ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the major points that will help consultants design and customize the details of the Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) system for consultants’ particular situation. POLCA implementation needs to be carried out by a cross-functional team composed of manufacturing managers, planners, schedulers, selected operators from the cells involved, material handlers, and other shop floor personnel who would be influenced by the implementation. The POLCA Champion also serves as the liaison between the Implementation Team and upper management. The depiction of the actual POLCA loops on a shop floor diagram is an important way of conveying the flow of POLCA cards to the personnel involved. Standard POLCA will help to deal with the situation by reordering jobs that are early or late. In designing consultants’ POLCA system, management of the last step in a job's routing also needs some thought.
