Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David)
Other Authors: Roy Welsch and Chris Magee.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73381
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author Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David)
author2 Roy Welsch and Chris Magee.
author_facet Roy Welsch and Chris Magee.
Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David)
author_sort Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David)
collection MIT
description Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.
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spelling mit-1721.1/733812022-01-27T21:04:35Z Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David) Roy Welsch and Chris Magee. Leaders for Global Operations Program. Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Sloan School of Management Sloan School of Management. Engineering Systems Division. Leaders for Global Operations Program. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-77). Over the last three decades, manufacturing companies have come to recognize the value of institutionalizing continuous improvement efforts. Most of them look to Toyota as a leader in this area and have taken Toyota's model for implementing lean, the Toyota Production System (TPS), and adapted it to fit their business. While the tools created and implemented by Toyota are a big part of TPS, the tools alone will not cause a lean transformation. TPS is not a toolkit at all, but rather, a way of thinking that is often explained to others with tools as pedagogical devices. United Technologies Corporation has created their own operating system, Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE), which includes many of the tools espoused by Toyota. ACE has produced extraordinary results and has been a large part of United Technologies' success over the past fifteen years. While ACE has proven successful at the corporate level, it has not taken root at the Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation repair operation in Phoenix, Arizona. This thesis is based on the research that the author conducted during a six month internship at that Hamilton Sundstrand electronics repair facility in Phoenix. Using this site as an example, it explores a variety of the challenges companies face in their attempts to create a lean work environment. The central finding of the thesis is that for a lean implementation to be successful, four main elements are necessary. First, a company must have the supporting tools and techniques for driving change. Second, managers must become teachers capable of helping others increase their problem-solving ability. Third, process ownership and responsibility for improvement efforts must be pushed to the lowest level possible. Finally, they need methodical and sustained support for lean from the top to the bottom of the entire organization. by Daniel D. Christensen. S.M. M.B.A. 2012-09-27T15:27:23Z 2012-09-27T15:27:23Z 2012 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73381 809794606 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 77 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Sloan School of Management.
Engineering Systems Division.
Leaders for Global Operations Program.
Christensen, Daniel D. (Daniel David)
Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title_full Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title_fullStr Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title_full_unstemmed Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title_short Overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
title_sort overcoming obstacles to lean in a repair operation
topic Sloan School of Management.
Engineering Systems Division.
Leaders for Global Operations Program.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73381
work_keys_str_mv AT christensendanielddanieldavid overcomingobstaclestoleaninarepairoperation