1st Edition
The Product Wheel Handbook Creating Balanced Flow in High-Mix Process Operations
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.
Introduction
Why Product Wheels?
Process Industry Challenges
Product Wheel Basics
The Problem: Production Sequencing, Campaign Sizing, Production Leveling
Challenges Facing Operations Managers—Production Leveling Challenges Facing Operations Managers—Random Sequence or Regular Pattern?
Challenges Facing Operations Managers—Optimum Sequence
Challenges Facing Operations Managers—Optimum Cycle
The Insidious Nature of Changeovers
The Solution—Product Wheels
Product Wheels Defined
Product Wheel Terminology
Simultaneous Operating Modes
Product Wheel Characteristics
Process Improvement Time
Benefits of Product Wheels
Product Wheel Applicability
The Product Wheel Design and Implementation Process
Product Wheel Design
Step 1: Begin with an up-to-date, reasonably accurate value stream map (VSM)
Step 2: Decide where to use wheels to schedule production
Step 3: Analyze product demand volume and variability—identify candidates for make to order
Step 4: Determine the optimum sequence
Step 5: Analyze the factors influencing overall wheel time
Step 6: Determine overall wheel time and wheel frequency for each product
Step 7: Distribute products across the wheel cycles—balance the wheel
Step 8: Plot the wheel cycles
Step 9: Calculate inventory requirements
Step 10: Review with stakeholders
Step 11: Determine who "owns" (allocates) the PIT time
Step 12: Revise the scheduling process
Product Wheel Implementation
Step 13: Develop an implementation plan
Step 14: Develop a contingency plan
Step 15: Get all inventories in balance
Step 16: Put an auditing plan in place
Step 17: Put a plan in place to rebalance the wheel periodically
Kaizen Events
Prerequisites for a Product Wheel
Step 1: Begin with an Up-to-Date, Reasonably Accurate VSM
A Value Stream Map
Material Flow—Process Boxes
Process Step Data Boxes
Material Flow Icons
Inventory Data Boxes
Information Flow
Summary
Step 2: Decide Where to Use Wheels to Schedule Production
Criteria for Product Wheel Selection
Analyze the VSM
Forming 1
Bonder 2
Bonder 1
Slitter 1
Summary
Step 3: Analyze Products for a Make-to-Order Strategy
Demand Variability
Deciding on the Best Strategy for Each Product
Summary
Step 4: Determine the Optimum Sequence
Changeover Complexity
Optimizing the Forming 2 Sequence
Optimizing the Sequence in Complex Situations
Summary
Step 5: Analyze the Factors Influencing Overall Wheel Time
Time Available for Changeovers—The Shortest Wheel Possible
Finding the Most Economic Wheel Time
Leveling Out Short-Term Demand Variability
An Additional Word about Standard Deviation and CV
Making Practical Lot Sizes of Each Material
Protecting Shelf Life
Making to Stock Using a Trigger Point
Summary
Step 6: Put It All Together—Determine Overall Wheel Time and Wheel Frequency for Each Product
The Shortest Wheel Possible
Short-Term Demand Variability
Minimum Practical Lot Size
Shelf Life
Summary
Step 7: Arranging Products—Balancing the Wheel
Wheel Resonance
Achieving Better Balance
Wheels within Wheels
Summary
Step 8: Plotting the Wheel Cycles
Summary
Step 9: Calculate Inventory Requirements
Total Inventory Requirements
Inventory Benefit of the Wheel
Seasonality
Customer Lead Time
Summary
Step 10: Review with Stakeholders
What to Review
Who to Include
Possible Concerns and Challenges
Summary
Step 11: Assign Responsibility for Allocating PIT Time
Step 12: Revise the Scheduling Process
Wheel Concepts and the Production Scheduling System
Visual Management of the Current Wheel Schedule
Summary
Step 13: Develop an Implementation Plan
Step 14: Develop a Contingency Plan
Possible Wheel Breakers
Steps in Contingency Planning
Example of a Contingency Plan
Summary
Step 15: Get All Inventories in Balance
Summary
Step 16: Confirm Wheel Performance—Put an Auditing Process in Place
Step 17: Put a Plan in Place to Rebalance the Wheel Periodically
Prerequisites for Product Wheels
Foundational Elements
A Highly Motivated, Well-Trained Workforce
Standard Work
Visual Management
Total Productive Maintenance
A Value Stream Map
SMED
SKU Rationalization—Portfolio Management
Bottleneck Identification and Management
Cellular Manufacturing and Group Technology
Summary
Product Wheels and the Path to Pull
Product Wheels and Pull
Pull through the Entire Process
Summary
Unintended Consequences—Inappropriate Use of Metrics
Performance to Plan (PTP)
Summary
Cultural Transformation and Product Wheel Design—The Synergy
Summary
Case Studies and Examples
The Appleton Journey
Dupont™ Fluoropolymers
Dow Chemical
Extruded Polymers
Waxes to Coat Cardboard
Sheet Goods for Hospital Gowns
Circuit Board Substrates
Fixed-Sequence Variable Volume
A Rose by Any Other Name
Summary
Bibliography
Appendix A: Cycle Stock Concepts and Calculations
Inventory Components Defined—Cycle Stock and Safety Stock
Calculating Cycle Stock—Fixed-Interval Replenishment Model
Summary
Appendix B: Safety Stock Concepts and Calculations
About Safety Stock
Variability in Demand
Variability in Wheel Time
Combined Variability
Using Safety Stock
Example—Forming Machine 2 Product Wheel
Appendix C: Total Productive Maintenance
The Need for Equipment Reliability and Operational Continuity
TPM
TPM Metric—Overall Equipment Effectiveness
Forming 2 OEE
Appendix D: The SMED Changeover Improvement Process
SMED Origins
SMED Concepts
Product Changeovers in the Process Industries
Summary
Appendix E: Bottleneck Identification, Improvement, and Management
Root Causes of Bottlenecks
Bottleneck Management—Theory of Constraints
Summary
Appendix F: Group Technology and Cellular Flow
Cellular Manufacturing Applied to Process Lines
Summary
Index
Biography
Peter L. King
Peter L. and Jennifer S. King, authors of The Product Wheel Handbook, have provided excellent strategies for implementing product wheels and improving an existing product wheel process. ... Written in a clear, concise manner, this book is a how-to manual for product wheel design, implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement. The authors integrate principles with concepts in a way that is practical and easy to understand. ... If you are tasked to implement product wheels or want to learn more about how they can lead to improvements, you will find The Product Wheel Handbook a valuable reference.
—Book review by Alan R. Leigh CSCP, CPIM, and Randy Woehl appearing in APICS, January 2014Peter King continues to be a thought leader in the spread of advanced manufacturing practices throughout the process industries. His product wheel concepts and practices are an excellent resource for plants with multiple products sharing the operating assets.
—Ray Floyd, Shingo Prize-winning author of Liquid Lean and member of IndustryWeek's Manufacturing Hall of FameThe authors have a gift for writing well, in a way that will keep the reader connected throughout this excellent work. It flows through the methodology in a well structured and logical way and could only be written by someone who has lived through product wheel implementation many times ... definitely a must-read for any Lean practitioner.
—Henrique Fagundes, Senior Project Manager, DuPontThe product wheel is a true landmark in the management and organization of the workplace. All manufacturing operations searching for a way to organize and level the factory should have this book.
—Cash Powell, Jr., Editorial Board, Target Magazine; Association for Manufacturing Excellence; Lead Consultant, Center for Competitive Change, University of DaytonA clearly written guide to designing and improving product wheels ... . Pete and Jennifer King take you through a logical step-by-step process without ever resorting to simplistic recipes. This book will be valuable to businesses where both pull and push systems apply. Highly recommended!
—Peter C. Compo, Director of Integrated Business Management, DuPontThe Dow Chemical Company has used The Product Wheel Handbook for good communication and collaboration between functions. We highly recommend this book as it is a logical layout with step by step implementation instructions. ... Not only did our processes become more efficient but our teams were able to understand a new process that they can apply in different applications in the work process. We recommend this book to any company looking to apply lean concepts specifically in the process industry and also for leaders who are looking for applications to help explain such processes to their employees.
—Martin Fernandes, Supply Chain Innovation Director, Dow Chemical
—Shannon Hemmelgarn, Supply Chain Business Planner, Dow ChemicalThe views expressed in this review are of the authors alone and do not represent the views of The Dow Chemical Company
