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Sustaining Workforce Engagement - Book C

L O N N I E ' S   N E W   B O O K

The stock-in-trade of Quality Consultants is lean transformations; and in the US and world-wide it is big business.  When it is done properly, a lean manufacturing system, is a powerful tool.  I tell people that installing the lean production system will make your firm

  • a better money-making machine,

  • a more secure  workplace for all your employees and

  • the supplier of choice to your customers. 

However, too many of the lean transformations have lost their way and seem to be failures.  They are not failures in theory, they are failures in execution.  Specifically lean manufacturing is;  “The creation of a culture of continuous improvement and respect for people”.   And the “Means to Lean” is:

  • Problem solving to reach the Ideal State

  • Through the total elimination of waste;

  • Using a fully engaged  workforce

And most managers focus intently on the ‘continuous improvement” aspect and ignore the “respect for people” element which is the engine that makes lean manufacturing, especially its sustainability.  More specifically, if only managers could focus on the 3rd element of the “Means to lean” and create a fully engaged workforce, they will have created a culture of “respect for people”.

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This book is precisely about that subject.  You now have the “bookends to a lean transformation”.  With “How To Implement Lean Manufacturing, 2nd Edition, you have all the cultural, managerial and leadership guidance to create and sustain a culture of continuous improvement.  Then “Sustaining Workforce Engagement – How To Ensure Your Employees Are Healthy, Happy and Productive “ takes over on the human element and takes a deep scholarly and practical dive into all that is required to create a culture of respect for people.

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Sustaining Workforce Engagement: How to Ensure Your Employees Are Healthy, Happy, and Productive explains the importance of employee engagement – It defines what it is, what it will do for your business, and how you can achieve it as well as sustain it. It covers the history of employee engagement along with why employees were formerly much more engaged with their work and company than they are currently.

 

The author explains, in depth, why employees want to be engaged but are not. He discusses the emotional, psychological and social forces that make engagement, the state that people naturally and continually attempt to achieve.  Furthermore, he makes a compelling case that engagement is not only natural, but, when achieved, it also creates a happy and productive workforce where employees are not only emotionally but also physically more healthy.

 

You will learn exactly how a business can not only cause this engagement to surface, but also how to sustain it.  He presents a complete discussion of the "basics and beyond" that are required to support a system of engagement. He explains engagement as a system and how to interpret and utilize a system diagram using the "high leverage points" to further fuel and sustain engagement.

 

The book then provides a critical and comprehensive series of discussions of precisely what management must do to unlock the power of a fully engaged workforce. In addition to learning how to measure engagement, there are detailed discussions, along with two confirming case studies, of how to improve your levels of engagement.Essentially, the author examines engagement from top to bottom integrating the theories of the scholars, with the experiences of the practitioners.  In so doing he can explain, in simple terms, how engagement can be achieved and why people try so hard to create a fully engaged workforce with both the best of intentions and a true passion to achieve it … yet fall short.

 

There is a simple reason -- achieving engagement is all about management and the many changes that must be made, and that raises the crucial question: Is management both willing and able to recognize, accept, and execute the needed paradigm shifts? The stark reality is that the changes that must first occur are in the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of the management team. This book gives you a path to follow that may achieve just that. And the remaining question for the senior management is: What are you prepared to do?

 

The mystery of achieving engagement is known, the science is known, the answers are not technically complicated, and now it comes down to a simple choice: Are you or are you not willing to change? And with that choice, there are resultant consequences. It is no more complicated than that.

Arrived January 31, 2019 !

How to Implement Lean

Manufacturing First Edition

This was my first book.  It quickly became a number one best seller.   This book was atop its category at Amazon for months; that is very rare for a first time author.  I wrote it while I was battling cancer, a battle I won, and was not able to work. 

To me the strength in this book is the 14 case studies that will give you tangible direction in your work.  Each case study was from a real plant, with real people, struggling through real problem…..much like you are doing.

It is a Practical, Hands-on Guide to Lean Manufacturing

This real-world resource offers proven solutions for implementing lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and production aspects as well as the business culture concerns. Filled with detailed examples, the book focuses on the rapid application of lean principles so that large, early financial gains can be made.

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing explains Toyota Production System (TPS) practices and specifies the distinct order in which lean techniques should be applied to achieve maximum gains. Global case studies illustrate successes and pitfalls of lean manufacturing initiatives. Discover how to:

  • Rigorously test and retest the state of your "leanness" with unique evaluators

  • Develop and deploy plant-wide strategies and goals

  • Improve speed and quality and dramatically reduce costs

  • Reduce variation in the manufacturing system in order to reduce inventory

  • Reduce lead times to enable improved responsiveness and flexibility

  • Synchronize production and supply to the customer

  • Create flow and establish pull-demand systems

  • Perform system-wide and specific value-stream evaluations

  • Generate a comprehensive list of highly focused Kaizen activities

  • Sustain process gains

  • Manage constraints and reduce bottlenecks

  • Implement cellular manufacturing

This was my first book.  It quickly became a number one best seller.   This book was atop its category at Amazon for months; that is very rare for a first time author.  I wrote it while I was battling cancer, a battle I won, and was not able to work. 

To me the strength in this book is the 14 case studies that will give you tangible direction in your work.  Each case study was from a real plant, with real people, struggling through real problem…..much like you are doing.

It is a Practical, Hands-on Guide to Lean Manufacturing

This real-world resource offers proven solutions for implementing lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and production aspects as well as the business culture concerns. Filled with detailed examples, the book focuses on the rapid application of lean principles so that large, early financial gains can be made.

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing explains Toyota Production System (TPS) practices and specifies the distinct order in which lean techniques should be applied to achieve maximum gains. Global case studies illustrate successes and pitfalls of lean manufacturing initiatives. Discover how to:

  • Rigorously test and retest the state of your "leanness" with unique evaluators

  • Develop and deploy plant-wide strategies and goals

  • Improve speed and quality and dramatically reduce costs

  • Reduce variation in the manufacturing system in order to reduce inventory

  • Reduce lead times to enable improved responsiveness and flexibility

  • Synchronize production and supply to the customer

  • Create flow and establish pull-demand systems

  • Perform system-wide and specific value-stream evaluations

  • Generate a comprehensive list of highly focused Kaizen activities

  • Sustain process gains

  • Manage constraints and reduce bottlenecks

  • Implement cellular manufacturing

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing

Second Edition

Following the resounding success of the first edition, McGraw Hill contracted me to do the Second Edition.  And this is a true second edition in that it still contains all the information in the first addition coupled with new  insights.  The new material is focused on three topics.  First the information on cultures, especially business cultures is greatly expanded.  Second there is a chapter on what seems to be logical actions managers take during an implementation and although they sound logical, they will literally kill a lean transformation; these are the 6 Roll Out Errors.  Third there is a chapter on the Ten Lean Killers.  These are the all-too-often errors that managers make during a lean transformation.  Like the Roll Out Errors, they are seeming logical, but unfortunately destructive.

 

This is but one of the many 5 star reviews on the book. It is short, sweet and to the point.  There are 34 reviews on the book; 30-5 star reviews, 4-4 star ratings and nothing less than 4.  If you have doubts, read what others have said. 

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5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book

By Anders N. Kirkemo

Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase

I recently purchased and read this splendid book - finding it very useful on a number of levels: Firstly, it provides a comprehensive introduction to Lean philosophy and systems. Secondly, it excellently demonstrates Lean's usefulness through the case studies it presents. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.........

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing - 2nd Edition   CHINESE Version

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I worked very hard to get this book translated into Spanish and Portuguese as I have many clients  in Mexico and South  America.  McGraw Hill would not budge.  And then just recently a copy of this showed up in my mailbox and I found that someone from the Beijing University translated this in conjunction with McGraw Hill.   It is really strange to open a book, you know from cover to cover, and NOT recognize even one paragraph unless it is a chart, table or graph.  Since I cannot read Chinese, I am a little disarmed in telling you this is a good translation.  However, having worked in China, my experiences would tell me this was meticulously translated and fully represents the original concepts.  You can get a copy by clicking on the logo and it will take you directly to Amazon.

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing

Second Edition

Lean Refining - How to Improve

Performance In The Oil Industry

I once again got the hankering to write a book and was debating what would be the topical matter, when one of my prior editors contacted me to write a book on the intersection of lean manufacturing with the oil business.  I had managed in refineries for 20 year with Chevron and that is where I first started applying the Toyota Production System, now called Lean Manufacturing.  Now a publisher wanted me to incorporate those two topics and hence this book.  The amazing part of this book, is that only the examples, of which there are many, are unique to the oil business.  This is a book on lean manufacturing and points out the importance to understand that lean manufacturing is:

The creation of a culture of continuous improvement and respect for people.  And the “Means to Lean” is:

  • Problem solving to reach the Ideal State

  • Through the total elimination of waste;

  • Using a fully engaged  workforce

Lean Refining: How to Improve Performance in the Oil Industry addresses the tremendous opportunities this quality improvement system can exploit to achieve huge financial gains, while simultaneously improving morale, timeliness, quality, safety, reliability, and environmental performance.  The book offers numerous examples of how lean methodologies can be applied, the gains that can be achieved, and takes readers through a prescriptive process of implementation.

The book is divided into 3 parts.  Part I is specific to the topic of lean manufacturing, and explains exactly what lean is… as well as what it isn’t.  Part II addresses lean manufacturing in the oil industry in general, and refining in particular.  It explains why lean is not the prevalent improvement strategy in refining, and why it’s more likely to appear among the smaller companies first.  It also explains the differences that petroleum refining brings to the lean model.  Part III covers topics needed to understand how to implement, organize, and roll out a lean transformation from the top down.

An affiliated website boasts tons of valuable information, including: Forms and evaluations for such topics as The 10 Lean Killers, The 6 Roll Out Errors, The 5 Precursors to a Lean Transformation, and more; Samples of working documents such as A3s, Leader Standard Work, and 5 supervisory tools, in both template form and completed; A comprehensive reading and reference list of nearly 500 resources, broken into topical material; Links to 3rd-party websites where readers can download e-forms and other related information.

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