the very first thing to do if a machine starts producing scrap material is to shut it down. It is better to make nothing because that is a cheaper alternative than making stuff you can’t use.
On a world-class automobile assembly line, the actual work is continuously being compared to the planned work. In each work zone, there is a planned sequence of tasks which are expected to produce a specified output. If there is any departure at all from the planned sequence, if things get behind the planned timeline, if [...]
For kanban to work well, there has to be a solid foundation under it. That foundation is production leveling or heijunka. Before I get to far into this, though, I would like to point something out: At the mention of leveling, people who are only just learning about kanban will point out all of the [...]