in one or another direction, eventually you have to act. In this post I will talk more about what to do if the customer takt is faster than your line takt (i.e., the customer demand exceeds your current capacity).
What If Your Customer Takt and Your System Takt Do Not Match—Small Fluctuations
One of the key parameters for setting up and running any production system is the customer takt (i.e., the customer demand). This is measured as the average time between the demand of a customer for one product, based on the available working time. In the grand picture, the customer takt (the customer demand) should match the line takt (the production speed of the line). But what should you do if it doesn’t? Let’s investigate this in a small series of posts. This first post looks at small fluctuations.
Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 4
Work standards are key to kaizen, and their correct use requires process confirmation. The BMW Group Dingolfing plant does an outstanding job with this process confirmation, driving their continuous improvement. This gives BMW automotive plants an outstanding performance on par with Toyota. In this last post on the series on the process confirmation standards at BMW Dingolfing, we dig deeper into the confirmation for the work standard documents and the digital displays used to manage the product variety coming down the line.
Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 3
Process confirmation is essential for maintaining standards, which are essential for continuous improvement. In my previous posts I introduced the process confirmation standard at the BMW Group Dingolfing plant, which helps BMW to achieve efficiency on par with Toyota. We already looked at the verification of the material supply standards and 5S. In this post I will talk more about the Gemba standards for the actual work. They demand improvement ideas directly from the shop floor, which is the best way to have fast kaizen cycles toward operational excellence. Read on!
Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 2
In my last post I introduced the process confirmation standard at the BMW Group Dingolfing plant, which helps BMW to achieve efficiency on par with Toyota. In this post I will talk more about the actual process confirmation checklist, starting with a brief overview, followed by a deep dive into the first two sections of the checklist. Read on!