See Beyond the Horizon

  When deploying lean I find it helpful to separate the activities into two components: lean operating systems and lean management systems. They both are integral parts of becoming and entity with world class culture and performance .  These terms are used interchangeably in various organizations, but the tools techniques, and applications of lean are different for both components.  Your lean operating system will consist of tools and activities related with improvement like kaizen, value streams, flow, pull, takt time, time observation, etc. (setting standards and improving standards) Sometimes I find it helpful to think in terms of breakthrough  improvement.   The lean operating system should be able to consistently  deliver double digit improvement  in the areas of staff morale and engagement, quality , lead-time, and cost. Your lean management system will consist of all the things related to managing and sustaining your lean environment su...

  See Beyond the Horizon Anyone who knows me understands I love sports and use a lot of sports analogies when I am trying to make points related to improvement.  This story is one of my favorites. A few years back,  I was listening to a former coach and he was talking about the pre-game locker room speech he would give his players. During this speech, he talked about how his players, coaches and fans want to win. But he said the other team's players coaches and fans also  want  to win. Heck, everyone wants to win. So what will create the difference between winning and losing? The difference between winning teams and losing teams is that winning teams  expect  to win. By expecting to win, their team is willing to perform the necessary acts to prepare themselves to win, then leverage their winning preparation during the game in a way so that they refuse to lose. When I am working with managers during improvement exercises, the difference between succes...

  One of the questions I frequently get is, "Does lean work here?" Or worse, I can see how lean works in this business, but it won't work here.  As I learned almost day one in my personal lean journey,  If there is work being done, lean applies.  In reality lean works in any process where value is delivered to a customer. Last I checked, this is just about any work being done anywhere.  There are thousands of applications of lean beyond  transactional processes , or repetitive   manufacturing.  The specific lean tools used may be different, and the application of the tools will almost certainly vary industry by industry.   But if you are in business, your goods or services are providing value to a customer. Otherwise, why does the good or service exist? To give you an idea of where lean has been applied (and this is a very small sample) consider these diverse applications: shipbuilding, military equipment and electronics repair, retail,...

I have been quite fortunate to work with hundreds of organizations on their lean approach to improving their business. Over time, many of these organizations get  detailed lessons in the tools, techniques, and applications of some of the more common tools for seeing and eliminating waste. These include flow mapping, takt time, time observation, loading diagrams, VA/NVA analysis, standard work, and process control. The best way to learn is to have the time to practice each tool with real examples.  Even better to apply the tool to unique and actual problems in the workplace.  When learning in a training environment, team members are generally overwhelmed. Not that tools are complicated, as each one in itself is relatively simple to learn. None require more than a fourth grade education. The sense of overwhelming comes from the hundreds of applications of the tools, and the decision making that is required to select the right tool in the right setting. This takes years to ...

  I was reminded recently by an article from a friend of mine about how organizations often operate outside of reality. Many people fail to recognize that somewhere out there someone is competing with your organization, or preparing to compete with your organization. In both the manufacturing and the service sectors, unless you have a proprietary product, someone is actively pursing your market share. Even if you can hold someone off with a patent, similar competing products are on the horizon. You can choose to ignore this, act arrogantly, etc but it is happening whether you choose to believe it or not. If you work in a government system, you are still in competition. Someone is trying to get your budget dollars. Someone else is trying to privatize your work.  Outside of competition,  customers are demanding more very day.  Think about any product or service you have.  In the last three years or even 3 months have your expectations changed?  Are you no...

  One of the questions we frequently encounter in Lean improvement  is the use of IT to resolve problems. There are many technology applications out there. Aside from the common applications of Microsoft Office, there are applications for scheduling, forecasting, purchasing, accounting, etc. The computer, the internet, and more recently SaaS, has allowed many productivity enhancements to occur through automating the aggregation and disaggregation of data for decision making. And these calculations can be completed in fractions of a second. However, there are many managers out there today that think that an IT application can solve most if not all problems, including money opportunities and improving efficiencies. This 2009 article (granted it's a bit dated) published in EComputer World disputes these claims with some pretty astounding data. The data is specific to the healthcare  sector. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141428/Harvard_study_Computers_don_t_save_hos...

  Visual Management and the Production Control Board I have encountered many clients who feel that managing visually was busy work. Sometimes management believes  the electronic  tracking system is visual management. And sometimes management has already decided that the staff members could not meaningfully impact the outcome, it was busy work to report progress on an hourly basis. The specific tool I am referring to is known as a process control board. The process control board is designed to show variance from takt time. Takt time is a theoretical calculation the shows the relationship between the time available to do the work, and the volume of work. The inverse of this number yields units of output per hour. Regardless of the capacity of the process, variance from the takt time shows where the opportunities lie. An example of a production control board is shown below.  As a Lean Leader, the question you want to ask is the following, "Is it helpful for the staf...