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Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:
Lean
Tip #1306 – Learn From Your Past Changes
Unless
your organization is brand new, it’s unlikely it has not rolled out a change
(big or small) before. You should use
the lessons learned from rolling out these changes to form and inform your new
change management approach. This is the
easiest and probably most valuable piece of information to shape your tactics
and build an even stronger approach.
Key
questions to ask about the previous change are:
what worked and what didn’t work?
Why or why not? If you can get
more details, ask for more! Find out
which communication mechanisms had the most impact, which champions were the
strongest and which resources were the most helpful.
Lean
Tip #1307 – Avoid the Rumor Mill
People
talk. Given a chance and an inkling of
change approaching, people will fill in the blanks if you don’t. Get ahead of the rumor mill by preparing your
communications before rumors leak to the media and throughout your organization.
Your
change management approach does not have to be fully pulled together to
announce change is coming. Key elements
of the initial communications would be the why, when and how. Be sure to note that feedback will be
solicited, FAQs will be coming and many more resources to learn more.
Lean
Tip #1308 – Get Buy-in for Your Change
So,
it’s not just the resistors. Everyone
likes to be involved. Soliciting
feedback early in your change management process is key to understanding what
could go wrong, tweaking it and correcting it.
If it’s a new system, this buy-in should involve employee input, pilot
testing and demos.
Lean
Tip #1309 – Select the Right Change Agent and Strategy
One
of the most common mistakes we see is an insufficient number of Change
Agents—coupled with Change Agents who lack the interpersonal skills or
credibility to be successful. Subject matter expertise and availability are not
the primary characteristics of a good Change Agent. The key role mapping
process can help identify where you will need Change Agents (and Sponsors). You
must invest in building capacity at the local level to get the change.
Lean
Tip #1310 – Invest Time Up-front to Ensure There is a Common Definition of the
Change and Alignment
We
are continually amazed at organizations’ willingness to invest large sums of
money and resources for changes that are not clearly defined. Without a clear
definition, Change Agents and Sponsors are likely to head off in whatever
direction suits their own frames of reference. You may get change, but not the
change that was intended!
Lean
Tip #1311 – Avoid Self Imposed Inflexibility, Especially For Job Shops
Job
shops, make-to-order shops and engineer-to-order operations need to maintain a
level of flexibility that OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturer) like Toyota
seldom have to deal with. Being able to turn on a dime, make a product from
scratch, prototype or fabricate an item never to be made again takes a special
attitude, a unique set of skills and a nimble and flexible manufacturing
system. One-Piece-Flow through hardwired machines is not a viable an option for
Job Shops. Does this rule out 'Lean' for Job Shops? No! Many 'Make-to-Order'
shops have applied tools from the 'Toyota Production System' Toolbox to
dramatically improve their performance while still maintaining flexibility.
Lean
Tip #1312 – Don’t Ignore Lean Fundamentals When Improving.
Arranging
machines together before they are capable and reliable is one of the most
common mistakes. Moving
the furniture is not the first thing you do, in fact it may be one of the last
steps. Departmentalization can hide problems for years. Yet two wrongs do not
make a right. Make sure that you are not increasing your chances for downtime
and excessive set-up time by welding machines together in a premature effort to
achieve one-piece-flow. It is tempting and very romantic to show your customer
a cellular manufacturing arrangement, but if you are in a breakdown or set-up
mode 47% of the time as in one of the examples we use in our workshop, you will
cripple your ability to meet your customer needs. Focus on the fundamentals:
Set-up reduction, 5-S, use of Takt Time, standard work, line balancing, TPM,
and cross training.
Lean
Tip #1313 – Stop Trying to Change Things Rather Than Focusing on Behavior.
Dupont's
famous safety program known as the STOP system teaches us that 96% of all
accidents are behavior related. Having Lean initiatives come "undone"
can similarly be tracked back to behaviors. Many companies fail to apply enough
effort to changing the standard-work or behavior when implementing change.
Modification of the work process is necessary so that it is hard to go back to
the old way of doing things. The new process then has a chance to become a
habit. If on the other hand, you only change "things", then the
"things" will get lost or broken or replaced when no one is looking.
In no time you'll be back to the old condition.
Lean
Tip #1314 - Better to go an Inch Deep
Instead of a Mile wide
Some
teams take a "shot-gun" approach to Leaning-out their organization.
The result? Slow progress. Getting the "low-hanging-fruit" is fine,
especially if there is financial "bleeding" going on somewhere in the
organization. However, teams need to realize that running from one end of the
shop to the other with Kamikaze Kaizen tools can actually add to the time
necessary to transform a company. It has been said that you cannot Kaizen your
way to lean. Kaizen is a tool much like any other tool in the World-Class
Manufacturers toolbox. Of course the techniques of Kaizen should be used where
appropriate, but this is not a one-size-fits-all tool. A better approach is to
drill to the bedrock, preferably within a model-line (selected as a major value
stream within the organization). Apply as many of the tools as possible in a
controlled atmosphere. Then you will have a meaningful model upon which you can
build, while training other teams within your organization.
Lean
Tip #1315 – Don’t Accept Set-up Times as a “Fixed” Number
Toyota
focuses on SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) and they have taught us by
example to never accept our set-up times as a 'fixed' number. However, in a job
shop it could be very expensive to try to match Toyota's level of success in
set-up reduction. How about cutting all your set-ups in half as a first year
goal. SDED (Single Digit Exchange of Die) is not too lofty a goal for the
second year. Having all machine set-ups average 10 minutes or less, is a goal
many Job Shops have set for themselves. Pretending to be a small lot
manufacturer while spending more than 10% of the day in a set-up mode can
eat-your-lunch (financially speaking).
Lean
Tip #1316 – Avoid Backsliding By Monitoring and Rewarding the Right Behavior
Backsliding
is an age-old condition that can often apply to many aspects of life. It would
be presumptuous of us to hope to offer a cure for one of mankind's oldest
maladies in a two-page newsletter. Suffice it to say that we tend to improve
only that to which we pay attention and measure. If a management team rewards
the wrong behavior (old behavior), then that's what you can expect to get.
Lean
Tip #1317 - Focus on “Flow” Rather Than Machine Optimization.
Way
back in 1926, Henry Ford acknowledged that the longer a product was in the
manufacturing cycle, the more it cost. Keeping the material flowing is the most
important message that we try to transmit at our workshops. Ford fledged, and
Toyota mastered the principles of FLOW. Flow might look different in a
Make-to-Order shop because the flow might take the form of one-unit-flow, or
one-pallet-flow, or one-truckload-flow instead of a perfectionist idea of
One-Piece-Flow. Nothing wrong with perfection you understand, we just need to
recognize that there is no reason to wait for absolute perfection before we get
started. Make the problem visible to everybody. Tie a red ribbon to any pallet
of material that sets still for more than ½ hour. Make sure that everyone knows
that the goal is not to have a machine operate just to keep it busy or making
noise. The goal is to do whatever helps keep parts moving through the shop.
Lean
Tip #1318 - Think Outside the Box.
Job
shops are often owned by entrepreneurs. Free thinkers who started their
business in a garage or rented warehouse. Once becoming successful these same
free thinkers often become their own enemy. They are so good at what they do
that they ignore the fact that others may have discovered a better approach.
Just like Tiger Woods might hire a golf-pro to help him improve his short game,
recognizing a need for coaching does not diminish or call into question a
person's ability. On the contrary, it shows intuitiveness and wisdom. It can
help move your company to the next level of performance.
Lean
Tip #1319 – Teams Need Training and A Coach
Providing
teams a clear vision of where the company is going is all-important. Of equal
import is educating teams in the use of skills they'll need to get the job
done. No amount of cheerleading will improve a football team's skill set or
chances of winning. They need a coach to teach them the fundamentals. They also
need a playbook that can help transform their individual efforts into a winning
team result; the same can be said for work teams. They need structured and
experienced coaching from someone who knows the game. While it's nice to have
the cheerleaders on the sidelines, they would be a poor replacement for a
skillful coach.
Lean
Tip #1320 - Change Requires Constant Support and Attention.
To
get better every day takes knowledge, diligence, effort, focus and resources.
It will not work to simply give a team a book about Lean Manufacturing, turn on
your heels and walk away, ordering them to implement the process. The result
will be 'short-term-improvement' and 'long-term-frustration'. Company
leadership must take an active role in steering the efforts of the team.
Direction and discipline to keep working on the Model-Line must come from the
top. Otherwise sub-optimization and shot gunning will occur. The short-term
needs of the manufacturing managers and the finance team will overshadow the
long term needs to establish something more than a brittle veneer.
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