Production Books

Spiral Bound -  3.5" X 5.5"- Fits in the palm of your hand!

The New Lean Pocket Guide has over 120 illustrations to visually convey the tools and concepts, along with detailed descriptions of all the Lean tools. This newer version of the best selling The Lean Pocket Guide also includes: a section on Lean Office and Six Sigma, 20+ digital photos demonstrating Lean in action, a Waste Audit, and a Glossary of Lean terms.  The tools of 5S, value stream mapping, document tagging, continuous flow, standard work, visual control, takt time, pitch, runners, waste, plus numerous other Lean tools are thoroughly defined as well as guidelines provided for the implementation of each tool.  This version has digital photos of Lean production best practices throughout!

Spiral Bound -  3.5” x 5.5”  – 202 pages – 120+ Illustrations, Forms, Worksheets, Digital Photos of Lean Production Practices, Glossary, and Waste Audit

The most comprehensive and practical explanation of Lean concepts and tools made for the shop floor is now available in a larger format. The New Lean Pocket Guide XL has over 120 illustrations to visually convey the tools and concepts, along with detailed descriptions of all the Lean tools. This newer and larger version of the best selling The Lean Pocket Guide also includes: a section on Lean Office and Six Sigma, 20+ digital photos demonstrating Lean in action, a Waste Audit, and a Glossary of Lean terms. The tools of 5S, value stream mapping, document tagging, continuous flow, standard work, visual control, takt time, pitch, runners, waste, plus numerous other Lean tools are thoroughly defined as well as guidelines provided for the implementation of each tool.  This version has digital photos of Lean production best practices throughout!

Spiral Bound -  5.5” x 8.5”  – 202 pages – 120+ Illustrations, Forms, Worksheets, Digital Photos of Lean Production Practices, Glossary, and Waste Audit

The Lean Assessment was created as a guide to allow the job shop and small manufacturer in their Lean journey.  The Lean Assessment will provide a baseline upon which you can improve - and most importantly also provide a reference on what to do.   The Lean Assessment has 13 Lean building block categories that are further divided into sub-categories that are scored.  The subsequent score will assist you into allocating the appropriate resources in your Lean project.  Administrative areas are also referenced in this assessment. The Assessment is self-administering and will allow you to create the necessary visual spider chart to convey the score within the organization.

Paperback – 8.5" x 11.0" – 54 pages – 13 Categories, 50+ Sub-categories

The Lean Primer will allow you to train the organization to understand how critical the implementation of Lean principles and processes are to your short and long term success.  It will provide the various reasons why an organization must go Lean, as well as detailing what Lean is.  Lean will be explained in the terms of Stabilize, Flow, and Sustain with reference to the following topics of lean vision, waste, value stream mapping, 5S, takt time, buffer and safety stock, continuous flow, standard work, quick changeover, kanban, visual controls, mistake-proofing, leveling, paced withdrawal, visual production control, runners, TPM, and kaizen.  Each of these tools will also be explained with digital photos from world-class shops from across the US that shared their best practices.

Perfect Bound - 7” x 10” – 96 pages, 50+ Plant Photos

Through the successful application of Lean in the job shops, a group of world-class manufacturing plants decided to share their world-class best practices in the this book.  BackStreet Lean provides the detailed information required for understanding and implementing Lean practices in various types of manufacturing operations (i.e., job shops, small shops, made-to-order and low volume shops).  BackStreet Lean is organized into four chapters:  Starting Lean, Working with Lean Tools, Sustaining the Lean Process, and Running Lean.  The various tools of developing a three-year plan, 5S, developing part families, eliminating unnecessary parts, striving for zero setups, creating cells as profit centers, plus many other topics are explained through step-by-step methodologies, illustrations, and/or digital photos.

The 5S for the Office User's Guide provides an organization with the forms, worksheets, and checklists necessary to ensure a 5S project is well-planned from the start - as well as ensuring the program is sustained over time.  This how-to guide should be used as it is titled  - as a "Guide".  The information contained in this workbook should supplement, support, and enhance, etc. current materials that an organization may currently be using.

Paperback - 8.5" x 11.0" - 124 pages, 40+ forms, worksheets, and guides, 20+ digital photos

Will ship June 17th, 2010

Lean Office Demystified II is simple to understand and provides easy-to-do steps explaining how Lean can be applied in various administrative settings. The tools of takt time, pitch, leveling, standard work, mistake proofing, value stream mapping, etc. are all explained with examples that anyone can relate to. The book provides three main steps into applying Lean in any type office environment.

This new version also reveals the secrets on how Lean can be leveraged with MS Office (and other applications) to move information where it is needed, when it is needed, in error-free ways never dreamed of - at the speed of sight. Learn how MS Excel, Word, Access, Grove, and Visio, as well as ACT!, Windows Explorer, and Google Docs can be used in applying Lean tools and concepts. This is all conveyed through the Global Winds case study that is included at the end of each chapter.

This easy-to-use book includes everything you need for success - readiness guides, worksheets, forms, screen shots, application examples, etc. Lean Office Demystified II goes beyond theory to explain how all this works in the actual business case study of Global Winds. Lean Office Demystified II will boost office performance, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction, while at the same time create stress-free work place.

BONUS! The Appendix now contains step-by-step instructions on how to:

1. Create a value stream map in Visio
2. Use Pivot Tables to help identify a value stream
3. Use Excel to create an Employee Balance Chart

Perfect Bound, Paperback - 5.5" x 7.5" - 400+ Pages - 150+ Illustrations, Forms, Worksheets, Screen Shots - Examples Throughout - Glossary - Index

The Set allows you to teach the topics contained in the best selling Lean Pocket Guide with references throughout on the Note Pages of the Facilitator’s Guide.  The Set has over 50 plant photos, 40 illustrations, as well as 6 different activities that will help teach the various tools comprised of Lean.

Spiral Bound - 8.5" x 11" – 200+ PowerPoint Slides - 50+ Plant Photos, Forms, Worksheets – Lean Jeopardy Game, 1-Instructor’s Guide, 5 – Participant Guides, 1- detailed Lean simulation explanation, and the CD containing all the PowerPoint slides for you to customize

The Lean Manufacturing Participant Guide presents the overheads from The Lean Manufacturing Training Set three to a page. This allows notes to be taken as information from The Lean Manufacturing Training Set is presented.

In this participant guide you will learn:

1. How to contribute your ideas through Lean initiatives
2. To understand the Lean tools by relating them to actual plant examples
3. How Lean tools are applied through involvement in a simulation
4. To improve your technical skills

Spiral Bound - 8.5" x 11" – 200+ PowerPoint slides three to a page.

The Lean Pocket Handbook for Kaizen Events is your personal (i.e., individual) Lean planner for the 21st century.  We have found individuals that use this pocket handbook feel more part of the Kaizen team.  They also continue to contribute improvement ideas well past the formal team Kaizen Event.  That is what Lean is all about - making those small, incremental, improvements daily (i.e., hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute) by those closest to the process.

Paperback - 3.75” x  5.5” - 96pages

Spiral Bound -  3.5” x 5.5”  – 239 pages – 90+ Illustrations, Forms, Worksheets – Case Study Throughout Demonstrating Quality Improvement and Lean Tools – Waste Audit – Glossary – Index

Perfect Bound -  3.5” x 5.5”  – 239 pages – 90+ Illustrations, Forms, Worksheets – Case Study Throughout Demonstrating Quality Improvement and Lean Tools – Waste Audit – Glossary – Index

The Simply Lean Training Set is your 21st century solution to conveying the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) methodology with a Lean focus.  This set is based on over 30 years of problem solving and Lean implementation. The Set allows an organization to teach the topics contained in The Simply Pocket Guide with numerous interactive case studies that allow the participants to practice using basic problem solving tools.  The Set also conveys the most basic aspects of Lean through examples and digital photos.

In this training set you will learn how to:

1. Use quality improvement tools through case study examples and activities
2. Integrate Lean into any problem solving or Six Sigma project 
3. Conduct Kaizen Events
4. Summarize the teachings through a Simply Lean Jeopardy game
5. Conduct a simulation that conveys Lean and problem solving solutions

Spiral Bound – 8.5” x 11” – 200 PowerPoint Slides - 40+ Illustrations, Simply Lean Jeopardy Game, Problem Solving Lean Simulation, Tinker Town Case Study, 1-Instructor’s Guide, 5-Participant Guides, and the CD containing all the PowerPoint slides for you to customize

The Simply Lean Participant Guide presents the overheads from The Simply Lean Training Set three to a page.  This allows notes to be taken as information from The Simply Lean Training Set is presented.

In this participant guide you will learn how to:

1. Use quality improvement tools through case study examples and activities
2. Integrated Lean into any problem solving or Six Sigma project 
3. Participate actively in Kaizen Events
4. Communicate the terms and concepts through a Simply Lean Jeopardy game
5. Improve a process through interaction in a problem solving - Lean simulation

Spiral Bound – 8.5” x 11” – 143 PowerPoint slides three to a page

Who Hollered Fore? creates an awareness of the evils of variation – along with the realization of what that costs an organization in time and money.  This book will assist in creating a common language and basic Lean theme throughout your organization.  Through the story of John, Laura, and the Bartlett’s, as they participate in a charity golf event, the conversation about Lean and golf become intertwined.  And finally they discover the secret to it all!

Hardcover - 5.5" x 8.5" - 90 pages