Getting and staying productive: applying swift, even flow to practice

"All kinds of processes - those that make things or deliver services or operate companies - can be made more productive, and society's continued well-being requires it. This book is for all those with a stake in improving how companies run. It introduces the concept of 'swift, even flow' and explains how that concept stands behind popular business tools such as 'lean' principles and Six Sigma. More than that, it shows how swift, even flow can lead to deep, strategic insights and fresh ideas. The book uses many examples, both contemporary and historic, and 16 case studies from all sorts of business situations to demonstrate how swift, even flow can be applied. Services and manufacturing, supply chains and individual operations, product development and outsourcing, strategy and tactics, hourly workers and top level executives - all benefit from this fundamental re-thinking of what it takes to become productive"--

Cover; Getting and Staying Productive; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Figures; Tables; Preface; PART I: The concept; 1: The usual suspects; TRAPS AND PITFALLS; No. 1. Chopping heads; No. 2. Automation; No. 3. Efficiency measures; No. 4. Economies of scale; No. 5. Systems; "THE USUAL SUSPECTS" ARE SUSPECT; 2: Swift, even flow; VARIATION IN QUALITY; VARIATION IN QUANTITIES AND TIMING; COPING WITH VARIATION: DIFFERENT MANUFACTURING PROCESSES; BACK TO VARIATION IN QUANTITIES AND TIMING; VARIATION FOR SERVICES; "EVEN" IS THE GOAL; SWIFT FLOW; SWIFT FLOW AND WASTE.

SWIFT FLOW AND INVENTORIESTHE TORTOISE AND THE HARE; SOME EXAMPLES; 1 Southwest Airlines and easyJet; 2 Dell; 3 Zara; 4 Nucor; 5 Joint implant surgery; REVISITING THE USUAL SUSPECTS; UNDERSTANDING PRODUCTION PROCESSES IN A NEW LIGHT; PRODUCTIVITY AND VARIATION, PROFIT AND UNCERTAINTY; IT'S THE SAME FOR SERVICES; SHOULD PRODUCTIVITY ALWAYS BE THE GOAL?; HOW DOES SWIFT, EVEN FLOW FIT WITH CURRENT THINKING?; SWIFT, EVEN FLOW CAN BE MORE; 3: The old-fashioned way to make money; SWIFT, EVEN FLOW IN THE DATA; THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY TO MAKE MONEY; THE ARSENAL; THE ROBBER BARONS.

Andrew Carnegie and the sorry case of US Ste…