Articles
Lean Manufacturing Series
Oliver Wight is featured in a variety of business and industry-specific publications. The following is a list of featured articles on Lean Manufacturing presented by Manufacturer Magazine.
To view full versions of an article, click on the download article link
The Rules of the Game The first in a series of six articles on expanding lean from the production floor into other areas of the enterprise, this article covers the basics of lean, concentrating on the benefits of implementing lean methods on the production floor. |
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Making the Right Move This article concentrates on the process of expanding lean into other areas of the enterprise. It’s followed by a case study on Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, which is seven months into an across-the-board lean rollout. |
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Playing the Resource Game “Playing the Resource Game,” looks at places within enterprise resource planning where waste can be reduced or eliminated. With ERP, it’s not just a matter of simplifying to fit the lean production system—some processes must be abolished. However, lean manufacturing enterprises should not do away with ERP; they can use it to project future needs to their suppliers. |
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Strategic Supply Chain This article concentrates on supply chain activities, one of the most difficult places to implement lean. Readers new to this six-month series may want to take a look at the previous articles (on lean production, expanding lean into the enterprise, and lean and ERP), since supply chain experts are adamant that eliminating waste in the supply chain is unrealistic for manufacturers that are not lean in other areas. |
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Maneuvering the Demand Chain This article turns to the demand chain—the customer side of things. Companies who are eliminating waste in their ordering and scheduling processes are seeing significant benefits. The key to achieving success in this area is applying a combination of technology and process change: talking with customers to gain insight into their ordering systems and using software to increase your visibility into your own systems. |
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The Big Win This article summarizes the information from the past five articles in this series, reviewing the wealth of expertise from both industry experts and experienced manufacturers. The number of key themes throughout have been summarized into seven suggestions to companies considering an enterprise-wide lean implementation. |
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