When Darcy McCormick began working at a small manufacturing company that developed fishing lures, the company was not doing well. After a round of layoffs, several people left of their own accord, and she was hired to replace the production manager, despite having no experience in that position. To increase her confidence in the role, Darcy began finding resources and reading books on production management, which is when she stumbled upon the concept of lean thinking. As the weeks went by, she observed her company and its processes from this perspective and began creating a plan to address some items. For example, the process for lures had always been done in the following order: create the body of the lure through a plastic mold, apply the paint and wait for it to dry, fasten the hook, and then package the lure. She found that between the phases of painting and fastening the hook, there was inefficiency because the drying lures took up a lot of space in the warehouse, and this limited the workers’ ability to perform other tasks. But this inefficiency created an opportunity for improvement. By adjusting the order of the process (fastening the hooks before painting) and creating a new system where the drying lures were hung on a wire and raised to the ceiling, this not only freed up the space in the warehouse, but it also meant that the workers no longer had to wait for the paint to dry to fasten the hooks. With a few other improvements like this, the company was able to turn things around and stay afloat.   Search the Internet to identify a top lean organization that you will analyze. Consider what makes the organization a leader in lean practices.   Briefly describe the organization, including what type of organization it is (e.g., product or service provider, non-profit, governmental, etc.).   Identify the organization’s lean practices that have distinguished it as a top lean leader.   Provide a brief analysis of the organization’s overall culture and how this influences its lean practices.

Practical Management Science
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ISBN:9781337406659
Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:WINSTON, Wayne L.
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When Darcy McCormick began working at a small manufacturing company that developed fishing lures, the company was not doing well. After a round of layoffs, several people left of their own accord, and she was hired to replace the production manager, despite having no experience in that position. To increase her confidence in the role, Darcy began finding resources and reading books on production management, which is when she stumbled upon the concept of lean thinking. As the weeks went by, she observed her company and its processes from this perspective and began creating a plan to address some items. For example, the process for lures had always been done in the following order: create the body of the lure through a plastic mold, apply the paint and wait for it to dry, fasten the hook, and then package the lure. She found that between the phases of painting and fastening the hook, there was inefficiency because the drying lures took up a lot of space in the warehouse, and this limited the workers’ ability to perform other tasks. But this inefficiency created an opportunity for improvement. By adjusting the order of the process (fastening the hooks before painting) and creating a new system where the drying lures were hung on a wire and raised to the ceiling, this not only freed up the space in the warehouse, but it also meant that the workers no longer had to wait for the paint to dry to fasten the hooks. With a few other improvements like this, the company was able to turn things around and stay afloat.

 

Search the Internet to identify a top lean organization that you will analyze. Consider what makes the organization a leader in lean practices.

 

Briefly describe the organization, including what type of organization it is (e.g., product or service provider, non-profit, governmental, etc.).

 

Identify the organization’s lean practices that have distinguished it as a top lean leader.

 

Provide a brief analysis of the organization’s overall culture and how this influences its lean practices.

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