INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOZHIKODE

Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management

Course Outline

Course Code and Course Title PG2QM-017 LEAN SYSTEMS

Course type Compulsory/Elective
Pre-requisites (if any) PGP 206 and PGP 308 OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT I and II
Course Credit 3
Total no. of sessions 30 (30 hours)
Session Duration 60 minutes each
Term/Quarter VI
Year and Batch 2nd Year 2016-17, PGP19
Sections (if any) A

Instructor(s) Dr. G. Anand

Contact Details 0495-2809435 (Off), anandg@iimk.ac.in
Office Faculty Block 3, Room No. 5
Consultation Hours Wednesday, 4 to 5 PM

Introduction

An unique production system called Toyota Production System (TPS) followed by the Toyota
Motor Corporation (TMC) and other Japanese organizations in the early seventies and
eighties enabled them to achieve significant competitive advantage over the US and European
counterparts, thereby strongly emphasizing that operations can become a competitive
weapon. In response, the US and European auto manufacturers were forced to closely
study, research and benchmark against the Japanese auto manufacturers resulting in a book
titled The Machine that Changed the World, which revealed the Japanese secret recipe for
competitive advantage in the form of Lean Manufacturing (LM). Since then, LM has
attracted the attention of practitioners especially in the manufacturing sector. However, in
recent times, the concepts and philosophy of LM are getting propagated in other sectors too.
Hence, the proponents from MIT renamed it as Lean Thinking (LT). Although LT is built
upon many guiding principles, the major focus is on reducing waste and adding value. In
this context, concepts such as value added and non-value added activities, just in time
production, kanban, etc were developed, which were fundamentally different from those
traditional operations philosophy that evolved in US. Various tools, techniques, practices and
procedures (in short elements for the sake of simplicity) such as pokayoke, 5S, Andon,
Jidoka, Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), etc. apart from common sense were
used to improve the transformation process as well as the system as a whole.

This advanced course in the area of operations attempts to provide an overview about the
fundamental philosophical differences of LT with respect to the traditional concepts, various
elements associated with this philosophy, the implementation procedure, as well as its
limitations. This course is of interest to those, who:
aspire to transform the manufacturing or service operations and willing to apply these
conventionally different concepts in their workplace
prefer to be a consultant and help other organizations remain competitive
Learning Outcomes/Course Objectives

At the end of this course, the students would be able to

Explain the fundamental differences between lean and non-lean operations
Analyse current issues and problems which affect operations efficiency and suggest
suitable methods/tools and techniques from the perspective of LT by which they can be
resolved
Understand the drawbacks of LT and determine the implementation plan

Textbooks and Learning Materials

Text Book(s)

Nicholas, J. (2011), Lean Production for Competitive Advantage: A Comprehensive

Guide to Lean Methodologies and Management Practices, First Indian Reprint,
Productivity Press, New York, USA.

Reference Book(s)

Pascal D. (2007), Lean Production Simplified, 2nd Edition, Productivity Press,

Massachusetts, USA.
Liker, J.K. (2004), The Toyota Way, Tata MaGraw-Hill, New Delhi.
Womack, J.P., and Jones, D.T. (2003), Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create
Wealth in Your Corporation, 2nd Edition, Free Press, USA.
Rother, M. and Shook, J. (2003), Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Create
Value and Eliminate Muda The Lean Enterprise Institute Inc., Cambridge, USA.
Womack, J.P., and Jones, D.T. and Roos, D. (1990), The Machine that Changed the
World, 2nd Edition, Rawson Associates, New York, USA.
Shingo, S. (1988), A Study of the Toyota Production System, Productivity Press,
Massachusetts, USA.
Locher, D. (2011), "Lean Office and Service Simplified: The Definitive How-To Guide",
CRC Press, Florida, USA.
Zidel, T.G. (2008), "A Lean Guide to Transforming Healthcare - How to Implement
Lean Principles in Hospitals, Medical Offices, Clinics and Other Healthcare
Organizations", Pearson Education, New Delhi, India.
Williams, H. and Duray, R. (2013), "Making IT Lean: Applying Lean Practices to the
Work of IT: Applying Lean Practices to the Work of IT", CRC Press, Florida, USA.

Additional Reading(s)

The following list of readings and cases would be uploaded in the Moodle (the Learning
Management System (LMS)) and the participants can download the same:

RM1. Nielsen, A. (2008), "Getting Started with Value Stream Mapping", available at:
http://www.gardinernielsen.com/Getting%20Started%20with%20Value%20Stream
%20Mapping.pdf
RM2. Liker, J.K. and Morgan, J.M. (2006), "The Toyota way in services: the case of lean
product development", Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp.5-
20.
RM3. Tracey, M.W. and Flinchbaugh, J. (2006), "HRs Role in the Lean Organizational
Journey", World at Work Journal, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp.49-58.
RM4. Fillingham, D. (2007),"Can lean save lives?", Leadership in Health Services, Vol.
20 No. 4,pp.231-241.
C1. Greto, M., Schotter, A. and Teagarden, M.B. (2010), "Toyota: The Accelerator
Crisis", HBS Case, [TB0243-PDF-ENG]
C2. Anderson, J., Chidambaran, S. and Khandekar, V. (2012), "Lean implementation at
Siemens' Kalwa Plant", [W12998-PDF-ENG]
C3. Nolan, R.L., Brown, K.A. and Kumar, S. (2006), "Esterline Technologies: Lean
Manufacturing", [906417-PDF-ENG ]
C4. Freeland, J.R. and Kidwell, R. (1995), "Bose Corporation: JIT II" [UV0560-PDF-
ENG]
C5. Staats, B.R. and Upton, D.M. (2006), "Lean at Wipro Technologies", [607032-PDF-
ENG]
C6. Bohmer, R. (2010), "Virginia Mason Medical Center (Abridged)", HBS Case, [9-
610-055]

In addition, electronic copies of other relevant reading materials (if any) will be uploaded in
the Moodle as and when required.

Technology and Software (if any)

NIL

Other Resources (Journals, Internet Websites) (if any)

NIL

Pedagogy Learning Process

This course would use a variety of pedagogical tools such as lectures, case discussions, real-
life examples, numerical problems, videos, etc. to support the learning activities. The
instructor expects the students to participate actively in the class. Students are expected to
read the textbooks or other assigned reading materials outside of class and participate in the
critical evaluation of the material through class discussion.

Evaluation Components/Assessment of Student Learning

Evaluation Component Percentage Description

/Assessment Tool
Quizzes 30% These components are required to check and
End term Exam 40% evaluate the students understanding of concepts
and application of appropriate tools and
techniques of Lean Thinking (LT)
Class Exercises / Case 10% + 10% Students are expected to work in teams for case
Analysis* analysis as it would provide them opportunities
to explore diverse perspectives for a business
problem related to LT in operations.
Project* 10% This component facilitates students to integrate
the information and the skills accumulated in
their course with the applied research in a
chosen work place areas. In particular, they may
apply few of the tools and techniques learnt in
this course to solve a real-life business problem
or understand the applicability of LT in the
operations of an organization by studying it
with respect to the content of this course.
*The marks of class exercises, case analysis and project would be combined, while carrying
out grading.
Session Plan**

Session
Modules Topics to be covered Reading/Cases
No.
Introduction, Why JIT/lean?, Evolution Chapter 1
Introduction
1-2 of lean manufacturing, Advantages and
to concepts
disadvantages
Customer focus, Value addition, Waste Chapter 3,
Identify value
reduction, Types of wastes, Value Stream
3-4 and value
Mapping (VSM). Framework for RM1
stream
Implementation
Definitions, Purpose of standardization, Chapter 11
Techniques for standardization: 5S,
5-6
Standard Operations Routine (SOR), One
point lessons, etc.
Traditional inspection system, Japanese Chapter 15
way of inspection, Role of self-check,
7-8
successive check and pokayoke or
mistake proofing
Basic
9 Case Discussion C1
Elements of
Setup, Setup time reduction methodology Chapter 6
LT To
Single Minute Exchange of Dies
10-11 create flow
(SMED), Techniques for setup time
reduction
Importance of maintenance, types of Chapter 7
maintenance, Overall Equipment
12-13 Effectiveness (OEE), An overview to
Preventive and Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM)
14 Case Discussion C2
Workcell concepts such as product Chapter 9, 10
family, group technology, Design of
15-16
workcells using algorithms, Issues in
cellular manufacturing
Role of cycle time, lead time, takt time, Chapter 17
17-18 techniques for line balancing for mixed
Advanced model assembly
Elements of Impact of larger and smaller lot size, Pre- Chapter 5
19-20 LT To requisites, Strategies to achieve small lot
create pull production
Differences between push and pull Chapter 8
systems, Role of kanbans in pull system,
21-22 Types of kanban, Working of kanban
system, Limitations of kanban,
Integrating MRP with kanban
23 Case Discussion C3
Pursue Role of continuous improvement, Chapter 2
24
perfection Kaikaku, Tools and technqiues
Role of suppliers in lean environment, Chapter 19
Role of LT in Impact of lean concepts on supplier
25
other relationships, Role of purchasing,
functions Prerequisites for lean supply
26 Case Discussion C4
 Session
Modules Topics to be covered Reading/Cases
No.
Barriers, Issues related to people, culture Reading materials
27 Challenges
etc. will be provided
An overview on Lean six sigma, Lean RM2, RM3 and
28 services, Lean health care, Integrating RM4
Recent trends lean and green concepts
29 Case Discussion C5

30 Case Discussion C6
** Minor changes in the sequence within a module are possible

Additional Instructions (if any)

a. Group formation: Case analysis and project work are supposed to be carried out in
groups. The students have been given the liberty to form the groups of their choice for
both case submission/presentation and project. The size of the groups must be in the
range of 2 to 3.
b. Case analysis: A soft copy of the case study would be uploaded in Moodle.
Participants/executives are required to perform a detailed and thorough analysis of the
same based on the lead questions that would be uploaded in the Moodle. The purpose
is to understand and analyze a problem from multiple perspectives and identify various
alternative solutions from the detailed description of cases. Details regarding the case
analysis, submission deadline, etc. will be uploaded in Moodle.
c. Project Work: A real life operating system has to be chosen and the concepts learnt
should be applied, necessary data should be collected and analyzed to support the
concepts, which should be documented and presented in the form of a project
report/power point presentation. Details regarding the project, submission deadline,
etc. will be uploaded in the Moodle.
d. All the submissions are to be made electronically preferably as a MS Word/MS
Power Point document and should be uploaded in Moodle.