Exam 13: Jitlean Production

Two announcers are used to read names at the semiannual commencement exercises held at a regional university in America's heartland. All students have their names read then walk briskly to the president who shakes their hand and offers them an empty diploma cover until such time that all financial obligations to the university have been met. The president greets about 600 students in an eight-hour day. The diploma covers come in boxes of 24 and it takes 45 minutes to carry one from the receiving dock to the field house where the ceremony is held. The president likes to keep things moving, so he has requested a 50% safety factor. How many containers are needed?

A kanban can be:

A manufacturer waits to produce until they have an order from a customer. This type of production system is called ________.

The MBA recruiter had worked in one of several different positions at the university; student advisor, adjunct professor, even MBA director at a previous employer. Her sole responsibility as recruiter was attending MBA and job fairs in the area to talk to prospective students about the possibility of continuing their education. This illustrates the waste of:

Recent developments in Lean thinking have combined these principles with Six Sigma and with supply chain management. Pick either one of these programs and describe its elements. Then provide an example from current business news of an operation or supply chain that has embraced these principles.

Consider the adjacent work stations in this two card kanban system. There is a production card located in the box labeled Outgoing Parts B. Work Center 3 pulls the parts from Work Center 2. Where does the production card go?

Unnecessary transportation is waste according to the Lean philosophy.

A company has successfully implemented Lean practices in their three station process. The stations are, in order, Station A, Station B, and Station C and product moves from A to B to C smoothly. One day, the equipment at Station B experiences catastrophic failure. What happens and what is the appropriate response for a Lean-thinking company?

A two-card kanban system is a planning tool that links production and movement of units at only two work centers.

In a two-card kanban system:

Lean Six Sigma combines the organizational elements and tools of Lean with the broad focus on waste reduction of Six Sigma.

One recent development in Lean thinking is the combination of Lean and Six Sigma into Lean Six Sigma, which combines the rigor of statistical analysis and DMAIC approach with Lean's focus on waste reduction.

Inflexible or unreliable processes cause organizations to produce goods before they are required; this is called:

The champagne magnums were filled with the amber, effervescent liquid but the corks were nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, the order for a crate of corks was somehow translated into an order for a single cork and corks have a one month lead time. The champagne master was concerned because without corks, there were be far fewer bubbles to tickle the noses of the end users once the product was sold. This illustrates the waste of:

One definition of waste is underutilizing employees.

Olivia has had enough of the theoretical equations and rejects the higher math needed to calculate the number of kanbans for her system. One approach that some organizations take in lieu of the kanban equation is to:

Scrap or rework are examples of the Lean waste recognized as:

Consider the adjacent work stations in this two card kanban system. There is a production card located:

For a kanban system to work properly, demand rates must be relatively stable, and interruptions must be minimized or quickly resolved.

Companies employing the Lean philosophy use only kanban as a production control method.