Index
Introduction
Lean principles are a generic set of Management strategies used to change the culture of organizations to bring about dramatic improvements to key metrics. There have been many contributors to the body of knowledge available on the subject. The more significant of these being Toyota entitled “The Toyota Production System” (TPS). There have also been many other contributors to this body of knowledge.
For a lot of organizations, Lean is a set of Toyota Production System tools that help identify the continual elimination of waste (Muda) improve quality, reduce production or processing time and reduce costs. To address the problem of waste. Lean has several tools it can deploy. These tools include “continuous process improvement” (Kaizan), “the 5 Why’s” and “mistake proofing” (Poka-yoke). This is very similar to other approaches taken for improvement methodologies.
The Toyota Production System takes 5 guiding principles which when implemented will result in transforming an organizations strategy. These 5 guiding principles are as follows:
Specify Value
Value must be defined by the customer. The customer (can be external or internal) is looking for specific products or services in a defined quantity at a defined time and at specific prices. Specifying this value is therefore the first step in a Lean Transformation. Specifying Value must be carried out on a continuous basis as customers change their mind with time. Once the value has been defined it is essential the organization confirms they have the right process in place to provide the product or service to meet these exact requirements.
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Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
Once the above value has been specified it is necessary to map the various processes which are needed to deliver it. VSM is a very useful tool to provide clarity on value-add versus non value add (waste) activities in an organization. If the process of eliminating waste has been achieved from a series of Kaizan’s in individual operations, then islands of improvement will exist in the organization. However it is essential that the total strategy is reviewed otherwise one will end up optimizing individual areas while sub-optimising the overall process.
For the product, process or business there are three streams or chains to be considered. These include problem solving utilizing root cause analysis, information management from order taking to product/process delivery and the physical transformation of inputs to outputs.
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Value Flow
Many organizations use batch production to optimize processes with the view to producing as many units as possible in a given time to maintain production efficiencies. This can lead to islands of high efficiency which when viewed in isolation benefit the organization however when viewed as part of the total process have resulted in sub-optimising the overall process.
Employing Lean principles requires the organization to move from a batch manufacturing/processing philosophy to one of continuous flow aiming at single piece processing. There are a number of obstacles which need to be addressed in parallel with transitioning to such a philosophy. These include changing the culture of the organization from batch to single piece flow, eliminating setup times and ensuring output from all processes are reliable and predictable.
Pull
The traditional manufacturing philosophy of most organizations is to push an estimated forecast of product demand from one operation to the next as fast and cheaply as possible until it is eventually delivered to the end customer. This step in the Lean principles is transitioning the organization from a push to forecast demand to pulling based on actual customer demand. This will result in many positives for the organization ranging from reduced cycle time, to reductions in inventory to improved customer service levels.
Using the Pull philosophy each operation only pulls product from its prior operation when real demand exists at the downstream operation. This results in a continuous flow being created in the organization utilizing the principles of Lean. To ensure this principle works all issues such as quality, downtime, absenteeism must be addressed to ensure there is minimum disruption to the process and the process output is well defined.
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Perfection
By implementing the above 4 steps the organization will have defined value from its customers perspective, will have eliminated waste and mapped the process, will have moved from batch to a continuous process and will have switched from a push to a pull philosophy.
By establishing continuous improvement teams and have them concentrate on improving the above 4 steps, the organization will continually improve on the overall process, elimination more and more waste and making incremental improvements striving towards perfection across the organization.
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Lean Culture
Business System Enabled
The common belief is that culture must change before the business system can change. At Lean Business Systems we do not agree with this, instead we believe that culture is a set of norms and habits that require discipline and structure. A business system architecture based on the Toyota Production System will provide this discipline and facilitate change. The important factors are the system rules and the consistent adherence to these at every level of the organization. This adherence is based on confidence in the system and does not allow for any exceptions.
Coaching Leadership
The pace of the Lean Transformation is dependent on the organizations leaders. Their ability to embrace change and develop a lean system is crucial in creating the organizations culture. The leadership's ability to focus on the customer, provide learning opportunities for staff, support the solving of problems at the correct level in the organization and to build success is critical in defining culture. LBS will work with the leaders in our client’s organization to develop the vision, objectives and methodology to build the system and culture necessary for the Lean transformation and hence the organization’s strategic competitive advantage.
Scientific Approach
Underlying a Lean culture is experimentation, where every cycle of work is evaluated by the people involved to improve it to the benefit of the customer, themselves and the organization. Fundamental to this is the application of a scientific approach based on the simple model of Plan, Do, Check, and Act by each member of the organization and the establishment of clear standards that reduce variation allowing the analysis to be simple and direct.
Making Success a Habit
“Success breeds success”, so as people succeed in implementing change their confidence will build its own momentum. Key to this success is to provide each member of the organisation with the necessary tools to be successful in achieving their goals both as Kaizen Event team members and in their daily duties.
