The Product Wheel Handbook: Creating Balanced Flow in High-Mix Process Operations
Peter L. and Jennifer S. King, authors ofThe Product Wheel Handbook, have provided excellent strategies for implementing product wheels and improving an existing product wheel process. ... Written in a clear, concise manner, this book is a how-to manual for product wheel design, implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement. The authors integrate principles with concepts in a way that is practical and easy to understand. ... If you are tasked to implement product wheels or want to learn more about how they can lead to improvements, you will findThe Product Wheel Handbooka valuable reference.—Book review by Alan R. Leigh CSCP, CPIM, and Randy Woehl appearing inAPICS, January 2014Peter King continues to be a thought leader in the spread of advanced manufacturing practices throughout the process industries. His product wheel concepts and practices are an excellent resource for plants with multiple products sharing the operating assets.—Ray Floyd, Shingo Prize-winning author ofLiquid Leanand member of IndustryWeek's Manufacturing Hall of FameThe authors have a gift for writing well, in a way that will keep the reader connected throughout this excellent work. It flows through the methodology in a well structured and logical way and could only be written by someone who has lived through product wheel implementation many times ... definitely a must-read for any Lean practitioner.—Henrique Fagundes, Senior Project Manager, DuPontThe product wheel is a true landmark in the management and organization of the workplace. All manufacturing operations searching for a way to organize and level the factory should have this book.—Cash Powell, Jr., Editorial Board, Target Magazine; Association for Manufacturing Excellence; Lead Consultant, Center for Competitive Change, University of DaytonA clearly written guide to designing and improving product wheels ... . Pete and Jennifer King take you through a logical step-by-step process without ever resorting to simplistic recipes. This book will be valuable to businesses where both pull and push systems apply. Highly recommended!—Peter C. Compo, Director of Integrated Business Management, DuPontThe Dow Chemical Company has usedThe Product Wheel Handbookfor good communication and collaboration between functions. We highly recommend this book as it is a logical layout with step by step implementation instructions. ... Not only did our processes become more efficient but our teams were able to understand a new process that they can apply in different applications in the work process. We recommend this book to any company looking to apply lean concepts specifically in the process industry and also for leaders who are looking for applications to help explain such processes to their employees.—Martin Fernandes, Supply Chain Innovation Director, Dow Chemical—Shannon Hemmelgarn, Supply Chain Business Planner, Dow ChemicalThe views expressed in this review are of the authors alone and do not represent the views of The Dow Chemical Company