Factory physics
by Wallace J. Hopp, Wallace Hopp, Mark Spearman, Mark L. Spearman · first published 1995
6mentions
4recommended by
4HN commenters
2019–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Resource added for the Manufacturing Engineering program 106233 and Manufacturing Operations Management program 101965.
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If you want to go deeper (much deeper) on Little's Law, Kingman's Formula and their friends, I highly recommend working through Factory Physics by Hopp & Spearman. It's a thorough coverage and is packed with useful insights.
on “Applying the Universal Scalability Law to Organisations (2015)” ↗Some of these aren’t bad. The Goal, for example, is a great book for helping you build intuition about constraints. But by far, the best manufacturing book I’ve read is Factory Physics, but Hopp and Spearman. It rewards study with a mathematical understanding of how value chains work. https://factoryphysics.com/factory-physics-3rd-edition
on “Best books to learn about manufacturing” ↗…Introduction to Operations Management by Cachon and Terweisch. A short, meant-for-MBAs textbook on operations management (ie applied operations research). Simple and approachable. Very good for warming up to... Factory Physics by Hopp and Spearman. Magisterial in scope, also magisterial in grumpiness and idiosyncracy. I've directly applied material from this book and Matching to research work. Business Dynamics by Sterman.…
on “Observations on Observability” ↗…treated as an undifferentiated flow as opposed to discrete units of product. I recommend Matching Supply with Demand by Cachon & Terweisch as a first book to read. Then follow with the more in-depth Factory Physics by Hopp & Spearman.
on “Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory” ↗Factory Physics - Hopp, Spearman Great book on manufacturing operations management that I consider to be one of the best technical books on the subject.
on “Ask HN: What's the "one book" in your discipline?” ↗…procedure and eliminating as much non-value add time as possible, which they did throughout their lives on things like tonsillectomies for their kids. Some impactful books on the whole field include Factory Physics (focusing on material flow through a factory) and The Toyota Way (focusing on lean manufacturing).
on “Ask HN: Recommend books that give you insight into other professions” ↗