Lean Literature

Flexible Approaches to Implementing Lean Manufacturing

Running your company as efficiently as possible has become critical in recent years and even more urgent during the struggles of today´s economy. Some alternative approaches are beginning to help companies implement Lean Manufacturing improvements quickly, inexpensively, and without overburdening staff resources.

This article will briefly describe four new approaches being pioneered in an effort to make Lean implementation available to all companies regardless of their financial situation or personnel constraints. No matter what approach you take to becoming Lean, allow yourself and your staff to enjoy the process. Few events in manufacturing are as exciting or dramatic as radically improving your workplace and the camaraderie of good people eagerly engaged in making the company better and stronger for everyone. Focus any of the programs described below at your company´s "constraints" and you will increase throughput and profits while substantially reducing waste.

Lean On the Run: Perhaps one of the most innovative approaches to implementing Lean quickly and with minimal downtime, Lean On the Run uses the experience and talents of a Lean Consultant/Facilitator, an assistant, and occasional help from the "team" or staff assigned to the area being improved.

In practical terms, an important area of business functioning is selected for rapid improvement to achieve defined goals and objectives. The "team" participates in a brief but convincing training session and demonstration of Lean principles, after which they are released to the shop floor to begin work as usual. The facilitator and assistant then get very busy progressing through a discovery process examining the target area and every aspect of its functioning. The pair carefully observes, learns the process, and solicits input from the operators/staff to acquire needed data. You might say the facilitator and assistant function something like a computer´s "CPU" gathering data, processing it, and then providing output for decision-making.

Periodically, the team is "huddled" together to discuss observations, try out new methods, and make operational/functional decisions. When the team and management agree upon a clear vision of improvements needed, a plan is developed to implement the improvements at the earliest opportunity.

Normally, full implementation will require an 8-10 hr. commitment spread over a week´s time, for 6-10 people. This is less than 20% of the usual time needed for standard "Kaizen Events" or "Blitzes." Downtime is kept to a minimum by making major changes during off-shifts, temporarily building additional inventory to offset any interruptions, and other effective strategies. This approach works particularly well when companies have reduced staff or are simply too busy to slow or shut down production for extended periods.

OJT Lean: Most states now have funds available to help companies upgrade the skills of their workforce through "Custom Fit" and OJT (On-The-Job Training) programs. These funds are typically used to "invest" in local companies for the collateral benefits gained for local and state economic development. The focus is less "team" based and more dependent on the trainer/trainee(s) relationship and their engagement in applying improvement activities throughout the company. Implementing Lean Manufacturing techniques throughout the company while transferring "Lean Expertise" to the in-house "Improvement Manager" trainee(s) is the goal of this program. Hours of instruction are conducted in a primarily hands-on fashion as the Lean expert teaches, coaches, and collaboratively implements various aspects of Lean Manufacturing throughout the company. Trainees are given improvement assignments and are mentored through this process in an intensive four to six month undertaking that makes Lean experts out of existing staff. This approach eliminates the need for increasing head-count, implements the majority of the "big bang" Lean techniques, and insures deep level understanding and capabilities of the trainee(s). After the training period, the expert level "Improvement Manager(s)" guides the company through new improvement initiatives as needed without further outside support.

Lean Right Now: This is a typical "Kaizen Event" or "Improvement Blitz" approach with a few twists. The "Lean Right Now" approach exemplifies engaging in the implementation of real improvements with a diverse team made up of committed individuals from throughout the company to affect significant change very quickly. Emphasis is placed on strategic, tactical employment of Lean tools that increase throughput and reduce waste almost immediately. "Analysis Paralysis," or overanalyzing issues to the point that nothing actually gets done is avoided by using this methodology. Typically, this approach will require the full-time efforts of 6-10 people for five days to achieve full implementation in a single area or concern. When creatively engaged and empowered, "Blitz Teams" routinely achieve incredible results using this approach. It is among the more costly programs with regards to committed staff resources, but typically results in some of the largest improvements and greatest team buy-in. Team buy-in, commitment, and empowerment ensure long-term effective improvement activities. If you have the ability to commit 6-10 people to this process for a week it is among the most powerful approaches to implementing Lean available.

Walkabout Lean: From the "land down under" the term "walkabout" refers to someone taking a long walk, exploring, taking a look around, etc. That is the beginning of this approach to implementing Lean. A Lean expert carefully looks over the production facility along with a very knowledgeable in-house plant expert, noting where urgent attention is most needed. Improvement opportunities are prioritized to the company´s critical success factors and plans are laid to systematically address the improvements promising the greatest impact sequentially. Operators are observed and asked for regular input and occasionally some help, but are mostly left to their jobs. Using available personnel from focus areas and throughout the company, major improvements are accomplished in a very flexible and fluid process. This technique is most useful when staffing is tight, or production is unable to slowdown during the improvement process. A skilled facilitator can make this a "team process" by carefully listening to and incorporating input from area operators. Generally, however, this approach will not initially increase the "team buy-in" that other approaches foster. On a serious budget of time or staff this approach can deliver fast and powerful results with little disruption. Don´t let the quirky name for this approach fool you, when you turn an improvement expert lose in your plant exciting and important changes will not be far behind.

Using these streamlined approaches to becoming Lean very quickly and inexpensively will help companies become stronger and more profitable with unprecedented speed over more conventional implementation programs. To be very realistic, dramatic improvements are exiting, but creating a culture that embraces and sustains Lean processes as well as implementing Lean throughout an entire company is a long-term endeavor. It should also be noted that becoming Lean is only part of the equation. Developing your staff with cross-training opportunities and validating their input on company issues, etc., will yield benefits such as innovation and loyalty for years to come. Furthermore, don´t forget to have fun with your transition to Lean Manufacturing. Sure, some of the obstacles will be formidable, but the improvement process is generally very exciting and rewarding for all involved.

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Update: November 2012

Lean Thinking and Agile Methodologies

Several conversations in context of Lean and Agile have revealed a few patterns that we would like to share. Some people talk about Lean and Agile as if they are the same things, some try to distinguish as if they are not, and some are simply caught between the two, not sure what is what. Another observation - a lot of folks in their conversations use Lean and Agile and almost come across unsure about what they exactly are.

We have heard them all - agile way, agile manner, agile methods, agile practices, agile processes, agile framework, agile tools, and a few more.
What's the difference? Let's see if the two bullet items below start to draw a picture:

•     Lean Thinking and Agile Methodologies
•     Lean Principles and Agile Practices

Basically, Lean is a philosophy and Agile is a set of practices. In not so refined and all encompassing manner , the philosophy is to avoid the waste which can be implemented using some practices. That's the difference.
Click here for the PPT of this subject

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Update: October 2012

Industrial Engineer's quarterly column about lean manufacturing (May 2012)

Live lean or die

We have heard the statistics. “Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms, employ half of all private sector employees, pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll, generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years, create more than half of the nonfarm private GDP, hire 43 percent of high-tech workers (scientists, engineers, computer programmers, and others), … make up 97.5 percent of all identified exporters and produced 31 percent of export value in FY 2008 [and] produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms,” according to the Small Business Administration.

In short, small businesses drive the U.S. economy.

Explanations vary, but one common theme is the longstanding belief that small businesses “tend to be more nimble, more creative [and] less bound up in bureaucratic rigamarole,” Kathleen Melymuka wrote in CIO magazine. In the parlance of industrial engineering, small businesses tend to be more lean.

Small business owners should be familiar with lean because practicing lean principles will keep their organizations alive, according to business systems coach Ron Carroll. Indeed, this Darwinan imperative is the missing ingredient in many unsuccessful lean implementations.

Yet most practitioners of industrial engineering and lean methodologies occupy organizations of scale. The father of industrial engineering, Frederick Taylor, spent the balance of his career working and consulting in large factories. And the business most associated with lean manufacturing, Toyota, was a huge company before it embraced lean precepts. In a sense, we use lean principles to help transform a large organization into a small one.

Lean orthodoxy argues that leadership involvement is the secret sauce of success. And while it is true that “leadership teams can jump-start the culture change process by issuing organizational behavioral expectations … and behavioral expectations will only produce culture change if they are modeled by the leadership team,” according to WCM Associates LLC President Larry Rubrich, successful lean needs much more.

Certainly, leadership commitment is critical. Mission statements on the backs of employee badges or a company meeting to announce a re-org are not sufficient. If lean implementation becomes what Richard Kallage calls “Let’s give it a try” instead of “We will do it, and here’s why,” failure often follows.

For instance, you must have a compelling vision of the company’s future. Without this vision, it’s hard for top management to develop the passion and determination needed to implement lean, Kallage wrote for Thefabricator.com. Without the passion, the initiative likely will flounder. Yet for leadership team members to instill this sense of purpose and dedication they, in turn, need to be highly motivated. The moment that leadership teammates realize that failure is an option, they will revert.

So where does this leave us? Managing a large organization often has been compared to steering a large ship, but lean often is like whitewater rafting. Without inventory to buffer the ride, each jagged rock in the river becomes a life-threatening obstacle. And given a choice, the rational individual usually will opt for passage on the slow-moving ship over the hair-raising raft. Even if the ship is the Titanic. Often, organizational inertia is just too strong.

So the challenge for the lean practitioner is to do more than set up work teams or model the precepts of lean thinking; rather, your challenge is to sell, starting at the top, the notion that lean is not just an option, an alternate business model or another re-org, but rather an organizational imperative. Perhaps the motto should be: Live Lean Or Die.

Paul Templin is a materials engineer and supply chain professional with a multinational consumer electronics company. He can be reached at dstemplin2@juno.com.

Update: September 2012

Quality Function Deployment

QFD is a quality approach to new product design, development, and implementation driven by customer needs and values. QFD has been successfully used by many world class organizations in automobiles, ship building, electronics, aerospace, utilities, leisure and entertainment, financial, software, and other industries.

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 Update: August 2012

Hosin or Hoshin Planning (HP)
Also known as Management by Policy or Strategy Deployment. A means by which goals are established and measures are created to ensure progress toward those goals. HP keeps activities at all levels of the company aligned with its overarching strategic plans. HP typically begins with the “visioning process” which addresses the key questions: Where do you want to be in the future? How do want to get there? When do you want to achieve your goal? Who will be involved in achieving these goals? HP then systematically explores the ‘what’s, ‘who’s and ‘how’s throughout the entire organization.

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Update: July 2012
Lean Thinking and JIT (Lean tools)

Lean thinking is a means of looking at how you create value that your customers truly desire with the minimum resources.

It can be applied in any industry but common applications include:

•  Manufacturing
•  Office
•  Health Care
•  Product Development

Generic Tools that can be applied in lean thinking include:

• 5S
• Value Stream Mapping
• Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
• Just in Time (JIT)
• Waste Analysis
• Problem Solving
• Teamwork
• Visual Performance Measurement

We at H4M Lean Consulting Group, consider 5S and Visual Controls to be the foundation of Lean Manufacturing systems. 5S and Visual Controls are workplace organizational tools that provide the necessary groundwork for workplace improvement. 5S and Visual Controls ensure that there is a place for everything and that everything is in its place—clean and ready to use.

Lean Consulting , 5S and Visual control

A value stream map (VSM) is a drawing that depicts the flow of material and information along a value stream (the linked series of processes that brings a product from raw materials into the hands of the customer, or that provide a service to a customer).
A value stream map is generally hand drawn, as it lets the mapper record information on the spot. For that reason, a value stream map often looks a little scruffy from traveling around the company.
Many people will copy a value stream map into a graphics program, such as Microsoft Visio, which has a value stream map stencil pack.

The Basics of Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

Heijunka (production levelling) is Japanese technique of achieving even output flow by coordinated sequencing of verysmall production batches throughout the manufacturing line in a lean production or  just in time  (JIT) System.

Click here to watch a PowerPoint presentation which has valuable points on this technique.

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Update: June 2012

Kaizen Blitz

Kaizen Event Best Practices - Institute of Industrial Engineers

Andon Board: Japanese name for a visual production-control device

This control device (usually a lighted overhead display) continuously shows changing status of the production line and sounds alerts if a problem is imminent.

Click here to watch a PowerPoint presentation with samples of how to use this board.

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Update: May 2012

Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)

Quick Changeover (SMED)

A Strategy for Performance Excellence

Lean Thinking

by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones
Read review

Lean Transformation: How to Change Your Business into a Lean Enterprise
by Bruce A. Henderson and Jorge L. Larco (foreword by James P. Womack)

Simple Excellence: Organizing and Aligning the Management Team in a Lean Transformation
by Adam Zak and Bill Waddell

Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation
by George Koenigsaecker
Read review

The Lean Manager
by Michael Balle and Freddy Balle

The Going Lean Fieldbook: A Practical Guide to Lean Transformation and Sustainable Success
by Stephen A. Ruffa

Principles of Lean Thinking

Tools and Techniques for Advanced Manufacturing

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Update: April 2012

Lean Thinking Videos

Where Great Companies Start - Toyota: Lean Thinking

Where Great Companies Start - Toyota: Achieving Leadership Through Integration

Where Great Companies Start - Toyota: The Essence of Leadership

Toyota: Minimizing misses for operational excellence

Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods

Did we leave something out? Please don't hesitate to contact us with additions to the list.