Thin Air: How Wireless Technology Supports Lean Initiatives »

Dann Anthony Maumo, Salem, Massacheusettes, USA

Louis Sirico, San Jose, California, USA

Highlighting Wi-Fi as the new and powerful tool for Lean practitioners, this is the first book to make the definitive connection between Lean and wireless technologies, including—RFID, wireless sensor networks (WSNs), and real-time location systems (RTLSs). Describing the use of wireless in inherently Lean applications, the book discusses the modernization of infrastructure, elimination of costly hardware and redundant equipment, the facilitation of e-Kanban, and the provision of real-time visibility into any operation. Presenting both technology and applications, it draws on success stories from Boeing, Ford, the US Postal Service, and the Israeli Army.

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction-The Confusion of the Tongues xiii

Chapter 1 Lean Wireless Is Already Here 1

Rules before Tools 4

Complex Business Environments Require Technology for Visibility 5

Lean Leaders Embrace Wireless 6

To Ignore Wireless Tools Is to Forgo Progress 8

Wireless in Lean and Six Sigma 9

The Marriage of Lean and Six Sigma 13

Lean's New Neighbor-Wireless 14

Wireless on the Value Stream 15

The Wireless Tsunami 17

Wireless = Modern 18

The Wired to Wireless Progression 20

Wireless, Near and Far 21

The Retail Driver 23

Wireless Growth Is a Step-Change Evolution 25

Brace Yourself: Wireless Momentum Will Only Quicken 27

Surprise-The Modern Network Is Already Here-We Need Only Plug In 28

How Lean Is This? 29

Endnotes 32

Chapter 2 Why Now? Lean Wireless and the Costs of Doing Business 35

The Unbearable Cost of Business 35

The Immovable Structural Costs 36

The Tax Burden 37

A More Inclusive Picture-Variable Costs 39

The Lean, Wireless, and Lean Wireless Value Propositions 40

Information Is Lean 41

America and Its Companies Require Wireless Strength 42

American Companies Require Near-Term Results (Not Solutions) 44

Wireless Provides Fast-Track ROT 44

Automation Means More Work-Not Less 45

Endnotes 46

Chapter 3 The Lean Wireless Missions 47

Adopt a New Paradigm: Rules Before Tools = Results 48

Tools Before Rules Is a Mistake 51

Attack Wireless Waste (iMuda) 51

iMuda 52

The iMuda of Complexity and Overkill 54

The iMuda of Choice 56

True Tales of Bad Choices: The Super Bowl Virus 56

True Tales 2: The Accidental Spy 57

The iMuda of Risk 2.0 57

The iMuda of Terabytes 59

Overcome the Inertia of Legacy 61

Focus First upon Internal Value Streams 63

Identify Opportunities for Wireless Value 65

Value from Mobile Workers and Equipment 66

Create Job-Specific and Micro-Value Streams 69

Apply Airsourcing as You Would Outsourcing or Offshoring 70

Return to Processes, and Mobilize Them 71

Plug Value Streams into the "Internet of Things" 72

The Intent of the Internet of Things 73

Redirect the Lean Mission from Making Things to Moving Things 74

The Internet of Computers versus the IOT 75

RTLS and WSNs 76

The 5Ws versus 5Ss 77

Why the IOT Is Not the Internet 78

Devise Lean, Universal Number Schemes 79

The EPC Numbering System 81

Numbering versus Serialization 83

The Challenges 84

The Answer: A Purposeful Lean Rollout 85

Ease the Disease of Wireless Ownership 86

The Answer: Find the Right Tool for the Right Job 87

Focus upon Essential Data 88

Practice Agnosticism-It Is Lean 89

Devices, Processes, and People Become "Nodes" on the Nerve Path 90

If Only It Were That Easy: Connecting the Edge and the Back End 92

Question Integration, Always 94

Smart-Edge Infrastructures 95

Simplified, Lower-Cost Visibility 95

Manage the Troublesome Social/Enterprise Interface 97

The Real Costs of Play at Work 99

So Long, Lunchpail 101

Millennial Learning Is Lean 103

Millennial Question Authority and Policy and Are Not above Defying Them 104

Tales beyond 2000: The End of Secrets 104

Viral Information for Good and for Ill 107

The Answer: Airsource and Automate Decisions and Behaviors 108

The Value of Airsourced and Automated Decisions 109

Not All Decisions Can Be Automated 111

Design Effective Interfaces 112

The Wearable, Always-on Interface 113

Keeping the Interfaces on Mission 117

Harness the Social Utility 118

Scalability: Use Wireless to Open the Loops 119

Scalability, Enterprise wide 120

Scalability into Supply Chain and Open Loops 120

The Requirement: Higher Visibility, Edge Intelligence 122

The Opportunity Finally Exists to Open the Loops 122

RTLS in the Open Loop 122

Case Study: Kanban Replenishment 123

Endnotes 125

Chapter 4 The Democratic Frontiers of Lean Wireless 129

Crowdsourcing: We All Own (and Drive) Innovation 130

The Wireless Library 132

The Wireless Athlete 132

Extreme Traceability, from Farm to Fork 133

The Lean Wireless Election: A Supply Chain Success 135

The Lean Wireless Election 2: Web 2.0 and Decision 2008 138

Lean Wireless President and Police 139

Wireless Justice 141

The Significance of iWIP 143

iWIP in Lean Manufacturing 145

The Healthcare Proving Ground, Part 1: Lean Wireless Inventory Management 148

A Lean Wireless Answer 149

Is This Truly Lean-And How Does It Apply to Other Verticals? 150

Measurements and Metrics 151

The End-to-End Supply Chain 152

Technology as a Tool in Healthcare 152

Pull-from-Demand 153

The Healthcare Proving Ground, Part 2: RTLS Adds Value 154

Controlling Cost and Risk 154

Democracy Marches On 155

Endnotes 156

Afterword (and Forward): Lean Wireless 2015 159

The Reality 160

Endnotes 162

Appendix A Lean Glossary 163

Lean Principles 163

Lean Rules 163

Lean Concepts 164

Lean Tools 165

Appendix B Wireless Glossary 167

Appendix C Standards Used in Wireless Enterprises 189

Appendix D Lean Wireless ROI 191

How Precisely Can We Measure the ROI of Lean Wireless? 192

The Barrier of Distrust 193

The Components of Any Cost 194

Presume Value (for the Sake of Argument), and Forge Ahead 195

Define Your Business with Baselining 197

Step 1 Conduct a Whiteboard Study 198

Step 2 Conduct a DILO Study 198

Step 3 Reconcile Process Maps and DILO 200

Step 4 Target a Short List of Process Improvements 200

Step 5 Choose between Proof of Concept or Full Steam Ahead 200

Conduct a Technical Evaluation 201

Step 1 Conduct an Environmental Analysis 201

Step 2 Select a Suitable Technology 204

Calculate Theoretical ROI 205

Step 1 Quantify the Benefits 206

Step 2 Quantify the Costs 209

Step 3 Calculate the Risks (in Dollars) 210

Step 4 At Last-Calculate ROI 210

Sidebar 1 How Not to Install RFID: 15 Blunders 211

Sidebar 2 How to Select a Wireless Integrator 213

Sidebar 3 WIP Management, RFID, and ROI 214

RFID for Work-in-Process 215

Enter RFID 216

RFID Metal Mount Tags for Work-in-Process 216

Endnotes 217

Index 219

The Authors 231