GPS – Generic Production System

Short description

In this course, you will learn how to design and implement a coherent Generic Production System
(GPS) for your factory – instead of introducing isolated Lean tools.

You will connect principles, methods and standards into a robust operating system that makes your production more stable,
transparent and continuously improving.

Step by step, you will see how elements such as structure & principles, roles & governance,
customer orientation, value stream & flow, standardised work, visual management, TPM, continuous
improvement (CIP) as well as audits & assessments fit together.

The focus is clearly on practice:
simple, robust solutions that you can really implement in your own area.

What you will learn in this course

• explain the purpose, structure and benefits of a Generic Production System (GPS),
• translate Lean principles and GPS design rules into your own factory environment,
• link customer orientation and value-stream thinking with goals and KPIs (Q–D–C–S–M),
• design standardised work and stability as the foundation for quality and on-time delivery,
• set up effective visual management and shopfloor management routines (boards, meetings, escalation),
• integrate TPM activities to increase equipment reliability and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE),
• establish CIP and problem-solving kata as daily learning routines in teams and value streams,
• use GPS audits and maturity assessments to evaluate your current state and derive a roadmap,
• develop a concrete GPS roadmap and pilot concept for your own plant or area.

Target group

• plant managers, production managers, area managers and line leaders,
• Lean / OPEX managers, continuous improvement coordinators and industrial engineers,
• logistics and supply chain managers who want to design stable and transparent material flows,
• project leaders responsible for designing or further developing a production system (GPS),
• all practitioners who want to move beyond tool-by-tool implementation towards a coherent system.

Prerequisites

• basic understanding of production / manufacturing / logistics (shopfloor experience is helpful),
• basic Lean Management knowledge is beneficial, but not a strict requirement,
• willingness to work on a small GPS pilot or concrete improvement activities in your own area.

Course contents (lesson overview)

• L01 – Structure & principles of a Generic Production System
  What is a GPS, why do you need one, and how do structure, principles and system thinking fit together?
• L02 – Roles, governance & steering logic
  Key roles, responsibilities, steering committees, review cycles and decision-making in GPS.
• L03 – GPS principles & Lean fundamentals
  Core Lean principles and design rules that form the backbone of your GPS.
• L04 – Customer orientation & KPI cascade
  Translating customer value and requirements into a KPI hierarchy (Q–D–C–S–M) and targets.
• L05 – Value stream orientation & flow
  Analysing value streams, identifying losses and bottlenecks, and designing stable flow.
• L06 – Standardised work & stability
  Designing, documenting and sustaining standard work as foundation for quality and safety.
• L07 – Visual management & shopfloor management
  Boards, daily meetings, escalation logic and visual control of deviations and actions.
• L08 – TPM & equipment reliability
  Linking TPM activities, OEE and GPS to reduce losses and stabilise critical equipment.
• L09 – CIP & problem-solving kata
  Establishing continuous improvement routines and structured problem solving in teams.
• L10 – GPS audit & maturity assessment
  Using audits and maturity models to assess the current state and derive improvement priorities.
• L11 – Closing & certificate
  Reflection, personal action plan, GPS roadmap and completion of the course including final quiz.

Completion & certificate

After successfully completing all lessons, passing the final quiz (L10) and meeting the defined
completion criteria in L11, you will receive a certificate “Generic Production System (GPS)”.

The certificate confirms that you have understood the GPS concepts, transferred them to your own
area and defined concrete next steps for implementation.