The master production schedule (MPS) is the driver of all schedule activity in the factory. In a Class A organization, the MPS and shop floor schedules are identical at the beginning of the week. These schedules are also identical on Wednesday morning, Friday morning, and any other morning you want to discuss. It is no coincidence. Schedules must be linked. It is not because of a lack of process variation or customer misbehavior. It is because the master scheduler insists on accuracy in a Class A process. Each morning, the schedule is agreed to and posted for all the employees to see. This "visual factory" technique was made famous by Toyota and is a simple idea based in lean thinking.

Figure 11.2 is a typical Class A factory schedule board. This type of communication board would be seen at each line or work cell within the plant. It allows every worker to understand completely what their schedule is and what their past performance has been. Each morning, a special effort is made to bring attention to this board as the daily schedule is posted and agreements are made on the day's tactics. By having this schedule as the center of focus and by having little tolerance for inaccurate schedules, discipline becomes the habit and results become very predictable. Every time there is a schedule miss, the serious question has to be asked, "What can we do to stop it from ever happening again?" The...