How to Fix a Factory: A practical approach to clarify and resolve underlying challenges in your factory

by Rob Tracy

Every factory eventually runs into choppy waters and turbulence. Systems and processes that used to work suddenly struggle, and customer complaints pile up out of nowhere. It's not for a lack of effort or desire, but something goes wrong with the old formula for running the plant. What can you do to navigate the trouble and help your manufacturing business get back on the right track? In How to Fix a Factory, Rob Tracy shows there's always a way to fix the problem, once you know what the problem is. He draws on 30+ years of industry experience to guide you through a practical approach to create a fundamentally sound and healthy factory. Senior leaders, plant managers, production managers, and supervisors will learn how to sort through the noise and lead their teams on a journey of improvement that ensures that the factory is on solid footing. With his simple 5-step system to improving your business from the ground up, Rob Tracy shows how to uncover the underlying challenges and provides actionable solutions to fix them. This book will help you identify and fix issues When you read How to Fix a Factory, you'll be taking your first step toward factory improvement. By building a strong foundation with an engaged workforce, you'll have the underpinnings needed to take the next steps towards breakthrough levels of performance and operational excellence.

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2019

Reviews

[Leonardo Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has plenty of great advice and it is very actionable. I really like that it starts at a more basic level than books on the Toyota production system to establish a solid foundation which later can lead to implementing some more advanced methods later on in the journey to excellence.

One thing I found somewhat frustrating was the author's lack of faith in the bottom up change and how to achieve it. This book is aimed at senior leadership and leaves those in the middle with a sense of complacency because change "must come from upper management". In my experience change can, and does come, from the bottom at times; however the process can take longer and has to have a different strategy.

[Ezra Cortés · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book designed to inspire and give practical advice to business owners or top managers or directly to management consultants.
It does not talk about an specific methodology like lean or PMO, it is more like a first view for consultants looking to understand the main steps of an analysis and problem discovery.

Some main ideas
It is needed to think differently and radically to get out of a chronic problem.
The high-level team must be committed and focused on the new solution.
You must ensure your 10 main core processes.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An actionable book

This book walks you through ways to improve how your factory is working. It has proven techniques, reliable advice, and stories to reinforce what is suggested.