MWS-05

nuIntermediate/Advanced

Synchronous Management

How to Size (and Resize) Your Supermarkets

Most companies who implement pull/kanban struggle with a critical issue. That is, how do we right-size our supermarkets to get the best possible flow? And, how do we make sure supermarket sizes are adjusted as product structures, manufacturing processes and customer demands change? What are the effects of production capacity on supermarket sizes? Finally, how do we use the information generated by correctly sizing supermarkets to help us focus our other lean efforts?

Supermarkets may be too large, resulting in production of unneeded items, or too small, resulting in stockouts. Either way, resources are too often engaged in producing what we do not need, and not available to produce what we do need. The expediting and firefighting continue, and inventory levels remain static – even with kanban!

This workshop focuses on answering all of these questions.

Don Guild

Don’s professional experience began with twenty years in manufacturing line operations, including shop supervision, scheduling and materials management, and operations management. He was on the forefront in the early implementation of automated requirements planning and participative management systems. Don founded Synchronous Management in 1986 to focus on the hands-on application of lean techniques in purchasing, manufacturing, and distribution.

He is experienced in the training and application of value stream mapping, pull/kanban system design and implementation, cellular manufacturing, plant layout, changeover reduction, and lean performance metrics. His hundreds of clients have ranged in size from $1MM per year to over $1BB per year in annual sales. Manufacturing environments served include high-volume, repetitive production, engineering prototype shops, job shops, vertically integrated fabricators, and purchase-and-assemble shops. Industries served include casting and forging, machinery, aerospace, biotechnology, electronics components and assembly, food processing and consumer products.

Don’s pioneering work includes capacity-based lot-sizing techniques for changeover-intensive resources, make-to-order kanban for the non-repetitive job shop, and auto pull for complex repetitive environments.

He is a member of the Association of Manufacturing Excellence; Certified on the Fellow Level by the American Production and Inventory Control Society; Author of the Pull/Kanban training program for the NIST-Manufacturing Extension Partnerships; Author of Pull/Kanban Systems training for the Lean Enterprise Institute; Faculty member of NIST-MEP and the Lean Enterprise Institute. Don has conducted over twenty workshops and presentations for AME, and a number of his clients are frequent speakers for AME.