Walk time is an important factor in continuous improvement. Its main impact is on the seven wastes and on Standard Work. Obviously, the problem is that walking takes time that could be better spent working on a process. Walking distance adds up in a surprising hurry. For example, if a Read more…
A project is a set of interconnected tasks intended to achieve a specific goal. It is characterized by having a fixed end. Projects can be either individual or collaborative in nature. They are often limited by some constraint, usually cost. The practice of running a project is known as project Read more…
One of the key elements of any process is the workstation. Simply put, a workstation is the area that contains the work surfaces, fixtures, tools, and materials needed to perform a job. Classic thinking promotes the use of standard workstations. These off-the-shelf setups can be interchangeable, and often can be Read more…
As I write this, I am facing a bit of a dilemma. I have seen a few red flags popping up in the Lean community, and wanted to address them. But on the flip side, I don’t want to come across as being all reprimandy, especially since what I am seeing is coming from just a few interspersed people. I am afraid, though, that some of the things I have observed will become contagious and spread. So, what I will do instead is just post a few rules that I’d like you to help me enforce. If you see these things going on, please make a point of addressing them.
The 8 wastes are a variation on the seven wastes that were first proposed by Taiichi Ohno, the father of modern Lean. The original seven wastes are: Transportation Inventory (Excessive) Motion Waiting Overprocessing Overproduction Defects (Note that the first letter of each of these wastes spells the acronym “TIMWOOD“.) The Read more…
How do I “sell” Lean to my team? Like it or not, the early stage of any Lean transformation contains a sales pitch to the team. The members of the organization are being asked to take on something new. For them to fully commit, to fully buy in, they need to Read more…
POLL QUESTION: How long will it take a typical average company to become Lean?
One of the questions that many people have when they start a Lean journey is, “How long will it take?” Now, the truth is, this question is nearly impossible to answer. The motivation and resources of the company, the quality of the leadership, the presence of a crisis, and a host of other factors affect the speed with which a company embraces change…
Lean principles are the guiding concepts that drive the basic behaviors of an organization. While many Lean advocates create their own unique set of principles, the most famous were first presented by James Womack and Daniel Jones in their book Lean Thinking. The 5 Principles of Lean Specify value. This Read more…
Yokoten is a Japanese term that loosely translates into “horizontal deployment”. Essentially, it is the spreading of information across the organization. A key point to this is that it is not just the result that is shared, but also the process that led to the result. Most organizations have numerous Read more…
Value stream analysis is one of the steps in the value stream mapping process. The first step is to create a current state value stream map. This is simply a snapshot in time of the current conditions of an organization. Once the map is complete, however, you must decide what Read more…
Frontline employees are the people who do the ongoing production work in an organization. While the range and skills of frontline employees vary widely, most of the entry-level jobs within the company fall into this category. That is not to say all frontline jobs are entry-level. There are many senior Read more…
Shojinka is a form of flexible manufacturing, where the number of workers vary to match demand requirements. This is obviously superior to a static system that staffs work areas without consideration for fluctuations in production requirements. Being able to reassign people to exactly where they are needed will help keep Read more…