Yet many companies focus on the mechanisms of implementation--one-piece flow, pull production, takt time, standard work, kanban--without linking those mechanisms back to the pillars that hold up the entire system. JIT is fairly well understood, but jidoka is key to making the entire system stick. A lot of failed implementations can be traced back to not building this second pillar.

Jidoka is one of the main pillars of the TPS. The TPS is presented as a house with two pillars. One pillar represents just-in-time (JIT), and the other pillar the concept of Jidoka. Take away any of the pillars holding up the roof, and the entire system will collapse. Take out quality, and there is no TPS. Jidoka is a principle of building quality for customers-not inspecting quality. Building quality mean making it right the first time. If you are making defective products or using unacceptable quality standards and filtering these defects out through an inspection system, there is no building quality-and no Jidoka. You are just catching the mistakes made in the manufacturing process. This cost a lot of money and resources and puts the business at risk.

Vibration Analysis should present 50% of any condition monitoring program. This book include a practical guide to vibration analysis to prepare practitioners for levels I II & III to become certified analyst. Numerous examples with photos are included to present how to detect different types of equipment failure: bearing, shafts misalignment, unbalance, rotor problems, electric motors and more using spectrum analysis technique.

Some businesses have reduced staff and made resource cuts to survive the global economic downturn, while others have improved business practices and culture. Unfortunately, there is still a difference between successful and less successful businesses in terms of culture adaptability, people management, and process management. In organizations like Toyota, which, in contrast to its rivals, has a mindset of process improvement, culture drives competitive advantage. Other businesses might benefit from Toyota's teachings by changing their routines for behaving and thinking in order to increase staff performance.

Heijunka (Japanese for production smoothing or leveling): It is a technique used to smooth out production in all departments as well as that of the supplier over time in order to facilitate Just-In-Time (JIT) production. It means production levelling (finding and maintaining average production volumes). The fundamental goal of using the Heijunka technique is to supply goods at a steady rate so that upstream and downstream operations can likewise run at a steady and predictable rate, hence lowering the inventory.

The heijunka technique works by leveling both the production volume and the product mix. It doesn't build products according to the actual flow of customer orders, which can swing up and down widely, but takes the total volume of orders in a period and levels them out so the same amount and mix are being made each day. Heijunka is a technique that helps reach the defined takt time and adds value to it.

Mistakenly, many people think plan-do-check-act (PDCA) is a continuous improvement cycle, even if they neglect the human part. PDCA does aim to improve the process, but if you have only improved the process without developing and teaching your people, you have put the process at risk of slipping back. People must be trained in the culture of continuous improvement so they can keep managing the process with the new method.

In order to cut costs during the economic downturn, many businesses are implementing abstinence policies.This could mean laying off workers and cutting some wages.In fact, those actions might only work for a short time.Unless the company implements a culture of continuous improvement and alters its method of operation, the situation may recur and become even worse.This brings us back to the purpose for which the Toyota production system was developed.

Waste is anything that uses resources but offers the customer nothing in return. Most activities are waste, or muda, and can be divided into two categories. Although type one muda does not provide value, it is inescapable given the production assets and technologies available today. An illustration would be checking welds for safety, that type we also call necessary non value-added activity. Type two muda does not add value and can be quickly eliminated. An illustration is a process in a process village with disconnected phases that may be swiftly converted into a cell where unnecessary material moves and inventory are no longer necessary. A very small portion of all value-stream activities truly generate value as perceived by the client. The most effective way to boost business performance is to stop doing the numerous unnecessary things.

The purpose of this book is to present a set of guidelines to be used in the application of lean strategy principles and tools in modern organizations. This book aim is to highlight the potential role played by lean strategy tools for strategic planning and strategic management in the reference to the Hoshin Kanri policy deployment system.

This book discusses several themes driven and concluded from Toyota that are required to deploy strategies and align goals.

The book highlights the potential for the Hoshin Kanri deployment process in manufacturing environments. It emphasizes the importance of leadership development and the usefulness of using the correct coaching behavior to support learning acquisition and decision-making.

The book demonstrates how Hoshin Kanri may be effectively used for strategic management and to improve communication from top to down when professionals are sufficiently trained and frontline staff is engaged.

In general, lean strategy deployment is still an emerging research topic addressed by only a limited number of references. Some of these references have explained Hoshin Kanri as a tool for strategic management and planning to achieve the goals and they explain how the method aligns corporate strategic objectives as defined and managed by senior managers (at the strategic level) with the plans and activities of middle management and teams (tactical level) and the work done by the employees (operational level). This process is called catching balls, as all three levels of management must negotiate back and force until they agree about the goals and the action plans. However, catching balls is just one aspect of Hoshin Kanri. What is usually miss is the philosophy and the culture which are the most important parts for a successful Hoshin Kanri process across the organization. This book is closing this gap.

Value-stream mapping or process mapping is drawing a picture of all the parts and information that are needed to make and deliver a product. It is an important tool used to make things better by finding and getting rid of waste. Toyota created a tool called a material and information flow diagram, which is very important for their production system.

A value stream is everything that needs to happen to make and deliver a product to the customer, both the important things and the ones that are not so important.

Value stream mapping usually starts with a team making a map of how things are right now. This means taking a picture of how materials and information move through a value stream. Next, the team creates a map of how things will be in the future. This means a picture of how things and information should move through the process to create value.

Repeating this many times is the easiest and most effective way to help yourself and your coworkers learn to recognize what is important.

Value-stream mapping is often used in lean manufacturing. However, people in charge of businesses in any field can find it useful.

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) was initiated by the aerospace industry in the 1960s to improve the reliability of systems. It is a part of total quality management programs and should be used to prevent potential failures that could affect safety, production, cost or customer satisfaction. FMEA can be used during the design, service or manufacturing processes to minimize the risk of failure, improving the customer's confidence while also reducing costs.

FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) is a method for gathering information about potential points of failure in a design, manufacturing process, product, or service. Failure mode (FM) refers to the manner in which something may fail. It includes potential errors that could occur, particularly errors that could have an impact on the customer. Deciphering the consequences of those breakdowns is part of effective analysis (EA). This is accomplished by ensuring that all failures can be detected, determining how frequently a failure may occur, and determining which potential failures should be prioritized. FMEA templates are commonly used by business analysts to aid in the completion of analyses.

FMEA is a risk assessment tool with a 1-10 scoring scale. A one indicates low risk, while a ten indicates extremely high risk.

FMEA is an effective method for development and manufacturing organizations to reduce potential failures throughout the product lifecycle.

Six Sigma's project team use FMEA in the Analyze stage of DMAIC because extraordinary quality is not only designed into the product, it is designed into the development process itself.

Gemba is a Japanese word meaning the actual place where value-creating work happens. Many leaders use gemba only for solving problems, visiting only when there is an issue. Others practice gemba walks on a daily basis to follow up and monitor the situation. However, Toyota believes that leaders truly develop through daily experiences at the gemba. In reality, gemba is a principle for managing, developing and improving people and processes. It is a valuable tool that helps lean practitioners learn the true facts so they can base management decisions on the actual situation.

Production kanban, which translates to sign or signboard in Japanese, instructs an upstream process on the kind and number of goods to produce for a downstream process. In a pull system, a kanban is a signalling tool that provides approval and instructions for the manufacture or withdrawal (conveyance) of products. The conveyance used by the downstream process is referred to as the withdrawal. The assembly process and the client, the assembly process and the supplier process, and the supplier process and the vendor all benefit from kanban. The Toyota production system is founded on zero inventory, but because there are natural interruptions in flow as raw materials are transformed into completed goods and supplied to customers, some required inventory must be included. The Toyota kanban system is frequently the next best option when clean flow is impossible due to processes are too far apart or the cycle times to complete the operations vary greatly.

Condition monitoring is the process of keeping an eye on a machine's condition parameter in order to spot any major changes that could be signs of a malfunction developing. It plays a significant role in preventive maintenance and is a major component of predictive maintenance. By combining machine sensor data that detects vibration and other characteristics (in real-time) with cutting-edge machine monitoring software, condition monitoring (CM), a maintenance strategy, anticipates machine health and safety.

Predictive Maintenance strategy employs vibration analysis, thermography analysis, ultrasound analysis, oil analysis and other techniques to improve machine reliability. The goal of the strategy is to provide the stated function of the facility, with the required reliability and availability at the lowest cost.

The laboratory examination of a lubricant's characteristics, suspended impurities, and wear debris is known as oil analysis (OA). OA is carried out as part of regular predictive maintenance to deliver precise and useful data on lubricant and machine condition. Trends can be found by following the findings of oil analysis samples over the course of a certain machine. These trends can help avoid expensive repairs. Tribology is the study of wear in machinery. Tribologists frequently perform or interpret results from oil analyses.

Oil analysis is a long-term program that, where relevant, can eventually be more predictive than any of the other technologies. It can take years for a plant's oil program to reach this level of sophistication and effectiveness. This book includes what all practitioners need to know to build an oil analysis program for their machine inspection. This book includes three real case studies and numerous industrial examples to improve machine reliability and enhance the condition monitoring program.

A thermal imager is used to detect radiation (heat) originating from an object, convert it to temperature, and display an image of the temperature distribution. This process is known as infrared thermography. Thermograms-illustrations of the detected temperature distribution-allow the observation of heat-producing objects that are invisible to the unaided eye. It is extensively utilized in building diagnostics, medical imaging, law enforcement, and security imaging, as well as predictive maintenance and condition monitoring.

This book contains over hundred of photos taken for several industrial equipment from several plants: fertilizer, chemical, and crystal-glass making that will help the practitioners identify different types of failures for different types of equipment including pumps, compressors, transformers, engines, motors, ...etc. The book also have examples of application in construction, medical and civil fields.

A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis FMEA is a systematic method for identifying and preventing product and process problems before they occur. FMEAs are focused on preventing defects, enhancing safety and increasing customer satisfaction. FMEAs are conducted in the product design or process development stages, although conducting an FMEA on existing products and processes can also yield substantial benefits. Six Sigma's project team use FMEA in the Analyze stage of DMAIC because extraordinary quality is not only designed into the product, it is designed into the development process itself. Manufacturing, production, design, service, maintenance, and process are examples of FMEA applications. FMEA is also a component of the Reliability Centered Maintenance program. This book contains numerous examples and cases.

Predictive Maintenance strategy employs vibration analysis, thermography analysis, ultrasound analysis, oil analysis and other techniques to improve machine reliability. The goal of the strategy is to provide the stated function of the facility, with the required reliability and availability at the lowest cost.