Do Lean Manufacturing Principles Work?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Art

The one question that I am always being asked is “Do Lean Manufacturing Principles Work?” I can say that this is an important question and everyone that asks it expects me to say “Yes.” However, when you look at the number of companies that actually fail to make Lean Manufacturing Principles work for them, it’s amazing. When you look at the research it shows that over 90% of the companies that implement a Lean Manufacturing Principles program will abandon it within two years. Why is this?

Well, it’s because the companies that fail are using Lean Manufacturing Principles as a cost cutting measure, not a continuous process improvement program. Here is great article about this issue.

New study downplays effects of lean manufacturing – Reuters

Re uters

New study downplays effects of lean manufacturing
Reuters
(Reuters) – Lean manufacturing principles, widely touted by companies as an effective way to eliminate waste and boost the bottom line, often do not achieve targeted cost savings, according to a study to be released on Wednesday. …

and more »

The article brings the key issue to the forefront in that it highlights the main reason why so many companies fail to implement Lean Manufacturing Principles successfully. The main focus must be on changing the culture of an organization to embrace Lean Manufacturing Principles as a method of identifying and eliminating waste to increase value for the customer. Many business owners and management teams forget to focus on this core principle. Some do it because they were not taught to apply Lean Manufacturing Principles correctly, however most choose to override it because they can only see profit instead of process improvement. Toyota’s has a set of 14 principles that influences their business practices. “People First” is their number one focus.

It is always a pleasure to report a success when it comes to a company using Lean Manufacturing Principles to improve their business practices.

Aerofil Technology, Inc. Brings Lean Manufacturing to the Midwest …

“I am thrilled to be able to share the benefits of Lean Manufacturing with our industry,” noted Bergin. “The MAA Fall Meeting is the ideal place to discuss improvements in manufacturing practices, improvements that will help …

http://leanoffice.us/lean/aerofil-technology-inc-brings-lean-manufacturing-to-the-midwest-aerosol-association

Post written and edited by Chris Turner

Chris Turner is the Director of Training and Development for Radical Transformation LLC. He has 28 years of experience in the Continuous Process Improvement field. During this time, he has integrated Lean Principles, Lean Six Sigma and Change Management into his skill’s portfolio. He has worked with major organizations in the UK, USA and Canada such as the US Air Force, Canadian Ministry of Health, Siemens, Medtronic, APW, English China Clay to name a few. He participated in the design and development of Lean Certification Online, which allows learners to have 24/7 access to online lean training materials. To learn more about lean manufacturing principles click here

Posted in Lean Manufacturing Principles | Tagged lean certification training, lean in manufacture | Leave a comment

Five points to know before utilizing Lean Principles!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Art

Learn these important facts about Lean Principles!

Every business owner needs to know this about lean principles!

Transforming any enterprise into a Lean Business can be a daunting job if the person carrying out the work doesn’t have the knowledge and experience to comprehend what needs to be done.

Allow me to share five points about lean principles!

Every business owner should realize the following about lean prinicples before they embark on a lean program.:

#1. Lean Training:

One way for a conventional company to become more profitable will be to train their employees about Lean Principles and how to apply them to eliminate waste and improve their own workspace. This can be a win-win for the enterprise, its people and its customers. Get the right individual, and that is someone who has a good knowledge of implementing Lean Principles into an enterprise. Ask for details about past results for continuous process improvement (CPI) projects utilizing Lean tools.

#2. Problem Solving:

Finding improvements on the job sounds like an easy step, nonetheless, realistically, it is rather tricky, and the root-cause of this can be that people don’t know the place to start. Most organizations get their workforce to spend their valuable time concentrating on the wrong areas. This causes more issues since it increases cost instead of reducing it. Train your staff to use lean principles to become problem solvers and then allow them to see and eliminate the waste.

#3. Kaizen:

The concept of Kaizen is based on a couple of factors included inside the word, which you will find are “Kai” and “Zen”, the definition of these two words is “change for the better.” It is important to understand that this means never changing something for the sake of change. Make it a rule to make use of change using lean principles only when it will improve business processes to increase value from a customer’s perspective.

#4. Genchi Gembutsu:

A business owner cannot determine what is happening in their workplace if they are not embracing “Genchi Gembutsu.” This is a Japanese term which loosely translates into “Go to the place where the work is actually being done to see it with your own eyes.” Don’t try to improve company methods away from the place of work, such as inside a conference area or an office. Employ lean principles to drive change! Go to where the process is currently being performed and watch it in action to get an accurate understanding about what is occurring.

#5. Developing a Lean Culture:

Many organizations employ lean principles on an unplanned basis while not thinking about the consequences of their actions in attempting to develop and establish a Lean Culture. The only way any company is not going to emerge as one more failed lean implementation statistic is to obtain the proper type of environment to aid the identification as well as elimination of waste to increase value for its end users.

Understanding these five straightforward factors will get you targeted on accomplishing the right actions and make your Lean implementation proceed much smoother. Education is important but it is only by people taking action and employing their understanding of Lean Principles that they will start to change their enterprise into a Lean Enterprise.

Chris Turner is the CEO and Director of Training and Development for Radical Transformation LLC. He has 27 years of experience in the Continuous Process Improvement field. During this time, he has integrated Lean Principles, Lean Six Sigma and Change Management into his skill’s portfolio. He has worked with major organizations in the UK, USA and Canada such as the US Air Force, Canadian Ministry of Health, Siemens, Medtronic, APW, English China Clay to name a few. He participated in the design and development of Lean Certification Online, which allows learners to have 24/7 access to online lean training materials. To learn more about lean principles click here

Posted in Lean Manufacturing Principles | Tagged 5 whys, Continuous Process Improvement, CPI, genchi gembutsu, Kaizen, lean certification, lean certification training, Lean Culture, Lean Manufacturing, Lean principles, lean training, problem solving | Leave a comment

How can I improve my business practices?

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Art

Lean Principles work best with the minds of many!

Use the power of team to impelement Lean Principles!

The latest phenomenon on the internet is an innovation that can trace its origin to the concept of Kaizen. This idea is called “crowdsourcing.” Jeff Howe is credited with crafting the name in his June 2006 Wired magazine article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing”. What is “crowdsourcing?”

The definition sited in Wikipedia states: “Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call. For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, refine or carry out the steps of an algorithm, or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data.” Wikipedia.org

The definition sited in Wikipedia goes on to say: “Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. In the classic use of the term, problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions. Users—also known as the crowd—typically form into online communities, and the crowd submits solutions. The crowd also sorts through the solutions, finding the best ones.” Wikipedia.org

Lean Principles and Crowdsourcing!

The practical application of lean principles as a problem solving tool follows a similar group of activities as crowdsourcing. In an organzation that has impelemented lean principles they use kaizen to find solutions. In a traditional Kaizen event, a cross-functional group of people are brought together to collaborate and form a Process Improvement Team (PIT). The sole purpose of the Process Improvement Team is to define a target goal for a specific process. Next, they use lean principles to they must identify the reason(s) why the process is not currently achieving the target goal to discover the root cause(s) of the problem. The team members will collectively try to develop a solution to eliminate the root cause(s) of the problem and improve the process so it is capable of achieving the target goal.

Kaizen is a good example of using the minds of many to determine the best way to improve a single process. Lean Principles were developed from a kaizen mindset. Crowdsourcing in my mind is the same as Kaizen but on a bigger scale. The business world is starting to see crowdsourcing as a viable method for developing ideas, innovative products and services. Many business entities are searching for ways to monetize the process to reward people for their efforts. Some companies are compensating individuals with prizes and recognition. Financial compensation will help to attract more people to join their online communities. Crowdsourcing is based on the collaboration of a community to solve a problem and I see this as something we will see more of in the near future. Lean Principles use the same kind of focus by using the collective awareness of the crowd, even though it may be a small local crowd in a company.

Posted in Lean Manufacturing Principles | Tagged Kaizen, PIT. Root Cause. Problem Solving, Process Improvement Team | Leave a comment

Using Kaizen to Create a Lean Culture!

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Art

Many companies use Kaizen events to help improve their business processes!

However, is this the correct use of Kaizen?

Running Kaizen events without a strategic focus is like a surgeon operating on a person’s knee when they are suffering from a heart attack. The surgeon is doing something for the patient but this is not dealing with the root cause of the problem. Using Kaizen in such an isolated manner is called “Point Kaizen.” It is suboptimized improvement without consideration of its impact on the whole system.

This appraisal is a band aid for dealing with the strategic and tactical ares of the business that must be improved to improve value for the customer. Point Kaizen looks good on paper and in magazine articles but does little to establish a Lean Culture. Most companies operate their business processes by separating functional or departmental entities. This leads to the mindset of separation and/or isolation.

Establish a Lean Culture using Kaizen!

The establishment of a Lean Culture will become a reality when an organization is ready to integrate a Lean Philosophy and Lean Technology into its thinking and operating systems. This requires a more holistic focus on the business and how it operates to deliver value to all of its customers. This can be achieved using Hoshin Kari to drive the kaizen focus and develop the lean culture to become entrenched

Posted in Lean Manufacturing Principles | Tagged business processes, Kaizen, Lean Culture, Lean Philosophy, Lean Technology | Leave a comment

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Art

Lean Manufacturing is a production system based on the principles taken from the Toyota Production System (TPS). The original label for this process was “Just in Time (JIT).” However, in 1990 the phrase “Lean” was coined and it became integrated in the general JIT terminology. I personally prefer the original name because “Lean” has too many negative connotations. Often, when someone says the word “Lean”, employees immediately think reduction in resources i.e. people, jobs, equipment, etc. This has led to bad PR for businesses that are legitimately implementing Lean principles for the right reason, which is to improve value for their customers.

Posted in Lean Manufacturing Principles | Tagged improve value, JIT, Just in Time, Lean Manufacturing, Lean principles, Toyota Production System, TPS | 6 Comments

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