Value Stream Management for the Lean Office [Paperback]

Don Tapping (Author), Tom Shuker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1563272466 | ISBN-13: 978-1563272462 | Publication Date: February 20, 2003

Bring Lean Improvements to the Administrative Areas of Your Organization!

Extending their eight-step process to the realization of a lean office, Tapping and Shuker use a customer service case studyto illustrate the effectiveness of the value stream storyboard.This popular volume provides organizations with a proven system for implementing lean principles in the office. In addition to providing a thorough overview of basic lean concepts, this book details methods for identifying the administrative activities in need of attention. To address these, it applies the eight-step process for removing waste and reorganizing workflow. Accompanying the book is a CD containing a lean assessment tool, a storyboard template, charts, a team charter, and worksheets.

BONUS CD! Along with this book you receive a CD containing a lean assessment tool, a storyboard template, useful charts, a team charter, forms, reports, and worksheets!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Tapping has worked for over twenty years to eliminate waste and improve bottom-line results in the telecommunications, medical, automotive, industrial, and aerospace industries. Tapping directed the lean implementation for Eaton Aerospace Division for over 5 years, with similar duties prior to that at Schlumberger Technologies, UNISTRUT Corporation, and Data Scan Services.

Tom Shuker has over thirty years’ experience in manufacturing and is currently President of Lean Concepts, LLC. Shuker recently participated in lean implementation within General Motors Corporation including two years at New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), a joint GM-Toyota Assembly Plant. He has also consulted for other manufacturers in the implementation of their lean manufacturing systems including Herman Miller, Autocam, Merilatt, Medtronics, Caterpillar, and Aeroquip Corporation–Division of Eaton.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Productivity Press (February 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563272466
• ISBN-13: 978-1563272462
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Office Automation

More About the Author

Don Tapping graduated from The University of Michigan in 1976. He spent the next four years as a Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in various positions during his tour. After completing his Corps duties, Don worked in the medical technology, education, and aerospace industries for the next 20 years. Don authored the best selling book, Value Stream Management for the Lean Office (Productivity Press 2003), Lean Office Demystified (II), Who Hollered Fore?, and numerous other books on business performance - setting the bar for administrative Lean improvements. He continues to enlighten organizations with his ability to design step-by-step implementation methodologies identifying processes that require improvement, and then introducing proactive steps to improve or redesign them - reducing costs, boosting performance, and increasing customer (patient) satisfaction. Don today is using his experience and writing books on how Lean can be used in the MS Office and Open Source environments to streamline information flow. Don also received his MBA from The University of Notre Dame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a welcome addition to the world of lean!, April 25, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Value Stream Management for the Lean Office (Paperback)

This book is such a welcome addition to my book shelf. I tried so hard last year to try to translate manufacturing value stream mapping to the transactional world and found it very difficult. This book simplifies the approach incredibly. There are some typos in the book as well as one figure that is missing some icons. The bad part about the book is that it does seem to spend a lot of time saying the same thing over and over and over again while skipping over some very important VSM concepts like dealing with multiple flows, etc. You need to have a good background in VSM and lean in order to absorb this book easily. I appreciate the fact though that the authors try to demonstrate the tools on three or four examples throughout the book, but why not put in a few other case studies all the way through???!!! I hate having just one complete case study like in the book Learning to See. Not all situations are the same so having several examples can be very helpful.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Lean Office Workbook!, November 4, 2003

By 

Richard L. Rob (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Value Stream Management for the Lean Office (Paperback)

This book conveys the essence of how a Lean Office can be achieve. It does a superb job of introducing the concepts and provides practical approaches to solving administrative work flow problems utilizing Lean tools. Highly Recommended, best one out there!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VSM for the Office, October 10, 2005

By 

Robert A. Drensek (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Value Stream Management for the Lean Office (Paperback)

I found this to be a good book on translating the tools of manufacturing to an office environment. It communicates all of the basics that are required.

I've attended one of this consulting group's manufacturing classes. I found them to be dead on. I like the way they handled the accounting/cost/metric relationship to lean production. Basically, the current accounting standards will cause you to do things in opposition to what lean principles will have you do.

In some other office scenarios, I think this more traditional approach will not have all the pieces or tools required. I work in an industry where order entry is significantly more complex than the examples presented, a much higher degree of interaction with other players is required, and rework loops are significant part of the process (customer driven rework). ANITECH has an approach that tracks the information flow surrounding the work process, while applying the same lean techniques that are presented in this book.

Tracking the information flow provides an opportunity to sort out, automate, and lean out that information flow. There is tremendous leverage in this concept.