The LEAN Manufacturing Management and Technology Guide

Overview of the Guide

The manufacturing management and technology guide has been prepared from many man-years of operational and consulting experience.

“If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Isaac Newton In a letter to Robert Hooke in February 1676

Sir Isaac Newton 1669 age 46

The guide is a series of structured guides providing a quick reference source of best practice for executives and project managers who need to make changes to their business operations to improve performance.

We acknowledge the hugely significant contribution for the first edition of this handbook from Lucas Engineering and Systems (LE and S) and later Computer Science Corporation (CSC). The original contributors were Dr John Parnabyand his team from LE and S and from CSC – Andrew Cook, Robin Farey, Sara Hadlow, Malcolm Hill and Ian White.

The minor contributions and additions to produce this incarnation of the manufacturing guide are from Peter Marlow from iMarch Consulting and Mike Philpotts from Value Driven Design Ltd.

The original guides drew heavily on other sources that were not acknowledged or referenced. We have addressed this issue by including source references. This amendment will also enable users of the guide to do further research if they wish. If anyone thinks we have missed any or attributed stuff to the wrong people, please let us know and we will correct it for the next edition. Indeed if there is something that needs to be included let us know that also.

We are also considering offering the handbook as a series of downloadable Portable Document Files (PDFs) so today’s engineers and managers of processes, people and technologies can access them quickly and at a very small cost.

- Editors


The Need for the Guide

Many engineers finish their formal technical education and training with only a skim over of the strategic management issues in setting up and running a design and manufacturing company. This Guide will enable those highly skilled technical people to get a handle on what they can do to contribute to or lead the business strategy.

The Overall Guide Format – Sections

Each of the eight subject sections of the guide has the following format:-

  • Strategy or Overall Principles
  • Methods of Control, Execution or Deployment
  • Supporting Techniques

The Guide Sections

Individual Guide Format

Each individual guide is presented with:-

  • Basic Planning Principles or Requirements
  • A discussion enhanced with meaningful graphics
  • How to do it - Task and checklists
  • Further Reading and additional references
  • Provision for user notes and comments (in the paper version)

See Sample Guide Sample