Managerial Perspective to Operational Excellence: Using Lean Ideas to Compete Against Low-Cost Countries

In the current age of manufacturing revival in the U.S. and other developed countries, companies are looking for ways to maintain or gain advantage over competitors from low-cost countries. This book presents a firsthand account of actual projects in three different industries to help leaders and middle managers structure their own turnaround or improvement projects.

The book uses a case-based approach for Lean implementation and presents a summary of lessons learned and insights on change management. It includes examples of Robotic Process Automation concepts used in manufacturing and offers several examples of analytical tools used to solve operations management problems.

The first-person, story-based approach makes this book an engaging read for operations leaders and middle management in the areas of quality management, engineering management, business management, and manufacturing, as well as postgraduate students.

Atul Tripathi is an operations and supply chain management professional with over 15 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, and consulting with several Fortune 500 companies. Atul holds an MBA from Rice University, with specialization in finance and strategy, as well as dual master’s in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his undergraduate degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Ranchi University, India, and subsequently worked with India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, as a design engineer. In more recent years Atul has been working in energy industry with primary focus on business process improvement, asset optimization, lean manufacturing, quick response manufacturing, and business development.

Atul is also a regular reviewer for many high impact international journals and conferences and has been a guest speaker on operations and change management at several APICS conferences. His areas of interest include operations management, change management, corporate finance, and strategy.

Atul lives with his wife, Urvashi, and son, Veer, in Houston, TX, USA. Outside of work he is an avid traveler, a news junkie, and a fitness enthusiast. Atul also volunteers as ESL tutor for non-English speaking immigrants.

Jaymalya (Jay) Deb is a supply chain professional. A graduate with distinction in Mechanical Engineering from RVCE, India, Jay also holds a master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. Jay started his career working for Toyota and was introduced to the Toyota Production System which, built his interest in lean manufacturing. After this, Jay has worked in multiple roles in manufacturing operations, supply chain management, and ERP systems implementation for over 15 years with Fortune 500 companies.

Jay’s primary area of interest is in supply chain optimization, especially as it relates to demand forecasting to assist businesses to run a lean, scalable supply chain that keeps costs low and profits high. Jay currently works with researchers and consultants in this area to help develop customized machine learning and deep learning models for demand forecasting.

Jay lives with his wife, Nidhi, and daughter, Aaradhya, in Fort Worth, TX. Outside of work, Jay enjoys traveling, yoga, volunteering, and working out.

Vikas Kumar is a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management and Director of Research at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, UK. He holds a PhD degree in Management Studies from Exeter Business School, University of the Exeter, UK and a Bachelor of Technology (first class distinction) degree in Metallurgy and Material engineering from National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology (NIFFT), Ranchi University, India.

He has over 15 years of experience working in the area of operations and supply chain excellence. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals and International conferences including the Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Production Research, Supply Chain Management: an International Journal, Expert System with Applications, International Journal of Production Economics, Computers & Industrial Engineering, and Production Planning & Control. He has also co-authored three books on quality management systems, innovation, operations, and sustainability. He has guest-edited several special issues in high impact peer reviewed international journals. Prof. Kumar serves on the editorial board of several international journals and is a regular reviewer for many high impact international journals and conferences. He is also regularly invited as keynote speaker at major international conferences. Prof. Kumar has successfully secured funding in the excess of £1 million from various research agencies including EPSRC, Innovate UK, British Academy, British Council, and Newton Fund. He has worked on several international projects with Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, and EU. His current research interests include Operational Excellence, Industry 4.0, Sustainability, Circular Economy, and Food Supply Chains.

Vikas lives with his wife, Archana, and son, Viaan, in Bristol, UK. Outside of work, Vikas is an avid traveler and enjoys watching movies, eating out, swimming and badminton.