Research and Professional Publication Award

2010 RESEARCH Award Recipients

Breaking Through To Flow Breaking Through To Flow
Ian Glenday
Lean Enterprise Academy

Breaking Through to Flow helps practitioners go beyond the fire-fighting associated with constant change. There is a lot more to lean than simply eliminating waste from current processes. This workbook introduces a new pathway that is helping many organizations overcome this hurdle and launch them on to the next phase of their lean journey – breaking through to flow. The workbook describes how it is possible to move step-by-step toward leveled production and later on to produce in-line with customer demand. Breaking Through to Flow also introduces a tool and management system, called the Glenday Sieve, which enables organizations to quickly create a stable flow and replenishment pull system for the few products that account for a significant part of their output, while managing separately the tail of build-to-order products with low volume and unpredictable demand. This pathway will help people make a fundamental change in their thinking and working that is at the heart of lean – moving from batch to flow logic.
   
Creating Lean Dealers Creating Lean Dealers
David Brunt and John Kiff
Lean Enterprise Academy

Car manufacturing has been transformed by lean over the last 20 years, yet car dealerships have remained virtually untouched - until now. Dealerships experimenting with lean are now experiencing a doubling of throughput, increases in productivity of 50% or more, and returns on sales several times the industry norm. Creating Lean Dealers is a step-by-step guide to improving dealer operations, starting from service and repair. With detailed instructions, it illustrates how to create visual images to help remove the many barriers to the smooth flow of work in your dealership. This workbook is the result of almost ten years' research and practical experience with pioneering dealers of all sizes and franchises across Europe. Creating Lean Dealers shows how lean can deliver a step-change improvement across your business in customer fulfillment, involvement and commitment of staff, and returns for shareholders - all without major investment in IT, staff numbers, plant, machinery, or buildings.
   
Kaizen Event Fieldbook Kaizen Event Fieldbook: Foundation, Framework, and Standard Work for Effective Events
Mark R. Hamel
Society of Manufacturing Engineers

Kaizen event effectiveness is a prerequisite for lean transformation success. It provides the necessary transformational jump-start, momentum, organizational learning and engagement, and sustainable, step-function improvements. The systemic use of kaizen events establishes the technical and cultural foundation for principle-driven kaizen-the powerful combination of kaizen events and daily kaizen activities. The Kaizen Event Fieldbook brings this all together as an indispensable reference for lean leaders and implementers within any industry and for use at any stage within the lean implementation journey. One of lean's defining characteristics is learning by seeing, doing, and studying. In context with lean theory and lean leadership principles, readers will gain an understanding of the essential 'whys' and 'hows' of kaizen event standard work and event management, as well as a proven means to sustain the gains. The Fieldbook's multi-phase approach addresses strategy, pre-event planning, execution, and follow-through. Practical examples, over 100 figures and tables, and many real-life Gemba Tales provide for an enriched learning experience.