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E-book
Author Suri, Rajan.

Title The practitioner's guide to POLCA : the production control system for high-mix, low-volume and custom products / Rajan Suri
Published Boca Raton : CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Machine generated contents note: pt. I UNDERSTANDING POLCA -- 1. POLCA -- Simple Yet Highly Effective: A Tale of Two Companies -- Overview of This Book -- Guide to the Reader -- 2. POLCA Explained: How It Works -- Introducing the MMC Factory Example -- Authorization Date and Authorization List -- Paired-Cell Loops of Cards -- Cell Team's Decision on What to Work on Next -- Overlapping Loops -- Differences from MRP and Kanban Systems -- Putting It All Together with an Example -- 3. Operational Benefits of POLCA -- Tailored to High-Mix, Low-Volume and Custom Production -- No Complex Software Implementation Required -- Works With Your ERP System -- or Without It -- Makes Effective Use of Capacity at Each Step -- Avoids Congestion and Excessive WIP Build-Up -- System Is Adaptive -- By Holding Off on Jobs the System Results in Multiple Benefits -- Provides Formal Framework for Improvement Activities -- Prevents Inventory Proliferation for Products with Low Demand -- Allows Complete Flexibility in Product Routings and Works Seamlessly for Custom Products -- Creates Customer-Supplier Relationships between Cells -- Installs a Visual System -- Builds on the Capabilities of People in the System -- Provides Fast Response through Decentralized Decision-Making -- Builds on Your Existing Structure and Systems -- pt. II IMPLEMENTING POLCA -- 4. Pre-POLCA Assessment, Prerequisites, and Preparation for POLCA -- Clarify the Motivation and Goals for Pursuing POLCA -- Check for Symptoms That Have Led Companies to Consider POLCA -- Review Your Company's Operating Environment -- Set Your Goals -- Check These Prerequisites Before Deciding to Implement POLCA -- Review Your Shop Floor Organizational Structure -- Make Sure That You Have POLCA-Enabling Cells -- Engage in Effective Planning Before Control -- Limit the Occurrence of Material and Part Shortages -- Prepare for the POLCA Implementation -- Ensure the Availability of Authorization Dates and Lists -- Implementation Without Using an ERP System -- Implementation through Your ERP System -- Ensure That Manufacturing Metrics Will Not Conflict with POLCA Rules -- Secure the Upfront Understanding and Commitment of Management -- 5. Designing the POLCA System for Your Situation -- Create an Implementation Team and Designate a POLCA Champion -- Begin by Determining All the POLCA Loops -- Implementing POLCA throughout Your Shop Floor -- Do Not Include Stocking Points in the POLCA Loops -- Implementing POLCA in a Subset of Your Shop Floor -- Should You Put in Single or Multiple Loops for a Given Area? -- Lay Out the POLCA Chains -- Starting Point for the POLCA Chains -- Including the Lead Time for the Planning Cell -- Starting Points for POLCA Chains When Implementing in a Subset of Your Shop Floor -- Ending Points for the POLCA Chains -- Define the Procedure for Incorporating Outside Operations into the POLCA System -- Consider Whether You Will Use the Simpler Release-and-Flow POLCA (RF-POLCA) Version -- Situations Where Standard POLCA Is Recommended -- Decide on Details Related to the POLCA Cards -- Design Your POLCA Cards -- Decide on the Quantum -- The Amount of Work to be Done per POLCA Card -- Determine the Process for Returning the POLCA Cards -- Calculate the Initial Number of POLCA Cards in Each Loop -- Add the Finishing Touches with Some Final Details -- Identify the Triggers for Decision Time -- Hedging with Lead Time or with Cards? -- Adding Safety through Lead Time -- Adding Safety through Number of Cards -- 6. Accommodating Exceptions within the POLCA Framework -- Dealing with an Unexpected Shortage of a Component Part -- Introducing the Safety Card Concept -- Procedure When a Safety Card Is Available -- Adding a Shortage Tracker -- Procedure When a Safety Card Is Not Available -- Dealing with an In-Process Quality Problem -- Dealing with Machine Downtimes -- Expediting a Rush Job for an Urgent Customer Need -- Accommodating Schedule Changes Seamlessly -- Adjusting for Non-Synchronized Delivery of In-House Manufactured Components to Assembly -- Preventing Gridlock When Loops Form Cycles -- Summary: POLCA Accommodates Exceptions Smoothly -- 7. Launching POLCA -- Continue to Use the POLCA Implementation Team and the POLCA Champion -- Conduct Training for Everyone Impacted by the System -- Training for the Core Group -- Training for the Rest of the Organization -- Create a Standard Process for Secondary Activities Initiated by Decision Time Rules -- Schedule Frequent Review Sessions and Management Updates -- Have a Plan for Rolling Out Adjustments and Corrections -- Design the Checks That Will Ensure POLCA Discipline Is Followed -- Start Tracking and Debugging Key Metrics -- 8. How We Designed and Launched POLCA in Three Days / Ananth Krishnamurthy -- Setting: A Factory in Canada -- Day One POLCA Overview and Factory Tour -- Day Two Checking the Prerequisites and Some Initial Design -- Checking the Remaining Prerequisites -- Initial Design: The POLCA Loops -- Deciding on the Quantum -- Designing the POLCA Card -- Day Three Final Design Decisions -- Defining the Decision-Time Rules and Exceptions -- Decision to Launch -- Postscript: Keys to Success and a Challenge to Others -- About the Author -- 9. Sustaining POLCA: Post-Implementation Activities -- Create a Steering Committee and Stay the Course -- Track the Key Metrics and Celebrate Successes -- Use Surveys and Feedback Forms to Assess the Qualitative Benefits -- Conduct Regular POLCA Audits -- Periodic Audits -- Random Audits -- Use POLCA to Drive Long-Term Improvements -- pt
III INDUSTRY CASE STUDIES -- 10. From the United States: Using POLCA to Eliminate Material Flow Chaos in an Aluminum Extrusion Operation / Todd Carlson -- Start of Our POLCA Journey -- Experimenting with a Small-Scale POLCA Implementation -- System Design and Training -- System Startup and Early Results -- Extending POLCA to the Whole Factory -- What We Learned, and Advice to Other Practitioners -- Impact of POLCA on Our Organization -- About the Authors -- 11. From Canada: Applying POLCA in a Pharmaceutical Environment / Susan Ferris -- Why Did We Pursue POLCA? -- POLCA Kaizen Workshop -- Deciding on All the Fundamentals of the POLCA System -- Rules to Break Rules -- Senior Leadership Plays the POLCA Game -- Training, Training, Training -- POLCA Boards and POLCA Dashboard -- Life with POLCA -- About the Authors -- 12. From the Netherlands: Creating Flow and Improving Delivery Performance at a Custom Hinge Manufacturer through QRM and POLCA / Robert Peters -- Section I Journey To Polca / Godfried Kaanen -- I Get a Rude Wake-Up Call -- Our Initial Improvement Efforts -- Pastry Shop Needs a Breakthrough -- Our First Step: The Rhineland Model -- We Are Introduced to POLCA -- Implementing the Color-Coded Visual System -- Initial Results from POLCA -- Section II From Physical Polca To Digital Polca / Robert Peters -- Implementing the Quantum through Load-Based POLCA -- Impact of PROPOS and POLCA on the Company's Operations -- About the Authors -- 13. From Belgium: Metalworking Subcontractor Reduces Lead Times by 85% Using QRM and POLCA / Ben Proesmans -- Motivation for Rethinking the Shop Floor System -- Implementing the Stove Cell -- Introducing Color-Coded Visual Work Management -- Expanding to the Rest of the Factory with POLCA -- Customizing the System for Better Use of Scarce Resources -- Results: The People Side -- Results: The Commercial Side -- About the Authors -- 14. From Poland: Dancing the POLCA in a Glass Factory / Karol Bak -- Factory and Process Flows -- Cutting Operations and Resulting Inventory -- Machining Department and Sequencing Problems -- Finishing Processes -- Initial Design of the POLCA System -- Initial POLCA Loops, Quantum, and Number of Cards -- Authorization Method -- Simplifying the Design: Moving to POLCA "Lite" -- Results of the POLCA Implementation -- About the Author -- 15. From Germany: Yes, Even Small Companies Can Benefit from Implementing POLCA / Markus Menner -- Evaluating the Company's Situation -- Opportunities and Challenges for Implementing POLCA -- Cell Formation and POLCA Launch -- Results from the Implementation -- About the Author
Summary "POLCA (Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization) isa card-based visual control system that manages the flow of jobs through the shop floor: at each operation, it controls which job should be worked on next to meet delivery targets. POLCA ensures that upstream operations use their capacity effectively by working on jobs that are needed downstream, while at the same time preventing excessive work-in-process (WIP) build-ups when bottlenecks appear unexpectedly. POLCA is particularly suited to companies manufacturing high-mix, low-volume and customized products. Such companies struggle with long lead times, late deliveries, and daily expediting to meet delivery dates. ERP systems are not designed to deal with this highly variable environment, and add-on software such as Finite Capacity Scheduling systems can require complex installation. Also, the Kanban system does not work well with low-volume or custom production. POLCA has delivered impressive results in such environments. It does not require any complex software implementation: it can be used without an ERP system or it can seamlessly complement an existing ERP system. This book:Provides a step-by-step roadmap on how to implement POLCA; invaluable for both companies that wish to implement POLCA as well as consultants and academics advising such companies. Explains the concepts in practical and easy-to-understand terms by showing detailed shop-floor examples. Includes more than 100 illustrations for understanding how POLCA works as well as for elaborating on details of the implementation steps. Contains case studies written by company owners and executives documenting their POLCA implementation process and the results achieved in various industries in six countries."--Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Production control.
Lean manufacturing.
Card system in business.
New products.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Industrial Management.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Management.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Management Science.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Organizational Behavior.
Card system in business
Lean manufacturing
New products
Production control
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781351170758
1351170759
9781351170741
1351170740
9781351170765
1351170767
9781351170734
1351170732