The Practitioner's Guide to POLCA : The Production Control System for High-Mix, Low-Volume and Custom Products

POLCA (Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization) is a card-based visual control system that manages the flow of jobs through the shop floor: at each operation, it controls which job should be worked on next to meet delivery targets. POLCA ensures that upstream operations use their capacity effectively by working on jobs that are needed downstream, while at the same time preventing excessive work-in-process (WIP) build-ups when bottlenecks appear unexpectedly.

POLCA is particularly suited to companies manufacturing high-mix, low-volume and customized products. Such companies struggle with long lead times, late deliveries, and daily expediting to meet delivery dates. ERP systems are not designed to deal with this highly variable environment, and add-on software such as Finite Capacity Scheduling systems can require complex installation. Also, the Kanban system does not work well with low-volume or custom production. POLCA has delivered impressive results in such environments. It does not require any complex software implementation: it can be used without an ERP system or it can seamlessly complement an existing ERP system.

This book:

• Provides a step-by-step roadmap on how to implement POLCA; invaluable for both companies that wish to implement POLCA as well as consultants and academics advising such companies.
• Explains the concepts in practical and easy-to-understand terms by showing detailed shop-floor examples.
• Includes more than 100 illustrations for understanding how POLCA works as well as for elaborating on details of the implementation steps.
• Contains case studies written by company owners and executives documenting their POLCA implementation process and the results achieved in various industries in six countries.

Acknowledgments

Part I : Understanding POLCA
Chapter 1 : POLCA - Simple Yet Highly Effective : A Tale of Two Companies  
Chapter 2 : POLCA Explained : How It Works
Chapter 3 : Operational Benefits of POLCA

Part II : Implementing POLCA
Chapter 4 : Pre-POLCA Assessment, Prerequisites, and Preparation for POLCA
Chapter 5 : Designing the POLCA System for Your Situation
Chapter 6 : Accommodating Exceptions within the POLCA Framework
Chapter 7 : Launching POLCA
Chapter 8 : How We Designed and Launched POLCA in Three Days
Chapter 9 : Sustaining POLCA : Post-Implementation Activities

Part III : Industry Case Studies
Chapter 10 : From the United States : Using POLCA to Eliminate Material Flow Chaos in an Aluminum Extrusion Operation
Chapter 11 : From Canada : Applying POLCA in a Pharmaceutical Environment
Chapter 12 : From the Netherlands : Creating Flow and Improving Delivery Performance at a Custom Hinge Manufacturer through QRM and POLCA
Chapter 13 : From Belgium : Metalworking Subcontractor Reduces Lead Times by 85% Using QRM and POLCA
Chapter 14 : From Poland : Dancing the POLCA in a Glass Factory
Chapter 15 : From Germany : Yes, Even Small Companies Can Benefit from Implementing POLCA

Introduction to the Appendices
Appendix A : Introduction to MCT : A Unified Metric for Lead Time
Appendix B : Overview of Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)
Appendix C : Perspectives on Applying MRP, Kanban, or Some Other Card-Based Systems to HMLVC Production Environments
Appendix D : Capacity Clusters Make High-Level MRP Feasible
Appendix E : The Sociotechnical Success Factors of POLCA
Appendix F : Experiences with Using a POLCA Simulation Game
Appendix G : Explanation of Formula for Number of POLCA Cards
Appendix H : POLCA : A State-of-the-Art Overview of Research Contributions
Appendix I : Additional Resources for POLCA Training and Games
Index
About the Author