A Professional's Guide to Decision Science and Problem Solving provides an integrated, start-to-finish framework for more effective problem solving and decision making in corporations. Drawing on vast experience in the field, the authors show how to apply state-of-the-art decision science, statistical modeling, benchmarking, and processing modeling techniques together to create a robust analytical framework for better decision making in any field, especially those that rely on advanced operations management. They integrate both newly-developed and time-tested techniques into a logical, structured approach for assessing corporate issues, developing solutions, and making decisions that drive the successful achievement of corporate objectives. Coverage includes: defining objectives, exploring the environment; scoping problems and evaluating their importance; bringing data mining and statistical analysis to bear; solving problems and measuring the results; evaluating the results and performing sensitivity analysis, and more. The book concludes with three case study chapters that walk through the effective use of its methods, step-by-step. Representing a wide variety of corporate environments, these case studies underscore and demonstrate the method's exceptional adaptability. This book will be valuable in a wide range of industries, notably finance, pharmaceutical, healthcare, economics, and manufacturing.

Companies that innovate successfully get six key things right. These are planning, pipeline, process, platform, people, and performance, and you need to get them right too. This book gives you a practical framework that will help you seek out new commercial opportunities and develop new and better ways of doing things. For innovation to be more than a buzzword it has to be deeply integrated into a team's structure--this book presents an integrated approach that will accelerate your move from buzzwords to practical steps to implementation.

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook blends Lean and Six Sigma tools and concepts, providing expert advice on how to determine which tool within a "family" is best for different purposes. Packed with detailed examples and step-bystep instructions, it's the ideal handy reference guide to help Green and Black Belts make the transition from the classroom to the field. Features brief summaries and examples of the 70 most important tools in Lean Six Sigma, such as "Pull," "Heijunka," and "Control Charts" Groups tools by purpose and usage Offers a quick, easy reference on using the DMAIC improvement cycle Provides comprehensive coverage in a compact, portable format

Lean, green supply chain management combines the efficiency that lean technologies deliver with the environmental and cost benefits of sustainability. The Lean Sustainable Supply Chain illuminates the business benefits of combining "lean" and "green," and offers start-to-finish guidance for redesigning company infrastructure and technologies to achieve these benefits. Palevich introduces the essential concepts of lean green supply chain management, illuminating them with a comprehensive case study showing how to manage change, innovation, talent, execution, inventory, warehousing, and transportation. He demonstrates how to integrate supply chain sustainability into business scorecards; make more effective use of third-party providers (3PLs); drive more value from information; build a state-of-the-art forecasting system and share it with suppliers; and much more. He then systematically addresses the full spectrum of technical issues, including forecasting methodologies, the nitty-gritty of supplier integration; business intelligence in event-driven supply chains; carbon tracking; quantifying lean savings; and much more. This book will be an invaluable resource for every business and technical manager, decision-maker, technical specialist, and consultant concerned with lean and green supply chains.

Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts describes a business system for the twenty-first century that supersedes the mass production system of Ford, the financial control system of Sloan, and the strategic system of Welch and GE. It is based on the Toyota (lean) model, which combines operational excellence with value-based strategies to produce steady growth through a wide range of economic conditions. In contrast with the crash-and-burn performance of companies trumpeted by business gurus in the 1990s, the firms profiled in Lean Thinking -- from tiny Lantech to midsized Wiremold to niche producer Porsche to gigantic Pratt&Whitney -- have kept on keeping on, largely unnoticed, along a steady upward path through the market turbulence and crushed dreams of the early twenty-first century. Meanwhile, the leader in lean thinking -- Toyota -- has set its sights on leadership of the global motor vehicle industry in this decade. Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. (It's often not at all what existing organizations and assets would suggest.) The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pull of the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples. Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates that these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry in any country. But most managers need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of more than fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world. Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating an extended lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links value-creating activities from raw materials to customer. In Part IV, an epilogue to the original edition, the story of lean thinking is brought up-to-date with an enhanced action plan based on the experiences of a range of lean firms since the original publication of Lean Thinking. Lean Thinking does not provide a new management "program" for the one-minute manager. Instead, it offers a new method of thinking, of being, and, above all, of doing for the serious long-term manager -- a method that is changing the world.

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industry In factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by: Eliminating wasted time and resources Building quality into workplace systems Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology Producing in small quantities Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector

This is the perfect "field manual" for every supply chain or operations management practitioner and student. The field's only single-volume reference, it's uniquely convenient and uniquely affordable. With nearly 1,500 well-organized definitions, it can help students quickly map all areas of operations and supply chain management, and prepare for case discussions, exams, and job interviews. For instructors, it serves as an invaluable desk reference and teaching aid that goes far beyond typical dictionaries. For working managers, it offers a shared language, with insights for improving any process and supporting any training program.   It thoroughly covers: accounting, customer service, distribution, e-business, economics, finance, forecasting, human resources, industrial engineering, industrial relations, inventory management, healthcare management, Lean Sigma/Six Sigma, lean thinking, logistics, maintenance engineering, management information systems, marketing/sales, new product development, operations research, organizational behavior/management, personal time management, production planning and control, purchasing, reliability engineering, quality management, service management, simulation, statistics, strategic management, systems engineering, supply and supply chain management, theory of constraints, transportation, and warehousing. Multiple figures, graphs, equations, Excel formulas, VBA scripts, and references support both learning and application.   "... this work should be useful as a desk reference for operations management faculty and practitioners, and it would be highly valuable for undergraduates learning the basic concepts and terminology of the field." Reprinted with permission from CHOICE http://www.cro2.org, copyright by the American Library Association.

The authoritative classic--revised and updated for today's Six Sigma practitioners Whether you want to further your Six Sigma training to achieve a Black or Green Belt or you are totally new to the quality-management strategy, you need reliable guidance. The Six Sigma Handbook, Third Edition shows you, step by step, how to integrate this profitable approach into your company's culture.Co-written by an award-winning contributor to the practice of quality management and a successful Six Sigma trainer, this hands-on guide features:Cutting-edge, Lean Six Sigma concepts integrated throughoutCompletely revised material focused on project objectives Updated and expanded problem-solving examples using Excel and MinitabA streamlined format that puts proven practices at your fingertipsThe Six Sigma Handbook, Third Edition is the only comprehensive reference you need to make Six Sigma work for your company. The book explains how to organize for Six Sigma, how to use customer requirements to drive strategy and operations, how to carry out successful project management, and more. Learn all the management responsibilities and actions necessary for a successful deployment, as well as how to:Dramatically improve products and processes using DMAIC and DMADVUse Design for Six Sigma to create innovative products and processesIncorporate lean, problem-solving, and statistical techniques within the Six Sigma methodologyAvoid common pitfalls during implementationSix Sigma has evolved with the changing global economy, and The Six Sigma Handbook, Third Edition is your key to ensuring that your company realizes significant gains in quality, productivity, and sales in today's business climate. 

The new and revised edition of this modern day classic provides the critical piece that will make any lean transformation a dynamic continuous success. It shows you how to implement a transformation that cannot fail by developing a culture that will have all your stakeholders involved in the process and invested in the outcome. It will teach you how to build success from the top down and the bottom up at the same time. If you are a leader at any level in an organization undergoing or considering a lean transformation, this is where you should start and finish … and start again. Now empowered with five more years of accumulated knowledge and experience, David Mann’s seminal work: Offers new insights on applications of lean management in administrative, technical, and professional environments Provides new guidance on how to begin implementing lean management in discrete manufacturing, office, and process manufacturing environments. Details specifics on how to engage executives through gemba walks* Shows the difference between measuring improvement through results and through processes Adds new case studies throughout Expands the lean management assessment based on actual use, and now offers up two separate versions (both available online) one for manufacturing and one for administrative, technical, and professional settings *In a gemba walk, a teacher, or sensei, and student walk the production floor. The teacher asks the student to tell what he or she sees and, depending on the answer, asks more questions to stimulate the student to think differently about what is in front of him or her. This includes learning to see what is not there…Gemba walks often include assignments to act on what the student has come to see. … Praise for the First Edition of the Shingo Prize Winning International Bestseller: "… an excellent review of one of the most common implementation issues in a lean transformation -- the essential day to day work practices of team leaders/supervisors/value stream managers that enable the lean system."-- George Koenigsaecker, President, Lean Investments, LLC "The purpose of lean systems is to make problems glaringly obvious. If implementation does not include standard leadership and cultural support systems to constantly address problems, the point of the system is missed. Many books address lean tools and initial conversion, but if you want the system to stick, read David's book."--Robert (Doc) Hall, Editor-In-Chief, Target, Association for Manufacturing Excellence "Mann's book is an excellent start toward Lean Leadership as 'process-dependent' rather than 'person-dependent' in style."--Ross E. Robson, Executive Director, Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing

Organizations that prioritize environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues are well placed to attract better customers, better talent, and today's growing number of socially responsible investors. But, to gain these benefits, companies must choose the right sustainability strategies, and then manage and measure them well. Now, leading business sustainability consultant Peter Soyka offers a complete and actionable guide to driving greater value through sustainability. InCreating a Sustainable Organization, Soyka bridges the disparate worlds of the EHS/sustainability professional and the investor/analyst. Readers will learn what the evidence says about linkages between sustainability and value… how to manage key stakeholder relationships influencing corporate response to EHS and social equity issues… how to effectively manage sustainability throughout the business… how to evaluate sustainability posture and performance from the standpoint of external investors and internal management… how to maximize the influence of organizational actors focused on sustainability, and much more. This book will be invaluable for all environmental, health, and safety decision-makers and professionals concerned with improving sustainability and value; for executives and strategists seeking long-term competitive advantage; for stock analysts evaluating potential investments; and for researchers and MBA candidates currently studying the techniques and potential of corporate sustainability.