Chapter 5:-One problem coming up was equipment not working as intended, and workers lacking training in proper usage of it. Sandy fixed this by employing the basic concepts of poka-yoke, via setting up an operation so that work could only be done one way: right.

-A second problem was where Joe focused as a manager (as Ralph pointed out), neglecting the process and predicting where the next problem would be (evaluating such things consistently), and instead spent time chastising workers who often were not at fault.* This stemmed from a larger problem of thinking time ‘lost’ improving was time lost, when time ‘lost’ improving actually saves time in the long-run.

-Overall, the process relied on straining the workers to fix issues, rather than fixing the core problem that caused the issue, a fact shown in how time-tables were redistributed equally rather than at problem areas, equipment failures were not planned for (Ralph’s solution would have been to stock critical spare components, rather than a fully-redundant backup), and the equipment wasn’t even being used efficiently (as Ralph pointed out).

In other words, the process lacked Just-In-Time principles.

Chapter 6:-Ralph’s view of inspection is that it should be done by the workers themselves inspecting their own work, rather than having a QC division inspect the work as Joe believed in. Formal inspections would be done for the government, but otherwise would be self-enforced. A large part of Total Quality Management.

Chapter 7:-The product reaching assembly was defective, requiring the forfeiting of a lunch break to fix. Implementing the five-whys could trace the root problem back to its core. Even a few steps back would have revealed the issues in communication.

-A consequence of the defective product was a twofold problem: each subsection needed to be identified and fixed, when the needed info was not readily available and the system to fix the problems was on-the-fly improvisation.

-Related to the communication, the system and manufacturing people were separated, rather than integrated.

-Ralph summed all of these up by saying that Joe’s process lacked Jidoka, in that the parts assembled were not assembled as quickly as possible, which would have identified the errors sooner; by waiting until the end to find the problems, a lot more work was needed to fix them. His solution was an andan system, where problems could be signified by the workers immediately rather than be left unidentified until it was too late.This listening to the workers would have been the easiest of all changes to have been made, but Joe did not approve.

-Another related concept was that Ralph believed something should be built when it needed to be built, not when it was needed according to theory: a live communication system, via kanban cards, documenting operations and when supplies were needed.

-The hardest change to make mid-way into the process would have been to have a low inventory and lead time, to reduce delays. Because the inventory was already there, simply discarding it would have been problematic. However, if Joe had started with this, then the workers would be far less overloaded than they actually were.

Chapter 8:Joe as a manager is competent at creating a plan and following it through. His skill at delivering a product on-time is certainly admirable, and he knows how to produce results. However, I feel that he could use some training in positively interacting with employees, efficiency of the manufacturing process, and more effectively producing quality. His management style is admirably focused on the workers, but he could use training in which ways to focus on them.

Would recommend promotion conditional on him having this training.

Chapter 9:Sandy came to view things at Garret Gear as harder than they needed to be, with things done ignoring basic common sense in favor of traditional (but inefficient) business practices that focused on the wrong things in need of improvement.