Category: Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply lean’s origins date back to the post World War II era in Japan. It was developed by Taiichi Ohno, a Toyota production executive, in response to a number of problems that plagued Japanese industry. The main problem was that of high‐variety production required to serve the domestic Japanese market. Mass production techniques,…

In any manufacturing process and operation, variability exists in the process output. In a machining operation, which is one of the most accurate processes, the machined parts may appear to be identical, but close inspection reveals dimensional differences from one part to the next. Manufacturing variations can be divided into two types: random and assignable. Random…

Data are often collected in a manufacturing process over time in many practical situations. Phenomena that might affect the process or system often become more visible in a time‐oriented plot of the data, and the stability of the process can be better judged. For example, the control chart is a technique that displays data over…

This section is about SPC, a collection of tools that are essential in quality‐improvement activities. Statistical methods play a vital role in quality improvement. Some applications are outlined next: It is essential that engineers, scientists, managers, and policy makers have an in‐depth understanding of these statistical tools in any industry or business that wants to be…

A display that further summarizes information about the distribution of the values is the boxplot. Instead of plotting the actual values, a boxplot displays summary statistics for the distribution. It is a plot of the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, as well as values far removed from the rest. Figure 8.2 shows an annotated sketch of a…

Stem‐and‐leaf displays are useful for displaying the relative density and shape of the data, giving the reader a quick overview of distribution. They retain (most of) the raw numerical data, often with perfect integrity. They are also useful for highlighting outliers and finding the mode. However, stem‐and‐leaf displays are only useful for moderately sized data…

The dot diagram is a useful data display for small samples, up to (say) about 20 observations. However, when the number of observations is moderately large, other graphical displays may be more useful. A stem‐and‐leaf display or stem‐and‐leaf plot, also called a stemplot, is a device for presenting quantitative data in a graphical format, similar to a histogram,…

Before moving into the theory and practice of statistical process control (SPC), it is important that engineers get involved with exchanging ideas, and at each step of the way colleagues in engineering will be sharing information and data with one another, and engineers will be making presentations to decision makers who have no background in engineering. In…

In this chapter our major focus is on lean manufacturing of various products while applying techniques and methodologies to achieve zero defect in products, and significantly eliminate waste and discharges to environment from the manufacturing process. The quality of products, processes, and services has become a major decision factors in most industries and businesses today.…