Thousands of people at hundreds of companies have used the Shingo-Prize-Award-winning first edition of Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop as their how-to guide to shortening delivery times, eliminating waste, improving quality, and reducing costs.
Revised and expanded, the Second Edition describes not only what to do, but includes many tools useful to the reader describing how to do it. The principles of the Toyota production system are effective in any industry and within any company. But the challenge is to apply the right tool, at the right place, at the right time, while maintaining the flexibility and nimble nature required of smaller shops. Customized to be applicable to this environment, some of the tools explored include kaizen, value stream mapping, takt time, determining optimum lot sizes, setup reduction, flow, standard work instructions, problem solving, overall equipment effectiveness, jidoka and poka yoke, pull systems, standard work-in-process, and facility planning. To help a company benchmark progress, there is also a lean self-assessment included.
The lean journey requires a long-range vision. It is a never-ending process of improvement and change. No easy matter, adopting the lean culture requires thoughtful attention to modifying behaviors, long-held beliefs, and values. Chapters on leading change, training, teams, and people relate helpful tips, examples, and strategies for transforming to a lean and green culture
Gary Conner has over 25 years of manufacturing experience with 15 years dedicated to implementing lean manufacturing in companies of all sizes, from mom-and-pop shops with 10 workers to multinational corporations with 15,000 or more employees.
In his consultancy, Lean Enterprise Training (Newport, Ore.), he has worked in 14 different industries, contracted with over 120 different companies, and facilitated over 400 kaizen projects, training tens of thousands of people in skills such as value stream mapping, setup reduction, 5S, team building, six sigma, and facilities layout planning.
An accomplished ISO 9000 certified lead auditor, Gary is also a college instructor and has authored four textbooks related to world-class manufacturing. In 2002, Gary's first edition of this book, Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop, received the distinguished Shingo Prize Award. He was also awarded Manufacturer of the Year in 2004 by Chapter 63 of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
