Lean Assembly: The Nuts and Bolts of Making Assembly Operations Flow

This is a very useful workbook for engineers who need a structured approach as well as real-life examples and ideas. It is well structured and full of illustrations and examples.The author tries hard to give suggestions that are applicable to different types of products: many vs. few operations, long vs. short takt time, light vs. heavy products, and so on. He starts with general issues to think of and principles to follow, and ends with examples from many industries.I would advise to jump directly to the chapters of interest. Chapters 2 and 3 can be boring, but fortunately can be read after the rest of the book (if necessary).Overall I strongly recommend this book. I can't think of a topic related to assembly that the author hasn't covered.

Just what the cover says: "The Nuts and Bolts of Making Assembly Operations Flow".This read is a very practical, understandable guide to building new assembly operations or converting/modifying existing lines.There is a great deal of literature available on Lean Manufacturing which covers the Theories and Methodology of Lean. This work by Michel Baudin takes us past the Theories and Methodolgy and gives us the Who, When, Where, and Why of putting the Lean building blocks in place and making them function together.This is the book you need to review with operators and carry with you to the shop floor.....Read it until you wear out the pages....then go get another copy.

Great product!

I first met Mr. Baudin in Japan (2005) on a kaikaku experience trip with, at that time, my company CIE Automotive,organised by Asenta. I later met him again in Bilbao (Spain) when he was presenting his book "Working with machines". I have read his three books: Lean assembly, Lean logistics and Working with machines. All are excellent, and are essential for anyone who wants to learn in depth about "lean".For the last six years, I have been working as a freelance consultant on improving factory productivity. Recently I have published a book entitled: "Lean Manufacturing - Exposición adaptada a la fabricación repetitiva de familias de productos mediante procesos discretos". It has been a honour for me to reference Mr. Baudin's books in the bibliography.I also follow his blog and find it most interesting.

Baudin's Lean Assembly is the definitive handbook for any serious industrial, process or manufacturing engineer with aspirations of contributing to the lean effort. While most books on the subject tend to be fluffy and philosophical, Baudin's boon does exactly as promised - it addresses the nuts and bolts - the details of process design and management. Over the years I have given away a number of copies to my clients, giving them precisely the same message: That the book is a prerequisite for manufacturing assembly optimization.

This excellent book should be read by all who are involved in lean systems. It is written with the practitioner in mind and is full of the type of information that you would expect from an experienced consultant such as M. Baudin. This well developed book shows practical tools and techniques that are not found in other lean books. For example, chapter 2 shows how to use Product-Quantity analysis for production layout. This important tool is virtually ignored in the current popular lean literature. Another one of the strengths of this book is that the author discusses how the different lean tools should be applied in different manufacturing settings. For example, he recognizes the differences between automotive assembly and electronic assembly and shows what will and will not work in these different settings. So, no matter what your product is or your production volume, you will find this book to be invaluable. If you only read one book on lean manufacturing, this should be it. So many of the current books on lean manufacturing are written at such a high level that they are virtually useless to those who must actually design and operate a lean manufacturing system. Baudin's book will help you implement lean, not just talk about it.

Lean Assembly has been a great reference book for our supplier development team. With the content scope maintained within assembly and testing, supplier improvement project team members often refer to the chapters pertaining to the issues at hand for proven lean direction and practical examples. The highly technical content is clearly communicated through a good mix of text, charts, illustrations and pictures from a diverse group of industries. Because of Mr. Baudin's undoubted experience in and knowledge of lean manufacturing, I look forward to similar publications by him to add to our toolbox.

Michel Baudin is a very credible and experienced lean consultant. This book is a very detailed and precise guide for setting up lean assembly lines, with topics covered ranging from line layout and setting, labor staffing, and materials/part presentation. I use this guidebook very often when working in a factory going through lean transformation efforts. In this book, you get very specific ideas and approaches, not high-level lean generalizations. Highly recommended and I look forward to the next book, "Lean Logistics."