ISE 589M Lean Production Principles and Practice

This course will introduce graduate and advanced undergraduate students and practicing engineers to lean production principles and practice. Industrial engineers and others responsible for continuously improving operational performance must develop systems that are fast, flexible, focused and friendly for their companies, customers and production associates. The course will provide the student with an introduction to lean production describing the background behind its development and how evaluations and assessments of production systems are performed. Lean production tools and techniques will be described and in some cases demonstrated in simulation exercises. Issues relating to employee involvement, improvement teams, training and culture will be presented. Planning for lean process implementation and the necessity of sustain improvements will be discussed. Examples of applications in manufacturing and business processes will be presented. 3 credit hours.

 
   
   
Prerequisite
  

Senior or graduate standing in industrial engineering or a related discipline. The course is open to graduate students, advanced undergraduates and practicing engineers who wish to learn more about lean principles and practice. No prior background in lean production will be assumed.

 

Course Objectives

 

  
  1. You will learn brief history of manufacturing approaches employed and the background and philosophy of lean production. You will also learn the concept of waste and that the quest for truly lean production is a journey and not a destination.
  2. The need for strategy, alignment with other corporate or plant objectives, and preparation for lean production will be presented.
  3. You will learn some evaluation techniques that one can use in preparation for and use in learn production activities.
  4. You will learn a set of tools used in implementing lean production in production operations. While these tools are often useful, they are not an end in themselves and they are not necessarily the essence of lean production either.
  5. Concepts as workplace organization, pull production, cellular arrangement and layout improvement, visual management, quick change, mistake reduction, employee involvement, need for employee creativity and motivation for lean implementation will be discussed and examples will be given.
  6. You will learn about project management for lean implementation.
  7. Methods for promoting success in implementing lean transformations will be discussed.
  8. The change process, why some change processes fail and the importance of culture will be presented.
  9. You will have an opportunity to enrich the learning of yourself and others by completing a book report and a research paper.
Course Requirements  

Homework:
There will be assigned readings and a book report and a research report during the course.

Examinations:
There will be one mid-term test and one final exam.

Grading:

  Book report 20 %
  Research report 15 %
  Mid-Term Test 30 %
  Final Exam   35 %
  Total 100 %

 
Course Topics  
  1. What is lean production? – Introduction, background and philosophy.
  2. Importance of strategy, mission, alignment, focus and systems view. Preparation for lean production.
  3. Lean production preparation – System assessment, process and value-stream mapping – Sources of waste.
  4. Lean production tools and techniques.—Importance of focusing upon flow. Tools include:
    a. Workplace organization – 5S.
    b. Just-In-Time – One piece flow – Inventory reduction.
    c. Cellular production systems.
    d. Quick change and set-up reduction methods.
    e. Total productive maintenance.
    f. Visual management.
    g. Poka-Yoke – mistake proofing, quality improvement.
  5. Employee involvement – Teams – Training – Supporting and encouraging involvement – Involving people in the change process --Importance of culture.
  6. Project management for implementation, startup of lean processes.
  7. Transforming strategy into success.
  8. Sustaining improvement and change, auditing, follow-up actions.
Textbook  

Value Stream Management, by Don Tapping, Tom Luyster, and Tom Shuker, Productivity Press, 2002. ISBN: 1563272458.

In addition readings will be assigned from books on reserve in the library. Other readings will be assigned and a book report will be required drawing from a book list distributed at the beginning of the course. A research paper will also be assigned.

 
Computer and Internet Requirements  

NCSU has recommended minimum specifications for computers used for classes. Depending on your computer needs, we recommend your computer meet or exceed the following minimum specifications below.

PCs must have an Intel-compatible 800 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 8 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 800x600 (min.) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system should be Windows 2000 or XP. Real One Player Basic (available free online) and high speed Internet connection such as cable, DSL, T1 or LAN will be required for EOL courses.

MAC users must have a G3 processor with firewire and USB factory built-in, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB with 1GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 800x600 (min) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system must be MacOS 10.3 (minimum) along with the above RealOne and Internet specifications above .

For more detailed information on computer specifications and recommendations, please refer to our website at: http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/currentstudents/computeraccess.htm

 

Instructor  

Dr. Wilbur L Meier Jr., Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering
Daniels Hall 417, Box 7906
NCSU Campus
Raleigh, NC 27695

Phone: 919-515-1815
Fax: 919-515-5281
EMail: wmeier@nc.rr.com