ABSTRACT
Lean has its roots in the revolutionary Toyota Production System (TPS). However, an automotive assembly line is a low-mix high-volume production system. Unlike any of Toyota’s assembly facilities, a job shop is a much more complex High-Mix, Low-Volume (HMLV) production system that cannot be improved using only the Lean tools of the TPS. Job Shop Lean is a different approach for implementing Lean that was developed to conquer the complexity of any HMLV production system. Serck Audco Valves began their implementation of Group Technology/Cellular Manufacturing by transforming the Functional Layout of each of their machine shops into a Cellular Layout. Flow refers to the movement of material through the plant. It assumes that material will not be stagnant at any point in time from the receiving of raw material to the shipping of finished products.
