ABSTRACT
Machine shops vary as much as the work they handle. Some machine shops have fairly steady demand products but most are job shop—type environments where lot sizes can run from one piece to hundreds. In most machine shops, the best place to start is with a group tech matrix. The group tech matrix will work regardless of the number of parts or lot sizes involved. A process flow analysis and point-to-point diagram are the best tools to double-check that lean practitioners’ have the right equipment/machines in the cell and they are in the right order. The advantage with analyzing machines is that the operators normally have short cycle times where they interact with the machine. The Yamazumi board has different uses and varies by company. In general, it visually displays the load on each machine or machining center compared to the available time.
