phd proposal in mechanical & manufacturing engineering

The hot button in manufacturing these days is lean. It's been talked about, and talked about and talked about. Very few understand it, if you have a masters degree, I thing you may think you know what it takes to become lean, but have you put it into practice?

The company I work for thinks they are lean, they even have a "Lean Manager", but I only met him once during new employee orientation. I digress, they carry OVER $8M in WIP. That is not even close to lean.

I have suppliers that come in every day and give me quotes with price breaks for different quantities. If that supplier was Lean, he wouldn't need price breaks because the 1,000 piece would cost the same as the first piece produced. But, it's not.

My suggestion would be to approach a Phd project that will really help you and your future, if you can achieve true lean, then it's worth the title, "Dr."

This would not be a walk in the park, true lean means the material shows up on the dock at 4am for today's production. Anything less is not lean.

Think about it and good luck.

(oh yea, if you just want a Phd and move on... stay away from this, it is a lot of work.)

Another thought is that lean is supposed to ensure that no "bad" parts are produced.

An area that I've wanted to research and never had the time... What is the downstream cost of a bad product/part. Not only in repair/replacement but loss or dis-satisfaction of the customer. A customer that doesn't come back because of a defective part can be very expensive.

A similar thread would be, what happens if a supplier to a lean manufacturer sends a bad part just in time that is no good and can't be used.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Scott

dear mr labyguy

i am very happy and thankfullllll for your suggestion.

dear mr labyguy

i am very happy and thankfullllll for your suggestion. i do have some ideas about lean manufacturing, as you know it is very wide approach subject or technique you might say, but i am still looking for good proposal to do. again i would like to thank you for your help.........