Book Description
The Product Wheel (PW) design process has practical methods for finding the optimum sequence, minimizing changeover costs, and freeing up useful capacity. So much so, that the DuPont� Company and Exxon Mobil are just a few companies that have used the product wheel concept to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage.Breaking down a fairly complex design process into manageable steps, The Product Wheel Handbook: Creating Balanced Flow in High-Mix Process Operations walks readers through the process for designing and implementing the PW technique. It includes a case study taken from actual practice that illustrates the design process and its benefits. Describing how to apply the product wheel technique to any manufacturing operation, the book: Details the steps required to implement product wheels Explains why certain traditional manufacturing metrics should be reevaluated so they don�t inhibit product wheel performance Defines the cultural foundation necessary for smooth product wheel design and implementation Includes a real-world case study and several examples of product wheels being used by successful manufacturing companies�including BG Products, Inc., the DuPont� Company, the Dow Chemical Company, and Appleton Many of the steps in wheel design described in this book are not new. What�s new is their application to production planning and scheduling problems, and more importantly, a clear roadmap explaining how and when they should be used in product wheel design.Supplying you with the tools to reduce the chaos often found in production scheduling, the book outlines a disciplined structure that will allow you to spend less of your time resolving schedule problems. Most importantly, it provides your organization with a stable platform to deal with abnormal events in a less stressful and more logical manner.
