small case study on production management

Manufacturing Operations Management for Smart Manufacturing – A Case Study

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• First Online: 25 August 2020
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• Michael Meyer-Hentschel 20 ,
• Oliver Lohse 20 ,
• Subba Rao 21 &
• Raffaello Lepratti 22  

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 591))

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• IFIP International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems

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Industry 4.0 was introduced early in the last decade. That introduction spawned related concepts like “Smart Manufacturing” and digitalization, as well as a proliferation of digital manufacturing technologies for supporting systems. The industry experienced widespread puzzlement over how to apply these concepts in practice and which roles “Manufacturing Executions Systems” play and will play in this context.

This paper outlines the change from classical Manufacturing Execution System (MES), with a focus on manufacturing execution including data collection, to monolithic Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) with an extension of the functionality regarding quality management, planning inclusive scheduling and a collaborative MOM, which stands out from its predecessors through broad horizontal integration and cloud applications.

These parameters lead to an evolution of the Collaborative MOM towards a MOM for Smart Manufacturing, which harmoniously combines, controls and regulates the interaction of technologies such as IIoT, RAD, AI, Edge Computing, Cloud with the MOM functions and therefore enables new production systems like a cyber-physical production system (CPPS).

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1 introduction.

Due to a variety of external and internal influences, such as increasing globalization, a steadily rising individualization of products and a related increase in complexity, which on the one hand directly affect the products but also have a strong influence on the associated production processes, the requirements on production systems are growing [ 1 ]. Concerning the growing requirements of modern production systems, the focus is on the following aspects: self-organization, decentralization, adaptability, networking, closed cycles and resource efficiency, live status of all production resources, customer integration in engineering and production as well as flexible process sequences and an open architecture [ 1 ].

Due to a large number of available solutions, most companies are currently using different technologies, detached from each other, to realize selective improvements in terms of process flexibility and output. Flexibility, agility and efficiency are essential components of future production landscapes. However, companies must go a step further and consider how production landscapes can be holistically and sustainably aligned to dynamic market changes, as this is the only way to fully exploit their potential [ 1 , 3 ]. This paper describes based on a case study how technologies and systems interact harmoniously via a holistic approach and thus optimally master existing and future requirements.

2 MOM Evolution Towards Smart Manufacturing

2.1 mes evolution to mom.

The concept of MES has evolved into a broader and more valuable solution: Manufacturing Operations Management. During the 1990 s the focus was on Stand-alone MES for improved manufacturing execution [ 7 ]. A best-in-class MES had to provide manufacturing digitalization, standardization, orchestration & collaboration, enforcement and contextualization with a focus on a specific industry. It was (and still is) critical to provide a rich set of industry-specific OOTB functionalities and a vertical integration with the specific production styles of such industry.

During the 2000s the manufacturing scope evolved from pure execution to broader coverage of manufacturing disciplines. From MES to monolithic MOM to digitalize manufacturing execution, quality management, planning and scheduling mostly working as disparate processes & systems under a monolithic MOM umbrella [ 9 ]. The traditional MES/MOM functions are defined in IEC 62264-1 [ 4 ].

Recently the monolithic MOM evolved even further to an integrated MOM where applications are synchronized through common communication systems (see Fig.  1 ). This is crucial to connect quality improvements, with manufacturing processes and efficiency logic. Integrated MOM systems must also align with modern technologies: mobility, security, usability, flexibility, agility, etc.

MES evolution towards MOM

Regardless of the manufacturing industry segment, the manufacturing processes for OEMs or supplier tier, or the maturity of the business, one thing is clear: manufacturing enterprise will go through a continued digital transformation, no matter how digitalized they are today [ 6 ]. The question is what, when, and how will that transformation take place? Importantly, the functionality of manufacturing operations management has existed since the second industrial revolution—long before digitalization began. MOM functions always need to occur in any manufacturing setting, irrespective of advancement in production methods, level of automation and supporting systems & technologies – MES/MOM, IIoT, RAD, Edge computing, on-premise vs cloud [ 4 ]. What changes is the mechanism or system that performs MOM functions, and the delivery mechanisms for those functions. This calls for more modularity in the MOM functions for flexibility and agility to fulfill the deployment across different technologies and able to meet the transformation and manufacturing data & processes orchestration towards digital excellence in Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing journey.

2.2 MOM Evolution to MOM for Smart Manufacturing

There is an increased transformation in the industry where traditional mass production “make to stock”-environments are transitioning to mass customization modes [ 5 ]. In such transformations, the need for flexibility and agility in manufacturing operations is becoming more prevalent.

This need for flexibility & agility is driving the need for increased automation to the line (robots & automated inspection devices), material handling systems (e.g. AGV’s). With increased automation and human-machine interactions in shop-floor, how engineering data, manufacturing process, quality and supply chain data is harmonized along with AI principles to orchestrate the data across the systems and processes is more critical for factories of future/smart manufacturing. This calls for a robust connectivity & brokering function as an interoperating module across the systems with streamlined data flows. In the realm of IIoT, cloud and other advanced technologies, MOM for Smart Manufacturing should architecturally address the data orchestration and brokering function.

Specific to MOM, architectural advancements of modular MOM functions towards smart manufacturing functions leveraging IIoT & Cloud is the pivot. As certain functions will remain close to shop-floor data & network latency needs [ 2 , 4 ], flexibility in architecture is critical.

The gathered information has to be made available for all necessary participants or IT-systems. Therefore, the focus of horizontal integration of a collaborate MOM has to be widened to also include the vertical integration to enable cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) [ 8 ]. As in Fig.  2 depicted, MOM must evolve from a “Collaborate MOM” further to a “MOM for Smart Manufacturing” to address the above-mentioned challenges. Current production architectures and IT-systems don’t support that high degree of collaboration combined with the functionality to orchestrate those information.

MOM evolution towards Smart Manufacturing

3 Case Study

A good case study for this aspect is a manufacturer of electric motors, used for the oil and gas industry, paper production, as well as for the use in subways, trains and trams in Germany.

The manufacturer faced the challenge that its products are in direct competition with products on the world market which is currently characterized by overcapacity. This intensified competitive situation requires a cost and time optimized production of the products, with constant high quality. In addition to these external influences, the following factors represent internal motivation drivers. On the one hand, this is the increased variance of the products and the associated complexity concerning order processing and all associated processes and, on the other hand, the insufficient documentation of the “as-built” of the products.

One of the main problems here was excessive processing time, which in turn had a negative effect on costs and the time it took for the customer to receive his order. The reasons for the high processing time were a lack of transparency regarding the workstations and their production resources (e.g. status regarding capacity utilization or availability of production resources and tools and materials) and inefficient detailed planning and order control based on this, which had a particularly serious effect when malfunctions occurred.

From these challenges, concrete requirements and functions for and on the production system have been derived and developed: live status of all production resources, real-time localization, smart products/components, networking, mobile apps, AGVs, flexible adaptation of defined processes, open system architecture.

The idea was to design and implement an innovative production system based on an existing MOM (Mix between Collaborate MOM and a MOM for Smart Manufacturing) by using new technologies and methods (IIoT, RAD, Edge Computing, AI, …), which meets the requirements in a particularly efficient way.

The system now consisted of individual modules, each of which fulfills a specific task. The challenge now was to find an answer to the elementary question: how can such a system, consisting of a multitude of different solutions (hardware and software components), be made to work together and finally be made controllable?

The solution is a new module for the MOM for Smart Manufacturing. The following describes how the developed system is built and how it works. The central element for controlling and regulating such a system is organized communication. All participants in the production system must be enabled to exchange relevant information for specific production tasks with each other. For this purpose, we have implemented a so-called coordinating-app with the help of a RAD platform, which realizes the communication within the system in combination with an MQTT-Broker (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport protocol) which works according to the publish and subscribe principle. This protocol uses topics and payloads to share information among the system participants. We used JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) for the transfer of information via payload linked to the different topics. The system participants e.g. the product, the workstations, the AGVs but also the IT-Systems are managed within the app and their communication is defined and organized and so leveraging IIoT. This application regulates which information can be provided by which participant and for which participants this information could be relevant, for example, for processing a production order. According to this principle, the respective participant (MQTT-Client) publishes its information, which can then be received and processed by the others if required. This approach makes the IT landscape simpler, in particular, the standardized interface and the faster exchange of information between clients are major advantages. Figure  3 shows the implemented communication structure within the production system with all participants. To explain how the system works, this is described in more detail using the processing of production orders. The orders come roughly scheduled from the ERP level and are fed into the control and regulation level together with product information from the PLM level (e.g.: 3D models). In this layer the actual state of work cells, resources, material availabilities will be considered and an optimized manufacturing date, with consideration of all production orders, will be determined. This production date is updated in the production order and triggers the intralogistics for commissioning and in-time supply for production. The result is transferred to the MES which then passes the order information (work plan, including work instructions, required production resources, quality information, skills required for processing, dependencies, pre-conditions regarding the production sequence) on to the individual intelligent products and to other relevant participants (e.g. workstations and operators). The products, therefore, have all the plannable information that is required for production. All other information, such as the status of individual production cells, is obtained by the products independently via the developed communication concept. In addition, process and quality parameters are recorded, linked to the production order and processed in the MES. That information enables the creation of an “as build model” of the product. The previously defined communication forms the framework for efficiently processing the order within the system.

IT-architecture

In concrete terms, the module consists of two software components. A master app and a client app. Figure  4 contains the definitions of the terms used in the following and shows the relationship between information - topic - category including visual representation.

Relationship between information - topic - category

The master app performs the following tasks:

System description:

Selection and addition of system participants based on predefined categories or creation of new categories

Selection of predefined topics depending on the selected category or creation of new topics and assignment to categories

Manage the system participants:

Create and delete categories

Create and delete system participants

Organization of communication:

Creation and deletion of information that can be transported using topics

Assigning and solving information to topics

Creating and deleting topics

Assigning and solving topics to categories

Selection whether the topic is subscribed by category or published by it.

Whereby the client app covers the following range of functions:

Installation on the operating system of the system participants or Smart Production Tag

Initialization: Configuration of the app after installation, with the goal of providing system participants with information

Communication from system participant to Client App:

Selection of the protocol (OPC UA, MQTT, REST, SOAP, …)

Characteristics of the interface: Which data should be propagated?

The result is a concept for the standardized exchange of information and based on this, an organized collaboration across all components within a production system. Furthermore, it can be seen as a preliminary stage of a self-organizing production system. The presented IT-Architecture is a prototype approach in a test environment. To achieve this high degree of communication and collaboration within a production different IT-Systems, like MES, AGV-Management, etc., as well as different system interfaces must be evaluated and implemented. To simplify the implementation of such a production architecture current collaborative MOM systems with an already high degree of horizontal integration must evolve further into a MOM for Smart Manufacturing (see Fig.  2 ). A MOM for Smart Manufacturing provides functionalities to orchestrate a production system and thus is the foundation of a production architecture with a high degree of horizontal and vertical integration. The described communication principals between the participants could be implemented in a current MOM system to achieve a MOM for Smart Manufacturing.

4 Conclusion

This case study shows how a manufacturing approach according to the Industry 4.0 initiative could be implemented with a holistic IT-structure. Collaborative MOM systems need to further evolve into a “MOM for Smart Manufacturing” to not just ensure a collaboration between different IT-Systems, like IIoT and RAD, but also to orchestrate the data gathered and shared along those data driven self-organizing production systems.

Furthermore, a MOM-solution for Smart Manufacturing must be extensible and scalable to support customer-specific processes. MOM for Smart Manufacturing is therefore to be understood rather as a layer that combines all relevant functions for smart production in harmonious and highly efficient interaction. To realize a digital transformation, as shown in the presented case study, a flexible IT-architecture is needed to introduce new IT-systems and MOM-functions in a stepwise manner to minimize disruptions of manufacturing and business processes.

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Acknowledgment

This work was carried out with the knowledge and experience gathered from the project “Road to Digitalization” (R2D), which was supported by the Bavarian state ministry of economy, media, energy and technology and several companies.

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Meyer-Hentschel, M., Lohse, O., Rao, S., Lepratti, R. (2020). Manufacturing Operations Management for Smart Manufacturing – A Case Study. In: Lalic, B., Majstorovic, V., Marjanovic, U., von Cieminski, G., Romero, D. (eds) Advances in Production Management Systems. The Path to Digital Transformation and Innovation of Production Management Systems. APMS 2020. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 591. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57993-7_11

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Starting with daily management walkabouts and standard work, this 84-year-old, family-owned distributor laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come, just two years after its first kaizen workshop.

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle”

After a medical device maker took a hit to margins to fight off global competition, it rebuilt them by lifting its lean operating system to a higher level and keeping it there with a “golden triangle” of sustainability. You’ll recognize two elements of the triangle right away: visual control and standardized work . The third, accountability management or a kamishibai system, is probably less well known but just as critical.

Cultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner

If you are in the “appreciation business”, you have to live it in your own workplace. For O.C. Tanner that meant a lean transformation had to show the company appreciated and wanted people’s problem-solving ideas. Here’s a report on that effort, including what worked and what didn’t.

Lean Thinking in Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Takes Wing at FedEx Express

A major check that used to take 32,715 man-hours was cut to 21,535 hours in six months. That translated into a $2 million savings, which dovetailed with the company’s emphasis on reducing costs during the recession.

Construction

Input from nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, and patient parents heavily influenced design decisions—from incorporating emergency room hallways that protect the privacy of abused children to the number of electrical outlets in each neonatal intensive care room.

Virtual Lean Learning Experience (VLX)

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About Chet Marchwinski

Chet has been a humble, unwashed scribe of the lean continuous improvement movement since books by Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo first hit North America in the 1980s. At LEI, he contributes to content creation, marketing, public relations, and social media. Previously, he also wrote case studies on lean management implementations in…

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An intelligent manufacturing management system for enhancing production in small-scale industries.

1. Introduction

2. the proposed framework for a production management system for small-scale industries, 2.1. research questions, 2.2. the proposed framework, 3. real-time monitoring subsystem for production machinery, 3.1. lora wireless communication module, 3.2. multithreading-based data collection, 3.3. real-time production machine monitoring experiments.

• Single-channel, Single-port Method: The hardware layer’s sending end uses a single LoRa module as the central station to communicate with the heading machine and threading machine. Both ends use the same channel, set to 0. The PC communicates with the hardware layer through a single serial port using the Serial module.
• Multi-channel, Multi-port Method: The sending end uses dual modules as two central stations for communication. The wireless communication module connected to the heading machine sets the channel to 0 (00000), while the module connected to the threading machine sets the channel to 31 (11111). The wireless modules at the sending and receiving ends communicate wirelessly via antennas.
• Single-thread Method: This method sequentially executes collection tasks. After polling all the heading machine detector commands, it starts polling the threading machine counter commands.
• Multi-thread Method: This method uses multithreading technology based on the QThread module of PyQt5, inheriting the thread class to create two QThread classes for collecting data from the heading machine and threading machine.

4. Intelligent Distribution of Production Order Subsystem

4.1. problem description, 4.2. optimizing production order scheduling using a genetic algorithm.

• Initializing parameters such as the number of productions, number of processes, processing times, and number of machines.
• Initializing the population using encoding rules.
• Calculating the fitness for the initial population.
• Using the improved elite selection strategy to determine the parent population.
• Generating offspring through multi-point crossover and mutation.
• Merging the parent and offspring populations for the next iteration.
• If the maximum number of iterations is reached, the optimal solution is output; otherwise, the process continues iteratively.

5. Case Studies and Experimental Validations

6. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Wang, Y.; Cai, Z.; Huang, T.; Shi, J.; Lu, F.; Xu, Z. An Intelligent Manufacturing Management System for Enhancing Production in Small-Scale Industries. Electronics 2024 , 13 , 2633. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13132633

Wang Y, Cai Z, Huang T, Shi J, Lu F, Xu Z. An Intelligent Manufacturing Management System for Enhancing Production in Small-Scale Industries. Electronics . 2024; 13(13):2633. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13132633

Wang, Yuexia, Zexiong Cai, Tonghui Huang, Jiajia Shi, Feifan Lu, and Zhihuo Xu. 2024. "An Intelligent Manufacturing Management System for Enhancing Production in Small-Scale Industries" Electronics 13, no. 13: 2633. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13132633

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Toyota’s Lean Management Program Explained (with Real Life Examples)

by Frank Stuart , on Nov 1, 2023 3:45:00 AM

If you’ve ever searched for information online about the Toyota Production System, you've probably seen a variety of house-shaped graphics. But even though we all know what a house is, understanding what the TPS house graphic means can be a challenge — especially when some of the words are Japanese.

In this article, I’ll explain the house graphic and Toyota’s lean management principles. Because I worked for Toyota and have spent many years as a Toyota lean practitioner, I’ll share insights you won’t find anywhere else including:

• How the Toyota management system boosts employee retention
• Three common misinterpretations of Toyota’s lean methodology
• Several real-world examples and a customer case study

The Toyota Production System is What Makes Toyota #1

Toyota has made the best-selling forklift in North America since 2002. That’s a long time to be number one. How do they do it? By following the Toyota Production System (TPS). 

What is Toyota Lean Management vs. The Toyota Production System? Toyota Lean Management (TLM) is a system that takes the principles of the Toyota Production System and applies them to other industries such as construction, supply chain, healthcare and of course manufacturing. I’ve yet to find a business that doesn’t benefit from the Toyota production management system.

Toyota Principles Improve Retention and Your Bottom Line

Improving efficiency and customer satisfaction are the best-known reasons for following Toyota’s lean management practices. Most people don't know it can also improve employee retention.

Hiring and retaining qualified workers was the number one challenge reported in MHI’s 2024 Top Supply Chain Challenges survey . The responses come from more than 2000 manufacturing and supply chain industry leaders from a wide range of industries. 

This isn’t the first year hiring and retention created major heartburn for supply chain operations, and it likely won’t be the last. If finding and keeping good people is something your organization struggles with, TLM can help with that too .

Here’s my version of the TPS house.

Why is it a House?

Most people use a house-shaped graphic to explain TPS because the function of a house is to preserve what’s inside . All the parts of the house interact with each other to protect what’s the business and its people — from the groundwork to the pillars to the roof.

The Groundwork

Respect for People, Long-Term Thinking and Continually Improve

Respect for People, Long-Term Thinking and Continually Improve are fundamental management philosophies that drive all policy and decision-making under the Toyota way.

Respect for People is not about being nice (although that is important). This principle is about creating a home-like atmosphere where everyone is encouraged and supported to reach their full potential. 

EXAMPLE: A supervisor has monthly one-on-one meetings with each associate to:

• Review personal performance
• Discuss issues with work processes
• Uncover opportunities for improvement

This mentor-mentee program develops people from within. Associates move into higher and higher positions so eventually, the people leading the company not only know the product but understand the work.

Respect for people also includes being mindful of how decisions in one department affect another. Uncoordinated decisions can negatively impact the customer.

EXAMPLE: If sales and marketing decide to have a big sale the weekend before Thanksgiving, the extra orders could overwhelm an already understaffed shipping department — creating delays for the customer and/or increased overtime expenses.

Last but not least, respect for people means providing stable employment. This leads us to the next fundamental principle… 

Long-Term Thinking — During COVID and the supply chain challenges that followed, many companies made the hard decision to lay off workers. I was in the training department at Raymond during this time.

Instead of letting workers go, we chose to strengthen the company by training associates and improving processes. We developed online training programs on various topics for hundreds of associates in various roles. These actions and this type of thinking goes back to the 1950s when Toyota decided to focus on building a strong, stable company for the long term. The economy will cycle up and down, but because our people are our most important asset, we must take care of them and protect them, even during economic downturns.

Short-term decisions, like letting experienced and tenured employees go, can improve the bottom line in the short term, but long term it hurts the business. All too often, corporate culture lives and dies on a quarterly report. This is short-sighted. When times are good, you have to squirrel money away in your war chest to protect the company and its people when times are bad .

Continually Improve – It is said in business, as in life, we are either growing or dying. A structured focus on continual improvement ( kaizen ) and challenging the status quo ensures a company stays competitive and growing.

EXAMPLE: We challenged the team who reconditioned our forklifts this year. At the beginning of the year, our lead time was 12 weeks. By mapping the process, improving flow and using a kaizen philosophy, we are now at 6 weeks. We are not satisfied with this improvement and have further challenged the team to cut the lead time in half again by the end of this year.  

The Foundation

Organize, Standardize, Optimize

The next level of the TPS house is all about creating an efficient work environment. It starts with a clean, orderly workspace where the next tool (or whatever the worker needs) is right there and not hidden in a pile of clutter.

If we don’t give people an organized workspace and standards to follow, we’re not helping them be successful. Even worse, we’re wasting their time. It goes back to respect for people.

EXAMPLE: The litmus test I used in the factory was to have a workstation set up with all the necessary tools. If I could take a tool away from the workstation and the operator couldn’t tell me within five seconds what was missing, that meant we had more work to do to. 

To be clear, it isn’t about telling people: you must do it this way or to make changes for the sake of making changes. The goal is to:

• Find the best way of doing things for the people who are doing the work
• Develop standards and best practices
• If a better way is found, everyone starts using that new way instead

That last bullet point is the principle of kaizen showing up again. Toyota Lean Management is an ongoing process where small, incremental changes result in measurable improvements to quality or reduced cost, cycle or delivery times.

FYI, we haven’t gotten to the actual Toyota Production System yet. The groundwork and the foundation are the basis for TPS. The system doesn’t work without establishing the groundwork and creating a solid foundation. 

Creating optimized workspaces and processes are deceptively simple assignments. It’s really easy to make work hard and it’s hard to make work easy. When you’re stuck in chaos it can be hard to see the way out. 

The foundation of TPS helps make work easy. Once an orderly, efficient system has been established, we work on the two pillars.

TPS Pillars: The Toyota Production System

Just in Time & Continuous Flow

The first pillar is all about having what you need, when you need it. Waste, in the form of wasted time or excess inventory, should be avoided. 

Back in 2021, Bloomberg and other news organizations excitedly reported how Toyota had abandoned its “just in time” philosophy because it started stockpiling computer chips. This is just one example of how Toyota principles are misunderstood by the Western world.

Misunderstanding #1 Here’s what most news outlets got wrong: After the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Toyota reevaluated the lead time required for semiconductors and other parts. Their assessment revealed they were unprepared for a major shock to the supply chain, such a natural disaster. 

To ensure a continuous flow of chips to their factories, Toyota required suppliers to carry a 2-6 month supply of semiconductors. When COVID hit, the news reported Toyota was “stockpiling” chips when, in fact, the company was simply following a plan it had created ten years earlier. 

Our business training in the Western world is all about the balance sheet. Reducing inventory becomes a goal unto itself and that’s when things start to go badly. “Just in time” doesn’t mean “last minute.” It means keeping enough supply to ensure a continuous flow.

For Toyota, "just in time" meant a supply that could weather supply chain ups and downs. In 2021, when the chip shortage forced other automakers to stop their production lines, Toyota kept churning out vehicles and raised its earnings forecast by 54% . 

Visual Management & Zero Defects

EXAMPLE: Zero defects is pretty self-explanatory, but here’s an example of zero defects through visual management. The first thing Mr. Toyoda built was an automated loom for the textile industry. Occasionally, a thread would break and the operator wouldn’t see it. When this happened, the final product had to be thrown away. 

To fix the problem, Mr. Toyoda put a washer in the thread. If the thread broke, the washer fell off into the machine and it stopped. The operator could fix the problem without any waste (defective product). This also allowed one operator to oversee multiple machines.

Misunderstanding #2 Some people say Toyota Lean Management is basically the same as Six Sigma. I disagree. There are major differences between the two systems , but here’s a big one related to TPS Pillar Two: Six Sigma says you can have 3.4 defects per million operations. An “operation” is defined as a single action, such as attaching a wire or screwing a bolt. Building a jumbo jet requires millions of operations. Knowing 3.4 defects are permitted per million operations, would you rather fly on an airplane built by a company that follows Six Sigma principles or Toyota?

Another comparison you may have heard is one about a GM versus a Toyota factory. At GM, workers can get in trouble for stopping the line. At Toyota, it’s the opposite. If workers aren’t periodically stopping the line, managers get concerned. It goes back to the fundamental principles we talked about in the very beginning: respect for people and a culture of continuous improvement.

Toyota Lean Management Case Study

I worked with a hard cider manufacturer in upstate NY. The company was approaching its busy season and trying to build up its inventory to supply its distributor. Their “we gotta get this done” mentality caused them to overrun their facility.

A Foundational Problem The company thought they were following the “just in time” lean methodology. What they had was a mess. 

• Product and supplies were all over the place
• Equipment was haphazardly maintained
• They didn't have good standards on how to clean the kegs

A bottleneck in their system meant a new batch would get stuck behind the previous batch and unfinished inventory would pile up. Disorganization and stress led to unnecessary handling, damage and waste (wasted time and wasted product). 

After speaking to everyone who helped produce the cider, we created a list of best practices. Next, we helped the company organize, standardize and optimize the workspaces and procedures throughout their facility. With groundwork laid and a firm foundation in place, we were ready to move on to Pillars One and Two.

Guess what? The company had more than enough capacity. They didn’t need to build up inventory for their distributor. All they had to do was tame their operational chaos.

• Standardized practices saved time and improved product quality
• Clear processes and optimized workspaces helped everyone work more efficiently
• The company reclaimed space previously used to store inventory

Cider Batches Now Flow Continuously Once the bottleneck was subdued and equipment was kept in good working order, the cider company could run continuously with minimal downtime between batches. By staggering five batches to start over six weeks the company could meet customer demands.

The Core of the House: Its People

Grow People: Skills, Competence, Leaders

I added this circle in the center of the house (you won’t find it in other TPS house graphics) because I was fortunate to learn about Toyota’s lean management system directly from Toyota executives. 

The addition was inspired by a story I heard that really stuck in my mind. Mr. Onishi, Toyota’s president, visited a plant in Canada. He asked one of the plant managers to explain TPS. The manager described the house and the elements of zero defects, continuous improvement, etc. Mr. Onishi politely said, “It’s actually a people development process. We want to improve people’s skills and competence and grow them into leaders. Our goal is to promote people from within because they know the products, the customers and understand the work.”

The TPS Circle

Everything starts and ends with respect. 

Teamwork is about supporting the person who does the thing the customer is paying for. 

EXAMPLE: At SST, that means the technician working on a customer’s forklift.

Go and See — when a problem arises, the best way to find a solution is to observe the problem. 

EXAMPLE #1: At the forklift factory, units occasionally came off the line with the wrong counterweight. We observed the employee do everything right until one time he read the build sheet but chose the wrong counterweight. He was always on the go which created an opportunity for this mistake. By adding a simple step, stopping to highlight the weight info, the problem disappeared.

EXAMPLE #2: A warehouse thought they needed to buy more pallet rack and even had a rack consultant on-site while I was there. Turns out the company had plenty of rack space. They just needed to throw out three years of inventory they couldn't sell. The executive team almost wasted thousands of dollars on rack they didn’t need rather than take a hit on their balance sheet.

Challenge does not mean I had a challenging day because two associates didn’t show up for work. It means aiming for the stars and making it to the moon.

To generate significant improvements, you need an aggressive challenge and a team that’s committed to reaching a common goal. It changes your approach. To keep the space analogy going, consider all the technological innovations we enjoy that came from putting a man on the moon .

Misunderstanding #3 Toyota’s Production System strives for 100% customer satisfaction by eliminating wasteful activities. Many business leaders incorrectly believe running lean means using cheaper materials or reducing staff. By now you know this isn't the Toyota way. Building a strong house requires leaders who respect their people and think long-term. 

Companies that refuse to think beyond the bottom line will always struggle to stay competitive. Their short-term savings on cheap materials create long-term losses as customers become dissatisfied. They will also waste money hiring and training people who leave when they aren’t treated with respect. 

Sometimes I have to have a conversation with new clients about helping team members overcome challenges. When something goes wrong, some companies look for someone to blame (reprimand or fire) but that’s not the Toyota way.

Toyota’s approach focuses on fixing broken systems, not pointing fingers. We encourage leaders to challenge their team members to improve processes, but if the team member fails and gets fired after one try, how is that person’s replacement going to feel about taking on the same challenge?

The Roof of the TPS House

The roof protects the house and the people inside. A safe workplace that produces quality products at the lowest cost with the shortest delivery time in a good environment generates high morale and protects the business. By protecting the business, you protect the people inside and help them to grow into successful leaders. 

Request a Free Toyota Lean Management Consultation

If you’d like to reduce costs and turnover while increasing customer satisfaction, why not schedule a free consultation ? Toyota Lean Management has a low cost of implementation and is designed to help you get more out of your existing resources. 

During the initial consultation, we’ll talk about where your company is now versus where you’d like to be. The next steps depend on the individual client, but typically we’ll Go and See your space and look for:

• Inventory build-ups
• Excessive transportation
• Cluttered workspaces
• Unnecessary motion
• Producing more than what’s needed for the near-term
• Piles of defects

To learn more, contact us online or by phone (800) 226-2345.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, case study: production planning and control ‐ selection, improvement and implementation.

Logistics Information Management

ISSN : 0957-6053

Article publication date: 1 February 1998

This paper describes the development and application of a framework to aid small manufacturing companies in the selection, improvement and implementation of production planning and control systems. The framework has been validated in ten small manufacturing companies in the UK, and has enabled one company to successfully select and implement a new computerised production planning and control system over a period of three years. The other nine case studies highlight the ability of the framework to focus on smaller, incremental improvements in production planning and control performance. The empirical research also concludes that a lack of human resources to devote to improvements and implementations is the main difference between large and small companies when undertaking such exercises. Recommendations for future work on the framework are presented, and the usefulness of the framework for managers in small manufacturing companies, consultants and academic researchers is discussed.

• Case studies
• Manufacturing
• Production planning and control
• Small firms
• United Kingdom

McGarrie, B. (1998), "Case study: production planning and control ‐ selection, improvement and implementation", Logistics Information Management , Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 44-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/09576059810202268

Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited

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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2017

We generated a list of the 40 most popular Yale School of Management case studies in 2017 by combining data from our publishers, Google analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption. In compiling the list, we gave additional weight to usage outside Yale

We generated a list of the 40 most popular Yale School of Management case studies in 2017 by combining data from our publishers, Google analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption. In compiling the list, we gave additional weight to usage outside Yale.

Case topics represented on the list vary widely, but a number are drawn from the case team’s focus on healthcare, asset management, and sustainability. The cases also draw on Yale’s continued emphasis on corporate governance, ethics, and the role of business in state and society. Of note, nearly half of the most popular cases feature a woman as either the main protagonist or, in the case of raw cases where multiple characters take the place of a single protagonist, a major leader within the focal organization. While nearly a fourth of the cases were written in the past year, some of the most popular, including Cadbury and Design at Mayo, date from the early years of our program over a decade ago. Nearly two-thirds of the most popular cases were “raw” cases - Yale’s novel, web-based template which allows for a combination of text, documents, spreadsheets, and videos in a single case website.

Read on to learn more about the top 10 most popular cases followed by a complete list of the top 40 cases of 2017.  A selection of the top 40 cases are available for purchase through our online store . 

#1 - Coffee 2016

Faculty Supervision: Todd Cort

Coffee 2016 asks students to consider the coffee supply chain and generate ideas for what can be done to equalize returns across various stakeholders. The case draws a parallel between coffee and wine. Both beverages encourage connoisseurship, but only wine growers reap a premium for their efforts to ensure quality.  The case describes the history of coffee production across the world, the rise of the “third wave” of coffee consumption in the developed world, the efforts of the Illy Company to help coffee growers, and the differences between “fair” trade and direct trade. Faculty have found the case provides a wide canvas to discuss supply chain issues, examine marketing practices, and encourage creative solutions to business problems. 

#2 - AXA: Creating New Corporate Responsibility Metrics

Faculty Supervision: Todd Cort and David Bach

The case describes AXA’s corporate responsibility (CR) function. The company, a global leader in insurance and asset management, had distinguished itself in CR since formally establishing a CR unit in 2008. As the case opens, AXA’s CR unit is being moved from the marketing function to the strategy group occasioning a thorough review as to how CR should fit into AXA’s operations and strategy. Students are asked to identify CR issues of particular concern to the company, examine how addressing these issues would add value to the company, and then create metrics that would capture a business unit’s success or failure in addressing the concerns.

#3 - IBM Corporate Service Corps

Faculty Supervision: David Bach in cooperation with University of Ghana Business School and EGADE

The case considers IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC), a program that had become the largest pro bono consulting program in the world. The case describes the program’s triple-benefit: leadership training to the brightest young IBMers, brand recognition for IBM in emerging markets, and community improvement in the areas served by IBM’s host organizations. As the program entered its second decade in 2016, students are asked to consider how the program can be improved. The case allows faculty to lead a discussion about training, marketing in emerging economies, and various ways of providing social benefit. The case highlights the synergies as well as trade-offs between pursuing these triple benefits.

#4 - Cadbury: An Ethical Company Struggles to Insure the Integrity of Its Supply Chain

Faculty Supervision: Ira Millstein

The case describes revelations that the production of cocoa in the Côte d’Ivoire involved child slave labor. These stories hit Cadbury especially hard. Cadbury's culture had been deeply rooted in the religious traditions of the company's founders, and the organization had paid close attention to the welfare of its workers and its sourcing practices. The US Congress was considering legislation that would allow chocolate grown on certified plantations to be labeled “slave labor free,” painting the rest of the industry in a bad light. Chocolate producers had asked for time to rectify the situation, but the extension they negotiated was running out. Students are asked whether Cadbury should join with the industry to lobby for more time?  What else could Cadbury do to ensure its supply chain was ethically managed?

#5 - 360 State Real Options

Faculty Supervision: Matthew Spiegel

In 2010 developer Bruce Becker (SOM ‘85) completed 360 State Street, a major new construction project in downtown New Haven. Just west of the apartment building, a 6,000-square-foot pocket of land from the original parcel remained undeveloped. Becker had a number of alternatives to consider in regards to the site. He also had no obligation to build. He could bide his time. But Becker worried about losing out on rents should he wait too long. Students are asked under what set of circumstances and at what time would it be most advantageous to proceed?

#6 - Design at Mayo

Faculty Supervision: Rodrigo Canales and William Drentell

The case describes how the Mayo Clinic, one of the most prominent hospitals in the world, engaged designers and built a research institute, the Center for Innovation (CFI), to study the processes of healthcare provision. The case documents the many incremental innovations the designers were able to implement and the way designers learned to interact with physicians and vice-versa.

In 2010 there were questions about how the CFI would achieve its stated aspiration of “transformational change” in the healthcare field. Students are asked what would a major change in health care delivery look like? How should the CFI's impact be measured? Were the center's structure and processes appropriate for transformational change? Faculty have found this a great case to discuss institutional obstacles to innovation, the importance of culture in organizational change efforts, and the differences in types of innovation.

This case is freely available to the public.

#7 - Ant Financial

Faculty Supervision: K. Sudhir in cooperation with Renmin University of China School of Business

In 2015, Ant Financial’s MYbank (an offshoot of Jack Ma’s Alibaba company) was looking to extend services to rural areas in China by providing small loans to farmers. Microloans have always been costly for financial institutions to offer to the unbanked (though important in development) but MYbank believed that fintech innovations such as using the internet to communicate with loan applicants and judge their credit worthiness would make the program sustainable. Students are asked whether MYbank could operate the program at scale? Would its big data and technical analysis provide an accurate measure of credit risk for loans to small customers? Could MYbank rely on its new credit-scoring system to reduce operating costs to make the program sustainable?

#8 - Business Leadership in South Africa’s 1994 Reforms

Faculty Supervision: Ian Shapiro

This case examines the role of business in South Africa's historic transition away from apartheid to popular sovereignty. The case provides a previously untold oral history of this key moment in world history, presenting extensive video interviews with business leaders who spearheaded behind-the-scenes negotiations between the African National Congress and the government. Faculty teaching the case have used the material to push students to consider business’s role in a divided society and ask: What factors led business leaders to act to push the country's future away from isolation toward a "high road" of participating in an increasingly globalized economy? What techniques and narratives did they use to keep the two sides talking and resolve the political impasse? And, if business leadership played an important role in the events in South Africa, could they take a similar role elsewhere?

#9 - Shake Shack IPO

Faculty Supervision: Jake Thomas and Geert Rouwenhorst

From an art project in a New York City park, Shake Shack developed a devoted fan base that greeted new Shake Shack locations with cheers and long lines. When Shake Shack went public on January 30, 2015, investors displayed a similar enthusiasm. Opening day investors bid up the $21 per share offering price by 118% to reach $45.90 at closing bell. By the end of May, investors were paying $92.86 per share. Students are asked if this price represented a realistic valuation of the enterprise and if not, what was Shake Shack truly worth? The case provides extensive information on Shake Shack’s marketing, competitors, operations and financials, allowing instructors to weave a wide variety of factors into a valuation of the company.

#10 - Searching for a Search Fund Structure

Faculty Supervision: AJ Wasserstein

This case considers how young entrepreneurs structure search funds to find businesses to take over. The case describes an MBA student who meets with a number of successful search fund entrepreneurs who have taken alternative routes to raising funds. The case considers the issues of partnering, soliciting funds vs. self-funding a search, and joining an incubator. The case provides a platform from which to discuss the pros and cons of various search fund structures.

40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2017

Click on the case title to learn more about the dilemma. A selection of our most popular cases are available for purchase via our online store .

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Activity-based management in a small company: A case study

2000, Production Planning & Control

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International Journal of Operations & Production Management

S.G. Deshmukh

Alexander Decker

IOSR Journals

Abstract: This study aims to identifying the benefits of the application of ABC system throuth a field study on companies operating in allahabad-india. In order to achieve such aims, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to the population of study. Spss program was used in the analysis. The study concluded with some results. The most apparent is that the expected benefits of behind the application of ABC system from the standpoint of these companies are ABC system helps to calculate the cost of the product more accurately, leads to enhance the costs control and ABC system provides the financial and non-financial information that help in taking sound administrative decisions such as fixing selling prices of products and exclusion of activities that do not add value to the product. The study recommends the companies should start gradually in applying ABC system by persuading the management of these companies on the importance of application the system because of its advantages and benefits. Keywords: ABC System, Traditional Cost System, Overhead.

Tauyanashe Chikuku

This paper seeks to explore how Cleaner Production/Green Manufacturing can be used as a base for ISO 14001 certification in a tobacco processing environment. A framework is presented for how to implement ISO 14001 in a tobacco processing environment. CP assessment procedures are highlighted in the paper. A case study is also carried out at a tobacco processing company. Environmental impact assessment and environmental audits were carried for the plant; this enabled the researchers to evaluate environmental impacts and aspects of the process.

Wubealie Wube

Sandra H S Santis

This project aims to evaluate the lean production concepts in use in the textile industry. The goal is to investigate the management practices that contribute to the development of sustainable production processes. The adjustments necessary to the system development focuses on the management of resources and inputs of production processes to promote the best use of these and still cutting costs, making the company sustainable economy. The purpose, therefore, is to deploy management practices, tools and routines that help in the company's processes. The research will be developed through case study, we intend to analyse the reality of the organization. The data collected through interviews, questionnaires and secondary source (books, articles and magazines) that will be used as the basis of information and provide the necessary clarification for the rationale.

Asitha pathirathna

ANKITA SINGH

Irene Spitsberg

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