Lean in Agriculture

Book description

Responding to a recent surge in interest and application, this book is the first to comprehensively address how Lean thinking and tools can be implemented in agriculture and agribusiness. This tactical guide breaks down barriers, clearly depicting how improvement techniques originally developed for factories can derive the same powerful results on farms.

Expert Lean farming consultants, Susanne Pejstrup and Vibeke Fladkjaer Nielsen, present these methods in a clear, easy-to-read style, accessible to farmers all over the world. Case studies from multiple farm types – including crops, pigs and dairy cattle – demonstrate how respect for people, continuous improvement, and visual management techniques can improve resilience and profitability on the farm. Richly illustrated, Lean in Agriculture appeals not only to farmers, but to farm workers, food processing companies, veterinarians, consultants and other stakeholders in the agribusiness sector.

Key Features:

  • Translates Lean thinking into agricultural terms.
  • Takes a people-centric approach to a Lean agricultural production system.
  • Serves as an implementation guide , with clear writing and concise, easy-to-follow instructions tailored to the agricultural sector.
  • Illustrates agriculture-specific Lean implementation with a wide range of case studies and memorable images.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half-Title
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Chapter 1 What is Lean?
    1. 1.1 What is Lean?
    2. 1.1.1 The Lean History
    3. 1.1.2 Lean – Less of Everything
  9. Chapter 2 This is How Lean Can be Used in Agriculture
    1. 2.1 This is How Lean Can be Used in Agriculture
    2. 2.1.1 An Additional Gear
    3. 2.1.2 What is “Value for the Customer” at Your Farm?
    4. 2.1.3 An Eye-opener for Waste in Production
    5. 2.1.4 More Money to Make with Lean
    6. 2.1.5 Lean Provides Motivation and Commitment
  10. Chapter 3 The Five Lean Principles
    1. 3.1 Identify Value
    2. 3.2 Map the Value Stream
    3. 3.3 Create Flow
    4. 3.4 Establish Pull
    5. 3.5 Continuous Improvement
  11. Chapter 4 The Eight Wastes of Lean
    1. 4.1 The Eight Wastes of Lean
    2. 4.1.1 Learn to See
    3. 4.1.2 Examples of Waste
  12. Chapter 5 Involve Your Employees
    1. 5.1 Involve Your Employees
    2. 5.1.1 Traditional, Modern Management and Lean Management
    3. 5.1.2 Motivation Requires Trust and Respect
    4. 5.1.3 Appreciative Leadership
    5. 5.1.4 Change Management
    6. 5.1.5 Communication and Questioning Technique
    7. 5.1.6 Use of Questions in Lean Work
    8. 5.1.7 Talking Stick
    9. 5.1.8 Catchball
    10. 5.1.9 Communication with Sticky Notes
    11. 5.1.10 Five Whys
  13. Chapter 6 That is How You Work with Goals
    1. 6.1 That is How You Work with Goals
    2. 6.1.1 The Burning Platform
    3. 6.1.2 What is a Burning Platform?
    4. 6.2 What is a Good Goal?
    5. 6.2.1 Involve Your Employees
    6. 6.3 Breaking Down of Goals
    7. 6.3.1 Performance Goals and Effort Goals
    8. 6.4 Goal Management
    9. 6.4.1 Visible Goal Management
    10. 6.4.2 Action Plans
    11. 6.4.3 Examples of Content in Action Plans
    12. 6.4.4 Visible Action Plans
  14. Chapter 7 Tools
    1. 7.1Tools
    2. 7.1.1 WeekPlanner
    3. 7.1.2 Board Meeting at the Improvement Board – Kaizen
    4. 7.1.3 PDCA
    5. 7.1.4 Value Stream Mapping
    6. 7.1.5 Standardization
    7. 7.1.6 5S
    8. 7.1.7 Kanban
    9. 7.1.8 TPM
    10. 7.1.9 SMED
  15. Chapter 8 How to Implement Lean at Your Farm
    1. 8.1 How to Implement Lean at Your Farm
    2. 8.1.1 The Current State of Your Farm
    3. 8.1.2 Leanstart With Simple Tools
    4. 8.1.3 Expect a Trough
    5. 8.1.4 Plan for the Implementation of Lean
  16. Chapter 9 Examples of Lean
    1. 9.1 Results with Lean
    2. 9.1.1 The Production Strategy is Lean
    3. 9.1.2 Impressive Decrease in Costs at Esbjerg Dairy
    4. 9.1.3 Lean – Just Common Sense
  17. Chapter 10 Dictionary
    1. 10.1 Dictionary
  18. References
  19. Index

Product information

  • Title: Lean in Agriculture
  • Author(s): Vibeke Fladkjaer Nielsen, Susanne Pejstrup
  • Release date: October 2018
  • Publisher(s): Productivity Press
  • ISBN: 9780429455001