Time Out: Using Visible Pull Systems to Drive Process Improvement Hardback - 1998 - 1st Edition

Although this book lays out a work process and/or a collection of tools and techniques, cycle time is first a basic philosophy distinctly different from the approach that has guided industry throughout the modern era.

Time Out introduces a revolutionary process, Visible Pull, for integrating the new world-class management tools aimed at cycle time reduction, quality improvement, and optimum customer service. Many leading companies--DuPont, Union Carbide, and International Specialty Chemicals--have seen significant benefits from its application. Typical benefits have included a 10 to 20 percent gain in capacity, a 30 to 40 percent reduction in inventory, a 50 percent reduction in cycle time, and more. In this authoritative new book, one of Visible Pull's pioneers describes the development of Visible Pull and lays out a detailed roadmap for applying it to your own unique business. With thirty years of hands-on experience, Wayne Smith knows the obstacles that can impede improvement in a plant. Here, he outlines the changes in philosophy and behavior that must take place before progress can be made. Smith differentiates between the traditional, inefficient "push" scheduling, where forecasts are made and everyone pushes material forward to meet the schedule, and the Pull Systems, which limit and control production based on downstream demand. With Visible Pull, workstations act in concert with one another, which in turn enables the company to better allocate resources, build a culture of teamwork, and link time-on-line to business goals. In a series of five logical, carefully structured segments, Smith takes you step-by-step through the entire Visible Pull process, including:

• Making the Decision--helps you decide if Visible Pull is appropriate for your organization through a high-level overview of its goals, resource requirements, and potential benefits
• Assessing and Planning--explains how to identify and assess opportunities for improvement, choose the right tools, and develop a specific plan for change
• Pull Systems--demonstrates how to use Pull Systems as the primary tool for managing time in a process and how to apply them to your specific environment
• Visible Management and Continuous Improvement--describes how to use Pull Systems to institute an ongoing improvement process, build employee involvement, measure your organization's evolving capabilities, and guide your future growth

Replete with examples drawn from the experience of world-class manufacturers, Time Out includes a full range of simulation techniques, as well as detailed, real-world application methods set within the context of an integrated enterprise. Designed for manufacturing, operations, and distribution managers, supervisors, team leaders, design engineers, and others concerned with manufacturing processes, Time Out offers an immediate and unprecedented opportunity for truly breakthrough improvement.