(Adapted from "Becoming a Lean Enterprise, a Tale of Two

Essay

(Adapted from "Becoming a Lean Enterprise, A Tale of Two Firms,"
Strategic Finance, November, 2002)
Cessna, the world's largest manufacturer of single-engine aircraft and business jets, recently implemented a program to improve its production system with the goal of eliminating wasted activities throughout the company. The company's goal was to improve all aspects of product delivery from design, supply channels, production, and distribution. In a structured, 10-month process, the company took the following actions:
(1) Conducted workshops and on-site events to train employees in the new system.
(2) Implemented techniques to reduce the setup time required changing over machines from one product to the next.
(3) Implemented visual work instructions and quality control checks in the manufacturing process.
(4) Made tool, fixture and engineering design changes to prevent quality defects from occurring.
(5) Redesigned the groupings of machines to shorten the flow time required to finish a product.
(6) Trained operators to perform multiple jobs to distribute work according to demand.
(7) Implemented quality methods assuring that defects were not passed from one workstation to another.
(8) Empowered employees with decision-making powers regarding production processes by developing standard work and other metrics in the production process.
(9) Implemented a "pull"
system of delivering components to the manufacturing floor.
(10) Implemented systems to improve order fulfillment and meet customers' demands.
Required:
(a) For each of the 10 numbered items, indicate whether the action taken by Cessna was a Prevention activity, Appraisal activity, Internal failure activity, or External failure activity.
(b) What is meant by a "pull"
system of manufacturing? Briefly describe the differences between a pull system and a traditional manufacturing system. What are the major benefits of a pull system?