Lean for the Process Industries Dealing with Complexity, Second Edition

Introduction: Lean Overview The Process Industries: what makes them unique Value Stream Mapping the Process Industries The Basics: Kaizen Events The 8 Wastes in the Process Industries Set-up reduction & SMED Total Productive Maintenance Visual Management Dealing with Complexity: Finding, managing, and improving Bottlenecks Cell design in the Process Industries Production scheduling, production sequencing, production leveling: Product Wheels Lead time improvement Postponement: Finish-to-Order Pull Systems Supermarket design Fixed interval replenishment Fixed quantity replenishment Managing variability: Safety Stock Creating the Future State Map The importance of robust business processes Appendix: The Hypothetical Process description and data

Biography

Peter L. King is the president of Lean Dynamics, LLC, a manufacturing improvement consulting firm located in Newark, Delaware. Prior to founding Lean Dynamics, Pete spent 42 years with the DuPont Company, in a variety of control systems, manufacturing systems engineering, Continuous Flow Manufacturing, and Lean Manufacturing assignments. That included 18 years applying Lean Manufacturing techniques to a wide variety of products, including sheet goods like DuPont™ Tyvek®, Sontara®, and Mylar®; fibers such as nylon, Dacron®, Lycra®, and Kevlar®; automotive paints; performance lubricants; bulk chemicals; adhesives; electronic circuit board substrates; and biological materials used in human surgery. On behalf of DuPont, Pete has consulted with key customers in the processed food and carpet industries. Pete retired from DuPont in 2007, leaving a position as Principal Consultant in the Lean Center of Competency. Recent clients have included producers of sheet goods, lubricants and fuel additives, vitamins and nutritional supplements, and polyethylene and polypropylene pellets.

Pete received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, graduating with honors. He is Six Sigma Green Belt certified (DuPont, 2001), Lean Manufacturing certified (University of Michigan, 2002), and is a Certified Supply Chain Professional (APICS, 2010). He is a member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, APICS, and the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

He served as president of IIE’s Process Industry Division in 2009–2010. Pete is the author of Lean for the Process Industries—Dealing with Complexity (Productivity Press, 2009), and several published articles on the application of Lean concepts to process operations. He is the co-author of The Product Wheel Handbook—Creating Balanced Flow in High Mix Process Operations

King provides an excellent, comprehensive guide for applying Lean to the Process industry.  Not only is the book a great guide, but he captures the key pitfalls and ways to avoid on a journey to establish a sustainable Lean system.  A great reference for all Lean efforts.
-- David M. Rurak, Chief Supply Chain Officer, W.L. Gore & Associates

The first edition of this book was a stand-out text, breaking down the myths of Lean in the Process industry.  It’s great to see an updated version to push the knowledge and understanding further - a must read.  
-- Paul Griffiths, Senior Lean Manufacturing Manager EMEA, GE Healthcare

This book is a must read for Lean practitioners working in food, chemicals and pharma industries.  The first edition allowed us to solve the mystery of how to adapt our eVSM software, which had been very successful in mapping discrete parts manufacturing, to illustrate the complexities of process operations.  Peter's knowledge of this industry over more than four decades comes through clearly from the pages.
-- Dilesh Patel, CEO, The eVSM Group

I am very impressed with the writing style – simple, clear, to the point – so it is easy to read. The pace is right – sufficient detail balanced with a natural flow. [Readers feel they] are making progress in every paragraph – which is rare to experience in these kinds of books.

-- Noel Peberdy, President, Zinata Consulting