Daily Lean Tips Edition #62 (916-930)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #916 - Don’t Expect Training Alone to Fix Your Problem

Having a well-trained, correctly-focused team is of course an absolute must for any company looking to operate along Lean lines. But training alone isn’t a panacea and, indeed, will almost certainly lead to serious problems if it’s not accompanied by the organization paying proper attention to the other requirements of the methodology.

Lean Tip #917 - Develop a Suitable Infrastructure

Lean is far from a cosmetic practice: indeed, it’s pretty much the opposite, going deep into the cogs and springs of a business to get the very best out of the areas of operation it touches. As a result, it needs to be supported by a suitable organizational infrastructure catering for the specific requirements of this methodology. Think of what’s required as a somewhat holistic approach reaching throughout your business - it might sound like a big task, but in order to make the most of Lean you need to go well beyond the implementation team.

Lean Tip #918 - Cultivate a Zero Defect Mentality

The effectiveness of a Lean program depends on developing a mindset that refuses to accept or accommodate defects. Defects cost money, waste time, and frustrate managers, and building and sustaining a prevention-oriented culture requires driving away both defects and non-conformances. It’s important to create a culture of prevention, which causes people to prevent defects and non-conformities.

Lean Tip #919 - Understand Customer Requirements

Quality is a moving target that is defined or judged by the customer. Lean places the highest priority on customer input, and adopts a customer-driven quality approach to anticipating, meeting, and exceeding customer requirements. Lean should focus on aligning critical to quality customer requirements with the company’s business strategy.

Lean Tip #920 - Address the Root Cause

One critical factor on which the success of a problem solving rests is whether the analysis of the problem treats the root cause of the issue or the symptoms. Treating the root cause allows for the successful resolution of the problem and a permanent fix, whereas addressing the symptoms means that the root cause remains and will manifest itself later.

A successful root cause analysis must ask the question "WHY" the process or product is defective and proceed from there to try to find answers. Repeatedly stressing the "Why" after each answer allows you to peel away the layers of symptoms, eventually leading to the root cause of a problem.

Lean Tip #921 – Use a Data Based Approach to Improvement

Any good Lean program is steeped in data collection and analysis. Lean emphasizes gathering data, and then analyzing the same to identify problems, measure changes, and verify whether the changes lead to the desired improvements.

Lean Tip #922 - Manage Resistance to Change

Lean is in its purest sense a change management initiative, for it involves changing from a current state to a better state. Just as all change attracts resistance, Lean improvements also attract resistance to change, which may manifest as employees ignoring new processes, disagreeing with the benefits, making stringent criticisms, and more. Success depends on how effectively the leadership rises to the occasion and manages resistance to change.

Ways to overcome changes involve proactive leadership that lends clarity and removes doubts, effective communications, a carrot-and-stick policy, and more.

Lean Tip #923 – Effective Leadership is a Decisive Factor in Lean Success

Effective leadership is a decisive factor in the success of any project. Lean leaders need to lead from the front by displaying competence in the key methodologies, adopting a hands-on approach in the actual implementation, selling the project to the top management and other stakeholders, striking a rapport with key functional heads, overcoming resistance to change among the workforce, and more.

Lean Tip #924 – Involve the Workforce in Improvement

Quality improvement through Lean is not the responsibility of a specific team or department. Successful implementation occurs only when all employees take up responsibility to implement Lean in their work domains. Such a mindset comes only when employees perceive the benefits of the change. Benefits come only when the organization develops leaders and empowers people to become valuable contributors to the organization's success.

Lean Tip #925 - Without People, a Process Will Fail

If anything, good Lean is an intensively collaborative effort. From defining a problem to identifying what is important to a customer, from brainstorming for potential solutions to the actual work of implementing solutions, people form the core of a good Lean project. An important lesson here is to collaborate and associate with people who can offer ideas, give constructive criticism, and empower the attainment of your goals.

Lean relies on people working together to achieve a common measurable goal and the effective use of collective intelligence.

Lean Tip #926 - Engage the Right Team to Drive the Change

Having the right project structure is important. Make sure you have a strong, multi-disciplinary project team with the authority to make decisions on areas of design, communication, and change management. At the same time, ensure you have a group of employees who are representative of the workforce and whose role is to facilitate upward communication, review plans, and be your ambassadors in change.

Lean Tip #927 - Keep Culture Change Top of Mind

Many organizations focus on the physical and logistical changes (e.g., construction, moving into the new space) needed when transforming their workplace. Afterwards, they realize they should have focused much more on the culture change needed for success. The impact of change on people can be significant, and managing this is a crucial step to reaping the benefits of these programs.

Lean Tip #928 - Listen Deeply and Empathetically to the Employees.

You can expect that the employees will experience the same range of emotions, thoughts, agreement, and disagreement that you experienced when the change was introduced to you or when you participated in creating the change. Never minimize an employee's response to even the most simple change. You can't know or experience the impact from an individual employee's point of view. Maybe the change seems insignificant to many employees, but the change will seriously impact another employee's favorite task. Hearing the employees out and letting them express their point of view in a non-judgmental environment will reduce resistance to change.

Lean Tip #929 – Empower Employees to Contribute.

Control of their own jobs is one of the key factors in what employees want from work. So, too, this control aspect follows when you seek to minimize resistance to change. Give the employees control over any aspect of the change that they can manage. If you have communicated transparently, you have provided the direction, the rationale, the goals, and the parameters that have been set by your organization. Within that framework, your job is to empower the employees to make the change work. Practice effective delegation and set the critical path points at which you need feedback for the change effort - and get out of the way.

Lean Tip #930 - Create an Organization-Wide Feedback and Improvement Loop.

Is your change effective or optimal? Not necessarily. You must maintain an open line of communication throughout your organization to make sure that feedback reaches the ears of the employees leading the charge. Changing course or details, continuous improvement, and tweaking is a natural, and expected, part of any organizational change. Most changes are not poured in concrete but there must be a willingness to examine the improvement (plan - do - study - act).

Lean Quote: Find and Eliminate the Hidden Factory

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"In the U.S.A., about a third of what we do consists of redoing work previously done." — J.M. Juran

Nearly every business has some level of ongoing rework. Most product-based businesses have some form of rework when they don’t satisfy the customer with their first effort. It may be that you can’t supply the complete order in one lot, or the quality of the product does not meet the customers’ needs. In service businesses, rework can occur when the customer is not happy with the service and some form of corrective work or follow up is required by the management team.

Scrap and rework costs are a manufacturing reality impacting organizations across all industries and product lines. No matter why scrap and rework occurs, its impact on an organization is always the same—wasted time and money. Activities that reduce the quality or efficiency of a manufacturing operation or business process, but are not initially known to managers or others seeking to improve the process are referred to as “The Hidden Factory.” Most organizations have some form of a Hidden Factory.

Instead of trying to fix the rework process (which is Muda), determine the root causes of needing rework/repair and fix those. If priority is given to evaluating and improving your manufacturing processes, it becomes much easier to reduce the amount of scrap and rework in your organization. Remember, Lean is about zero defects.

To maintain a competitive edge, manufacturers must constantly find ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. Correcting your systems by finding and eliminating the root causes of rework will result in a much smoother workflow. This will translate directly to bottom line improvements.

 

Lean Management from the Gemba

http://money.cnn.com/

A Lean implementation can not be sustained without Lean management. Our management system must change as our production system changes in Lean to maintain the integrity of technical changes over time. A Lean management system comprises of the practices and tools used to monitor, measure, and sustain the operation of Lean production operations. Lean management practices identify where actual performance fails to meet expected performance; assigns and follows up improvement activities to bring actual in line with the expected, or to raise the level of performance.

Management must go to the Gemba to practice Lean management. The word 'Gemba' is a Japanese word that means the real or actual place. Gemba Walks can be summarized by:

     Go to the actual place.

     Get the facts about the actual thing or activity.

     Grasp the entire situation.

     Generate reasons that explain what is happening.

     Guide corrective actions or countermeasures.

The purpose of walking the actual place or Gemba is help identify problems, non-value added activities, or wastes through a deliberate observation of a particular area or process.

All too often, attempts are made to solve problems without knowing anything about or are not being familiar with a particular area or process -- resulting in a misdiagnosis or failed solution. Answers come from the floor, from the Gemba, where the condition occurs. You need to go to the real place and experience these conditions for yourself before being able to take the next steps.

Gemba walks are not to be confused with management by walking around (MBWA). The primary purpose of Gemba walking is to teach. When you are the Gemba walker, you are playing the role of sensei (mentor, coach, teacher). The role of the sensei is to ask questions, introduce new tools and approaches, stimulate new thinking, teach, and (sparingly) to give advice.

Manager should be out in Gemba regularly. They should spend a big chunk of their day out on the shop floor. Gemba walking teaches us to see in new ways what we have failed to see before. So what do you look for and how do you see it? All management should learn to ask these three simple questions:

       1) What is the process?

       2) How can you tell it is working?

       3) What are you doing to improve it (if it is working)?

Nothing sustains itself, certainly not Lean manufacturing or Lean management. So, establish and stick to a routine including regular visits to the Gemba, check the status of visual controls, follow-up on daily accountability assignments, and ask the three simple questions everywhere. Gemba walks are really the check in our PDCA methodology of continuous improvement. Lean management is, as much as anything, a way of thinking. Keep learning, thinking, and teaching in the Gemba.

Lean Quote: You Get What You Measure

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Some say you only get what you measure. I say that’s all you get." — A. Donald Stratton

It is not enough to simply create a numeric measure. The measure should accurately reflect the process. We use metrics to base decisions on and to focus our actions. It is not only important to measure the right indicators, it is important to measure them well.

Choosing the right metrics is critical to success. Although there may never be a single perfect measure, it is certainly possible to create a measure or even multiple measures which reflect the performance of your system. If the metrics are chosen carefully, then, in the process of achieving their metrics, managers and employees will make the right decisions and take the right actions that enable the organization to maximize its performance.

If you don’t measure your organization’s improvement, you won’t monitor it, and if you don’t monitor your organization’s improvement, you can’t manage it. If you don’t manage your organization’s improvement, it will fail. 

 

Teamwork is the Engine that Drives Success

I believe teamwork is the real engine that will drive our initiatives through to success. Together, we will push forward and deal with the many critical issues and directives facing our industries and businesses. 

We all have roles in our organizations but it is the power of teamwork that makes our endeavors successful. It takes everyone working together on a common goal to be successful in Lean.

Most people respond well to being a valued member of a team by putting forth their best efforts. Human beings are hard wired to work cooperatively with one another to achieve common goals, so keep remember that not all performance rewards need to go to individuals. Incentives can be provided to the team as a whole for working efficiently together to reach goals.

Groups don’t just become teams because we use that name and it is not about teamwork. Teams act as a collective unit with shared commitment and not a band of individual contributors. Just like in Lean the whole, or in this case, the team is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Teams often are more difficult to form because it takes time for members to learn to work together. Management must support and encourage the use of teams in there organization.

Highly performing and effective teams use a set of values that encourage listening and responding constructively to views expressed by others, giving others the benefit of the doubt, providing support, and recognizing the interests and achievements of others.

Collaboration and team work create an environment that allows the collective knowledge, resources and skills of each team member to flourish. When people work together they can complete tasks faster by dividing the work to people of different abilities and knowledge. Teamwork can lead to better decisions, products, or services.

Organizations that cultivate a culture of teamwork generally outperform their more individualistic competitors. Frequently, this leads to a virtuous cycle of self-improvement, as success breeds enthusiasm, which breeds better teamwork, which breeds yet more success. For this reason, teamwork is important for creating a healthy, prosperous organization.

Lean and Inventory: Misunderstood

fabufacture.co.uk

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Lean is the use of inventory. Inventory is one of the eight deadly sins (wastes) in Lean manufacturing. This waste is often one that hides other wastes in our businesses. I think most are familiar with the river and boulder analogy. The water level in the river is the level of inventory and the boulders in the river and the problems in our business. As we lower the water level or inventory level those boulders or problems stick out.

It is fairly well understood the financial impact of inventory. Certainly, in these economic times it is not a surprise that many companies and their CEO’s are focused on cash flow. Yet, well-intentioned efforts to reduce inventory, more often than not, get only temporary results. Without effective business process changes, the organization can easily slip back to old ways with inventories (and costs) just climbing up again. I think question is should inventory reduction be an objective of the business or a result of say implementing improvements.

The numbers on the company balance sheet do not tell the whole inventory story. The overall inventory of an organization can be divided into 3 major groups: 1) Raw material, WIP, and Finished Goods 2) MRO inventory (inventory of tools, maintenance spares, misc. production items, etc.) and 3) Distribution inventory (all materials in-transit of stored outside premises). Traditionally, inventory reduction efforts have focused mainly on the first category. However, this typically accounts for less than 40% of the overall inventory of a company.

One of the major impediments to inventory reduction is the mistaken notion that just improved inventory management is all that is required to get the job done. The real culprits are the inefficient business processes that cause excessive inventories to exist in the first place. It is often the case that the real causes of excess inventory lie outside the purview of the supply chain managers.

The mantra here is that in order to get a bigger piece of the cake, one should increase the size of the cake itself. So the objective should be one of continuous improvement. We should consider improving production scheduling, reducing cycle times, increasing manufacturing flexibility, improving quality, improved forecasting, and developing and partnering with suppliers as the goal. By addressing the cause of the increased inventory the gains can be sustained. Reduced inventory quantities and dollars are then the resultant of said improvements in the business system.

Lean doesn’t mean ZERO inventory. It means the right inventory at the right time at the right quantities and in the right place. Every company needs buffers, but they must be well planned and controlled. As anybody who has spent some time in a manufacturing plant will tell you, operating without buffers is a sure recipe for disaster. Low inventories are commonly linked to Lean because many organizations are able to reduce inventory levels due to practicing Lean Thinking. But "true" Lean Thinkers understand lower inventories are a resultant of a process improvement not a solution to a problem.

Keeping the right amount of inventory is not straightforward, so managers need to address the issue in a proper way. Management who do not truly understand Lean teachings are often results orientated in our performance driven society. Inventory decisions are risky and they make a large impact throughout the supply chain. Without proper planning, a manufacturing company can run out of raw material, negatively impacting the company and its customers. Likewise, overstocking of raw materials, work in process inventory, or finished goods could also hurt the company’s profitability.

Lean Quote: Learning to See

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes." — Marcel Prust

Lean is not about the destination but rather the direction or path you take toward an idealistic place. The journey towards Lean can be difficult and filled with obstacles. Developing the ability to recognize waste is an essential first step on the right path of the Lean journey.

In my opinion Leaning out the waste is not necessarily the difficult part but rather the identification of the wastes.  Waste is all around us yet many cannot recognize it. 

Through lean you will learn to look at things differently and develop an eye for improvement. Learning to see the whole picture (value stream) is the challenge. We need to stop looking at our work from within. This allows us to see the waste that accumulates between all our processes and how to improve. No matter how “Lean” we are, we’ll always need to continue doing that. The key is to get as many “eyes for improvement” as possible.

Do not forget that wastes exist in all processes. The important point is “to see, identify and remove them.”