Strategic Planning &Control

Synopsis: This course enables students to understand the basic concepts of Toyota production system which have been continuously evolved over several decades. The topics include setup reduction, information system for SCM, Kanban system, e-Kanban system. Papers published in international journals will be used to enhance the knowledge on the methods and applications for Toyota production system.

An extended description:

The principal consideration of the TPS is to reduce costs by completely eliminating waste.

This waste is consists of excessive production resources, overproduction, excessive inventory, and nnnecessary capital investment. In this course, we study how to eliminate this four types of waste. In the first several chapters, we fist study th total framework of the Toyota production system and how to Implement steps for the Toyota production system. We also study how to use adaptable Kanban system to maintain just-in-time production. Smoothing production is important for Toyota to adapt to demand changes and reduce inventory. We investigate how Toyotaimplement production smoothing. Then, we study how Toyota shortened production lead times and setup times. Toyota realized flexible workshops through machine layout, multi-functional workers, and job rotation. We will investigate these issues in several chapters. Finally, we will study the sequencing method for the mixed-model assembly line to realize smoothed production.

Evaluation: Midterm Exam, Final Exam, Homework (3-5 times), 10 minute-speech (once per student), term project (two students/team)