Crear Flujo de Materiales

Rick Harris, Chris Harris and Earl Wilson

Foreword by Jim Womack, Dan Jones, John Shook and Jose Ferro

Winner of the Shingo Research Prize 2005

CREAR FLUJO DE MATERIALES describes in a simple language another step in the implementation of a complete lean business system.

LEI's first book, OBSERVAR PARA CREAR VALOR, focused on where to start - on the value stream of each product family within its facilities.

Afterwards, SEEING THE WHOLE expanded the value stream map beyond the walls of the plant, from raw materials to the customer.

Once the waste and potential applications of flow and pull have been identified, you can now use the CREANDO FLUJO CONTINUO techniques to implement a really continuous flow in cell-based operations.

CREAR FLUJO DE MATERIALES addresses the next step in explaining how to supply parts to the supply chain to support continuous flow.

"Companies are making progress by creating areas of continuous flow as more managers learn about value chain maps and continuous flow cells," said co-author Rick Harris, who also co-wrote the book CREANDO FLUJO CONTINUO. Both books have received Shingo Research Prizes.

During his visits to plants, Harris has noticed a disturbing trend. “As I walk through the facilities and examine serious efforts to create continuous flow, I see how difficult it is to maintain a constant output. In general, the problem is the lack of a lean system for material handling for purchased parts that supports continuous flow cells, small batch processing, and traditional assembly lines. ”

CREAR FLUJO DE MATERIALES explains in clear language how to create such a system, by applying the relevant concepts and methods in a step-by-step progression. The book reveals the exercises, formulas, standards and forms that a consultant would use to implement the system in his environment. And, like other LEI books, Creating Material Flow answers the key question that managers generally ask about the tools and concepts of manufacturing read, "What do I do on Monday morning to implement this?" The four key steps detailed in the book include:

1. Develop the Plan for Each Party (PFEP). This basic database promotes a precise and controlled reduction of the inventory and is the basis for the continuous improvement of the material handling system in the plant.
2. Build the supermarket of purchased parts. Learn the formulas and methods to measure and operate a market that eliminates the waste of hoarding, looking for parts and storing inventories throughout the plant.
3. Design supply routes. You get the principles and calculations that turn an uncontrolled and disorderly plant into an organized community in which operators get the parts they need, when they need them and in the amount they need them, stocked right up to their hands. Appropriate supply routes not only improve inventory and flow but also safety.
4. Implement “pull” signals to integrate the new material handling system with the information management system. Learn the steps to create a system that keeps inventory under control by allowing operators to get only what they need while focusing on producing value for customers. You will also learn how to calculate the number of “pull” signals needed and how often to supply material.

Finally, you will learn to maintain and continuously improve the system by implementing periodic audits of the material handling system along the management chain, from the operator on the route to the plant manager. You will learn the five-step process to introduce audits to the market, routes and “pull” signals by a multifunctional team from control of production, operations and industrial engineering.

Harris and co-authors Chris Harris and Earl Wilson will take you through 10 simple but pragmatic questions that show how a lean manufacturing plant implements a robust but flexible material handling system for purchased parts:

• The Plan for Each Party (PFEP)
• What information should I include in the PFEP?
• How will you maintain the integrity of the PFEP? Develop a Market of Purchased Parts
• Where to locate your market for purchased parts?
• What is the correct size for your market of purchased parts and what is the correct quantity of parts in the market?
• How to operate your market for purchased parts? Design the Supply Route and the Information Management System
• How do you transport the parts of the market from purchased parts to the production areas?
• How do your production areas tell the market of purchased parts what to supply and when?
• How do you fill the supply route? Maintain and Improve
• How can you maintain the performance of your lean material handling system?
• How can you identify and eliminate additional waste?

An appendix explores how to adapt the key principles of lean material handling to more complex environments, such as incorporating work-in-process (WIP) supermarkets into the system for purchased parts, adding supply routes from production cells to a food market. finished articles, and apply the system to low volume and high mix processes.

CREAR FLUJO DE MATERIALES will benefit lean leaders, managers and executives in production, operations and engineering control, who have at least a basic knowledge of lean concepts such as maps of value stream, cell design and standardized work.