Chapter 12 (Lean operation)

1. Does lean operation rely on implicit or explicit production planning?

Implicit
2. Is a lean operation considered a push or a pull system?
Pull System
3. Does lean operation rely more on precise calculations or reaction to signals?
reaction to signals
4. Push versus pull refers to pushing or pulling what?
inventory within the system
5. Muda is another term for what?
waste, anything the customer will not pay for
6. In a dual card kanban system, one kind of card represents permission to produce. What
does the second type of card represent permission to do?
withdraw or use
7. What does reducing the number of kanban cards circulating in a single card kanban loop
reduce?
Inventory
8. Lean refers to less what?
Waste
9. An employee says, “I’ve got to get back to work now. I’ve got to calculate how many of
each kind of part the factory needs to make next week. Then I’ve got to fill out all those
work orders and make sure everybody out in the factory gets one.” What word or words
best describe the type of inventory control system this employee supervises?
Explicit or Push
10. What is the ideal order size in a lean/JIT environment?
1
11. Revising a process such that its desired outcome is the only outcome possible, also
known casually (and rather inaccurately) as “dummy proofing” or “mistake proofing,” is a
principle known formally as what?
poka yoke
12. Will implementing leaner practices likely increase or reduce the frequency of ordering
materials?
Increase

13. The usage rate D of a component is 200 an hour, the lead time L on a container of the
component is 1 hour, and each container holds 110 components. Assuming a policy
variable X of 0.10, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

14. The usage rate D of a component is 200 an hour, the lead time L on a container of the
component is 1 hour, and each container holds 22 components. Assuming a policy variable
X of 0.10, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

10

15. The usage rate D of a component is 200 an hour, the lead time L on a container of the
component is 1 hour, and each container holds 22 components. Assuming a policy variable
X of 0.21, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

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16) Five hundred of part A and 2,000 of part B are used annually. If the job shop that
creates and uses these parts operates 250 working days a year, level scheduling requires
the shop to create how many of each part each day?

2 of part A and 8 of part B

13C) The usage rate D of a component is 260 an hour, the lead time L on a container of
the component is 1.5 hours, and each container holds 160 components. Assuming a policy
variable X of 0.15, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

14C) The usage rate D of a component is 260 an hour, the lead time L on a container of
the component is 1.5 hours, and each container holds 40 components. Assuming a policy
variable X of 0.15, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?
11

15C)The usage rate D of a component is 260 an hour, the lead time L on a container of the
component is 1.5 hours, and each container holds 40 components. Assuming a policy
variable X of 0.3, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

13
16C) One Thousand of part A and 2,500 of part B are used annually. If the job shop that
creates and uses these parts operates 250 working days a year, level scheduling requires
the shop to create how many of each part each day?

4A's and 10B's daily

17. One common illustration used to demonstrate the philosophy of just-in-time inventory
management shows a lake in which sharp rocks are hiding beneath the water’s surface.
What do the rocks represent?

Uncertainties

18. One common illustration used to demonstrate the philosophy of just-in-time inventory
management shows a lake in which sharp rocks are hiding beneath the water’s surface.
What does the water represent? Why should the lake be drained?

Inventory, to expose uncertainties for fixing

19. The usage rate of a component is 600 an hour, the lead time on a container of the
component is 30 minutes, and each container holds 110 components. Assuming a policy
variable of 10%, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

20. A kanban system has just been introduced into a machine shop to control the
production of a common part used by many different subassemblies at many different
workstations. The kanban system has been operating for 2 weeks, but workers have made
many complaints about it. Apparently workers who build the subassemblies cannot always
find that part in stock exactly when they need it. How can the kanban system be adjusted
to address these complaints?

Increase number of kanban cards

21. Three kanban cards are hanging on a board next to a work area, while another identical
kanban card is attached to the container that an employee is busy filling with parts created
in that work are. Five more matching kanban card are already attached to full containers
placed in a convenient waiting are near this work are. A supervisor walks over, remove
two of the kanban card from the board, and puts them in her pocket. The supervisor then
walk away. What is the best explanation for why the supervisor did that?

Reduce inventory of that part

#19c
The usage rate of a component is 850 an hour, the lead time on a container of the
component is 15 minutes, and each container holds 200 components. Assuming a policy
variable of 15%, how many kanban cards should be used to control production?

＃20C） A kanban system has just been introduced into a machine shop to control the
production of a common part used by many different subassemblies at many different
workstations. The kanban system has been operating for 2 weeks, but workers have made
many complaints about it. Apparently workers who build the subassemblies find that there
are always way too many parts in stock and they thought that the Kanban system should
reduce stock levels. How can the kanban system be adjusted to address these complaints?

Reduce the number of kanbans (cards)

#21C) Three kanban cards are hanging on a board next to a work area, while another
identical kanban card is attached to the container that an employee is busy filling with
parts created in that work area. Five more matching kanban cards are already attached to
full containers placed in a convenient waiting area near this work area. A supervisor walks
over, adds two kanban cards to the board then walks away. Which is the best explanation
for why the supervisor did that?
To increase inventory levels
Scenario #22
The Belmont Company must produce 1,500 boxes of product A each year, 2,000 boxes
of product B each year, and 500 boxes of product C each year. The Belmont Company
works 250 days a year, and it can make a total of 16 boxes of product a day (any mix of
the products A, B, and C).
In the past, Belmont would spend the first of the year producing just product A, then
producing just product B when all 1,500 boxes of product A were finished, and then
switch over late in the year to produce product C. However, the president of Belmont
has decided that the company should follow the principles of lean operations, including
smoothing production of the demand requirements of these three products into mixed-
model scheduling.

a. When Belmont uses its traditional schedule, how many days does it spend making
product A at the beginning of the year? When it switches then to product B, how many
days does it spend producing that product? How many days are then required to finish
the batch of product C?

Product A = 93.75 days Product B = 125 days Product C = 31.25 days

b. If Belmont implements a perfectly smooth, mixed-model schedule, it will produce the

same mix of three products every day. How many of each product should be in this daily
mix?

Product A = 6 Product B = 8 Product C = 2

c. Ideally, in what order should this new daily mix be completed during the day?

4b's, 3a's 1c bababcba bababcba

Scenario #23
The fabrication department provides a component for the assembly department. The
assembly department’s usage of the component is 4,800 units per 8-hour day. The
fabrication department fills each container with 60 units in 40 minutes. Management has
built a 20% cushion into the system.

a. How many containers (or kanban cards) should be used for this component?

b. Next month, the fabrication department expects its own usage of the component to
fall by half, due to an expected decrease in sales of the finished goods requiring that
component. Assuming that this change is permanent, how should the number of
containers (or kanban cards) used to control this component be adjusted?

They should be reduced by half, or down to 4

In-Chapter Scenario #1
Dumfries Fabrication (DF) cuts sheets of steel into small square blanks used by other
work centers. Since steel blanks are used continuously, DF has decided to create a
kanban loop to control this item. Blanks are transported in metal baskets that hold 40
blanks each. DF will add bright orange detachable tags to the baskets, to act as kanbans.
What is not certain, however, is how many bright orange tags should be circulating in
the loop between the welding shop and the basket storage area. The combined use of
steel blanks throughout DF averages 160 per 8-hour day. DF would prefer a 10% safety
factor. The welding shop needs 7 hours to fill one metal basket.

How many bright orange tags should DF release into the kanban loop?

3 or 4 bright orange tags(kanbans)