Operations and Supply Chain Management The Core

LEAN SUPPLY CHAINS chapter 12 421
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
LO12–1 1. Is it possible to achieve zero inventories? Why or why not?
2. One way to help achieve lean production systems is to employ flexible automated
manufacturing equipment and automated material handling systems. A natural
result of such a move is that fewer people are required in the process, an issue
addressed regularly in negotiations with labor unions. Do you think there is a
conflict between such a move and the principle of Respect for People in the
Toyota Production System?
3. Can a supply chain become too lean? Explain your answer—using examples if
possible.
LO12–2 4. What are the roles of suppliers and customers in a lean system?
LO12–3 5. Stopping waste is a vital part of lean. Using value stream mapping, identify some
sources of waste in your home or dorm and discuss how they may be eliminated.
6. How would you show a pull system in VSM symbols between the blanking and
CNC stages of the bolt manufacturing Solved Problem 2?
7. What is value stream mapping?
8. What is the purpose of value stream mapping? How can it be achieved?
LO12–4 9. Why must lean have a stable schedule?
10. What objections might a marketing manager have to uniform plant loading?
11. What are the implications for cost accounting of lean production?
12. Explain how cards are used in a kanban system.
13. In which ways, if any, are the following systems analogous to kanban: returning
empty bottles to the supermarket and picking up filled ones; running a hot dog
stand at lunchtime; withdrawing money from a checking account; raking leaves
into bags?
14. Why is lean hard to implement in practice?
15. Explain the relationship between quality and productivity under the lean
philosophy.
LO12–5 16. Will lean work in service environments? Why or why not?
17. Discuss ways to use lean to improve one of the following: a pizza restaurant, a
hospital, or an auto dealership.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
LO12–1 1. What phrase refers to the idea that all steps in supply chain processes that deliver
goods and services to the customer should create value?
2. What term refers to the optimization of value-adding activities and the elimination
of non-value-adding activities that are part of a value stream?
3. List at least four of the seven prominent types of waste that should be eliminated
from the supply chain.
LO12–2 4. What lean concept relates to eliminating non-value-added steps and waste in
product storage processes?
LO12–3 5. In value stream mapping, what does an arrow in the shape of a lightning bolt
mean?
6. What does a triangle represent in a value stream map?
7. In a data box on a value stream map, what do the abbreviations CT and C/O mean?