Lean and six sigma strategies use a belt system very similar to many forms of martial arts to designate the experience, skill and contribution to the organizations strategy for each individual. As you may know already there are 5 different belts that a practitioner can obtain.
White Belt - A white belt is generally trained in basic elements of lean and six sigma. They typically are capable of understanding language and activities that are going on around them and often times work with problem-solving teams. Although White belts are not often designated full time to a continuous improvement team they often times are able to assist others who may have little to no exposure in lean or six sigma. Yellow Belt - A yellow belt is often times a subject matter expert in specific areas of an organization. Generally yellow belts will participate in projects as an assigned team member and are often capable of providing direct assistance with process improvements and data collection. Green Belt - Green belts are very skilled in terms of improvement projects and analysis. The green belt is often of the same skill set as a black belt but lacks the experience needed to coach, guide, mentor and direct other individuals. Black Belt - A black belt has mastered almost all aspects of their niche. Black belts often lead in initiatives, problem solving and help support coaching, training and facilitation of other individuals. Master Black Belt - A master black belt is often referred to as sensei or coach. Often master black belts are full time coaches establishing programs to advance the organizations skill set and supporting as an "internal" consultant on large scaled projects.
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One of the first quality tools that I learned how to use was the control chart. At the time my job function consisted mostly of receiving a blueprint and designing the process which would ultimately make what was on the blueprint, while at the same time working up an RFP or and RFQ. Being heavily involved in six sigma at the time I frequently went to the gemba and looked at reports from previous production runs and spoke with the employees who ran the machines. One day while speaking with an employee he mentioned that there was a lot of sanding that needed to be done, but that other times yielded no sanding at all. Upon further review I learned that this sanding had been built into the process in order to solve the over-sized parts. Knowing that this was a form of over-processing I decided to collect some data. As we gathered the data a control chart was used to monitor the process stability as we produced our outputs or the Y's in our process. Eventually we discovered that this was in fact not a common cause variation but rather a special cause of variation. This of course told us that an adjustment needed to be made. While the design of the mold is not the topic that we will discuss today, the application of the DMAIC method proved to be beneficial. I believe that the key turning point in the life cycle of the part was directly related to using that control chart. If you have never used a control chart before the control charts general purpose is to monitor if a process stays within a standard over a defined period of time. The other important lesson that can be learned from a control chart is whether or not the process is in control or not, hens the name "control chart." The control chart shows us an upper limit and a lower limit and a mean or an average line. For example if you went bowling and wanted to monitor where the balls were hitting the average would show a cluster of where the ball hit most. As the name hints control charts show us when a process is no longer in control and an adjustment needs to be made. The key is to make the adjustment in relation to the "root cause" and not the issue that is first seen. In my circumstance I wanted to see the readings and get started on a solution right away which is why the control chart worked so well for me. Most control charts need somewhere between 12 to 25 readings in order to estimate our limits. While every circumstance is different the control chart can often be used to analyze patterns of a process, control a process that is ongoing and to determine whether or not the process should focus on the problem or change the process entirely. Here are a few basic steps to follow when using a control chart: 1. First define what it is you are trying to solve. 2. Select a control chart. 3. Measure or gather data that will be used for analyzing (If possible place data into control chart in real time). 4. Review data looking for patterns, "out of control points" and get to the root cause. 5. Correct the root cause. 6. Continue monitoring to ensure control. To set up your own control chart is reasonably simple. Simply follow these steps or you can download a template by signing up below: Step 1 - Collect data. Step 2 - Insert data into template. Step 3 - Calculate mean (center line) Step 4 - Calculate the UCL or upper control limit. Step 5 - Calculate the lower control limit. Step 6 - Select data and insert chart. In my circumstance of gathering data, the control chart proved to be a valuable tool and helped me to successfully eliminate some inefficiencies in that particular value stream. The control chart can do the same for you too if the situation is right. Don't forget to grab your free template below. A young engineer stands at the shop floor. Tasked with finding one example of each of the 8 forms of waste he first stands for nearly an hour. When his supervisor returns and asks, "what did you discover?" He responds "just the normal activities." The supervisor nods his head and returns to his office where he can see the engineer on the floor and the area he is watching. About one hour later the supervisor returns and presents the same question. A bit baffled the engineer replies, "Well I saw that gentleman walking to get a tool he needed, someone from planning came out here to grab a paper they printed out and that gentleman right there finished all ten assemblies on time and placed them in the move area." Again the supervisor nodded his head and returned to his office.
Later that day while that engineer and his supervisor were conducting a hansei (reflection of the event) the two spoke about some various types of waste. As the hansei approached an end the supervisor posed the question "what can you do next time you are out at the Gemba to identify waste a little better?" The young engineer sat for almost 3 minutes appearing to have no response. Determined to let the spirit work its magic the supervisor was silent, never moving his eyes from the engineers face. A short while later the engineer responded, "I need to ASK." With years of experience in supervision the engineers supervisor dug a little deeper, "what do you mean you need to ASK?" That was when the Supervisor/Sensei found his future leader. "Well" the engineer started, "You told us in training that we should think in terms of processes. In this case I thought about it and ASKing seems like the best process for me to try." He went on to share his thoughts... Acknowledge - The engineer shared that he knew what the 8 forms of Muda were and that he knew about there origins. However, he was not yet willing to acknowledge that the waste was right in front of him. After standing at the Gemba the entire day his thoughts moved from not seeing to asking, why am I not seeing? When he did this he realized that he was looking for types of waste but not yet identifying what was value and what was not value. At this point he asked why does that planner have to walk to pick up that paper, he prints those papers all day long? He then began to realize that walking to get paper that you print all day was waste. Next he admitted he thought outside the box and came up with a solution. What he ultimately realized was that often times we acknowledge the lower fruit on the tree but we don't really see the many other types of waste that we do everyday. He closed by sharing "I need to Acknowledge that waste is everywhere and those are opportunities to improve." Study it out - Over the course of the hansei the engineer shared that acknowledging the waste was not enough. He learned that first we must acknowledge the waste and then study it out with ourselves and with the individuals working in the Gemba. Some methods of studying it out are asking why 5 times or conducting other forms of a root cause analysis. Kaizen - As the engineer began to finish his story and his initial development of his ASK methodology he shared what the "K" in ask meant. To him the "K" was the most important. Kaizen, probably more appropriately described as the spirit of kaizen. As honest as our friends thoughts were he stated "maybe I don't really know what kaizen is." Of course the supervisor came to his aide and responded, "Kaizen is a journey, It is a spirit that individuals accept as a core belief and a philosophy from within themselves, however that is only part of Kaizen. A lot of the rest of that spirit comes in the doing. He then handed a book titled The Spirit of Kaizen to the engineer. I would like you to read this and summarize the 5 points that Dr. Maurer writes about in the book." Soon after our young friend received the book he said "This is part of Kaizen isn't it?" In this story we read about a young engineer who in the beginning couldn't quite notice a fundamental aspect of Lean, identifying waste. But by the end of our engineers story he had developed a methodology of his own. While finding items that are non-value, mapping, assessing, analyzing and re-analyzing are contributing factors in a successful journey coaching and reflection land right up at the top with principles and tools. While many of us have years of experience, degrees and millions of belts on our wall, sometimes our greatest development comes to life if we just ask. We've all seen the battery life on our phones drain as the hours pass by in our days. Eventually that annoying red bar shows up and the thought passes, I need to charge my phone. But of course with emails to answer and tasks to complete, eventually it becomes the last task on the priority list. Inevitably you begin dipping into reserves: turning off applications, dimming the screen and logging out of important screens until finally your phone is no longer capable of accomplishing much of anything anymore. In a scramble, you begin looking for a charger: asking friends, plugging in for a quick charge and turning off and on until finally the phones just turns off.
This analogy is a lot like many lean transformations. We deploy visions, missions and strategic initiatives all while accumulating a wealth of tools. Eventually along with all these deployments and collections the thought begins to approach that as a business you must still generate revenue, meet demands and answer informative questions. Over the weeks, months and years the statements, missions and tools begin to be less and less present until one day the thought approaches, "I need to re-charge my strategy." Actually you're probably not alone in receiving that revelation it can happened in both successful initiatives and in failing initiatives. So how do we put that same spirit back into the re-start, re-charge or renewal that we did in deployment? Here are a few key actions that are critical steps in recharging your transformation. 1. Asses the sincerity of your deployment - Sometimes asking ourselves with sincerity can be a hard process. It's important to ask why we first began a strategic journey. It probably goes without saying but if the desires were not sincere motives, the journey may have never really started. In this case your restart may begin by identifying the actual needs of your organization and acknowledging the current culture and historical behaviors that contribute to the established culture. A few projects here and there and using capital to ramp up production will not always be the answer. Remember that our three key drivers are people, processes and technology and we must be sincere in improving all three of those elements. For instance involving all levels of the organization in training rather than only mid-level or senior level can be a powerful way to establish culture "throughout" the entire organization. This may involve bringing in outside trainers, programs and services or development a "curriculum" of your own to meet the needs of the organization. 2. Constant Contact - While the marketing software of constant contact is a fantastic software, the principle is what we want to acknowledge here. People are much more at ease and in support when they know what is going on and how it affects them. The initial deployment may have been a fantastic event, but if daily updates and communication do not continue initiatives will fall to the wayside among the many other tasks employees have. Eventually like our phone dying above we are left in a scramble to try and put power in our battery. This is sometimes referred to as fire fighting. By keeping people involved and utilizing techniques like huddles, one on ones and town halls we can keep our teams involved in the most recent updates. If you can establish a consistent method of communication and recharging you won't have to worry as much about your "phone reaching a "worn out limit or dead level." 3. Yokoten - Yokoten is the practice and pattern of sharing best practices and learning laterally in an organization. The principle of "sharing" is not only a core concept in the establishment of culture but a key element in driving daily improvements. If we think of this concept like our phone analogy shared above, it makes sense that charging a phone once a week is a recipe for disaster. But developing a pattern of plugging your phone in every night will ensure that it stays charged throughout the day. The same concept can be applied to our organizations. If we have a project here and there we might see some improvements but if we drive improvements everyday and look for others to share them with, we can ensure that we are consistently moving in the right direction. 4. Make it measurable - When you look at your phone throughout the day your bar indicates a percentage of life the battery has left in it. When we make initiatives measurable we can see, monitor and track how much that initiative is affecting the organization. By establishing appropriate metrics to monitor your "strategies" life you are better able to pivot when you need to or continue improving. If it get's measured it will get improved. 5. Coach instead of direct - While there may be times when direction is required, teaching others why it was required and how they can recognize when it's required put's more momentum behind the change. We certainly would not want to call a friend every night to tell them to charge their phone but rather offer a true learning experience for them to do it on their own. This sometimes requires senior level executives and mangers to take a step back and become more personal with teams. Using policy deployment methods such as hoshin kanri can assist in: 1. Establishing a direction. 2. Providing a clear focus for that direction. 3. Aligning the organization. 4. Helping to understand the reason why. This method of deployment is an effective way to give your internal customers a voice. Whether it's a phone dying or a strategy that needs a recharge these critical elements will provide some level of support and guidance for your lean batteries and help get you back on track to a full charge. About a week ago I had the wonderful opportunity to present to a group of professionals on the topic of lean strategy. Over the course of the night I was blessed with great conversation, networking, sharing good food and making new friends. As the night came to a close we approached the Q&A portion. As you may have guessed this is an opportunity for attendants to ask any question they want and for me to respond. I of course valued all of the questions through out the session however, one stuck out in my mind more than others. One gentleman raised his hand and asked "what of all the projects that you have completed has been your favorite project throughout your career?" For a brief moment my mind flashed back to cycle time reductions in a lathe center, then it turned towards a 5S event I was a part of about 10 years ago and finally a strategic initiative almost 11 years ago where a vision was established that still remains in effect today. Although these small handful of projects prior to obtaining any real ranking stood out in my mind I could not help but think that throughout the years my most important project ever has always been in regards to the development of people. While the project may differ from person to person most managers, supervisors and even executives would agree that without people no project could be as successful as it may be with people. People at a unique element of personality, competitive nature and the want to develop something great that technology and machines simply can not match. So why exactly is the people side of lean so great? Successful strategy involves people and behavior Although every initiative is different we often realize that somewhere in the beginning stages of strategy we see words like: team, committee, communication and group. These core ideas are often paired with development and training. Whether it is an ERP implementation or the first initial development of Hoshin Kanri people are always part of the projects success, they are one key driver in a 3 fold balancing act that ensures that the strategy is formalized, overseen, shared and discussed with the entire organization and inevitably it is people who drive and balance actions that ultimately will accomplish objectives. People as a project? It probably feels uncomfortable to say out loud "Johnny is my project," and we don't often think of people as projects but indirectly somewhere in the project plan people will always fall into the most important "project" of all. For just one second ponder the thought of any child's school years.
Although we may not use "grade levels" to track our employees we do utilize such tools as balanced scorecards and performance metrics as a means of monitoring the organizations learning and growth and though we may not refer to it as a "people project" the core idea behind this learning and development is directly related to people.
Ask any great coach, sensei or teacher "what was your favorite project?" Some may respond "I liked that book report or that 5S was great, you might even get a few "my favorite project is setup reduction or changeovers" but chances are in the back of there mind people are somehow related to that favorite project. The fact of the matter is that people whether a direct development "project" or a focus as a future mentor are in fact the most important initiative we can undertake. It is in their development that we guide organizations towards the achievement of visions and strategic goals. So .... the next time somebody asks "what is your favorite project?" What will your answer be? Some time ago while visiting an old friend of mine, we decided to go to a gym and train a bit of jiu jitsu. While we were training it became rather apparent that he was in shape and I was not. Afterwards we sat and reflected on a few of the reasons that became quite apparent during our training. Over the course of the conversation my friend mentioned to me "It's all about the basics." He followed this up by saying that sometimes people try to master the advanced stuff before they have really learned the basics or the foundation. Similar to jiu jitsu the basics of lean are more important than we may understand. Today we will discuss a few different ways that everyone can strengthen even basic concepts of Lean and there may be a free course for everyone too. One of the fundamental thoughts of staying strong in basics is that the basic skill, art or technique that you are engaging in is used every single day. You know, the age old saying "repetition creates mastery." Interestingly enough we sometimes fail to just observe the Gemba in order to identify new opportunities for improvements. In our latest updates on the 8 forms of waste course we continue to utilize the "Ohno activity" more appropriately referred to as "stand in the circle." Very few can say that there was a better sensei than Mr. Taiichi Ohno.
When was the last time you stood in the circle? Although there literally was a circle drawn at times by Mr. Ohno I personally see the "circle" as a place that goes with us anywhere. What I mean is that we don't need a yellow chalk circle to actively go to the Gemba and understand, rather the circle can be anywhere. This as many of you know is one of the reasons there is such an excitement with Gemba walks. It not only allows the person walking the Gemba to Go and See, but at one point or another they will almost certainly be "standing in Mr. Ohno's circle." While going to the gemba is a fundamental concept of a Lean strategy we must also ensure that there is time to "stand in the circle" while at the gemba. While we often times are seeking to observe and discover waste when engaging the gemba, standing in the circle helps us to focus and observe an area with "narrow eyes." How many forms of Waste have you identified today? Many years ago, about 12 to be exact while sitting at my desk engaged in a six sigma project as a young improvement enthusiast a gentlemen in a polo shirt with a Tier 1 aerospace name on it approached me. He asked me "What are you working on?" my response went a little something like this "Well sir, my grandfather told me to stand at a CNC lathe for the entire day yesterday. He didn't tell me what to look for or what to do there he just said, watch. He followed that up with get to know the people in the area at lunch time and at breaks but over the course of the day, watch." The gentlemen then replied "what were you watching for?" a bit hesitant I said "I don't really know, he didn't say. He just said to watch and then the next day to write one page for these five questions he wrote down." Of course the gentleman asked if he could see them and I shared: 1. What did you see? 2. Why did what you see happened? 3. Was what you saw performed the same way for the entire day? 4. Is there anything that you saw that looked or felt abnormal? 5. If there was one thing that stood out to you during the day what would it be? To my surprise the gentlemen responded with a chuckle and said, "I've been there before." I shrugged it off and went back to my report out. I later realized that this activity was teaching me how to observe, how to postpone judgement and finally how to identify opportunities. As the years have passed I learned that the 8 hour activity performed in that little aerospace shop and Toyota facilities around the world could if need be happen in a matter of 5-10 minutes with a structured methodology to follow.
Don't neglect your foundation. Everyday we are faced with strategic decisions, tough purchases and operations that requires a response to demanding needs. While these aspects of business will never go away we can not neglect the foundation of Lean. The only way to remove waste is to establish behaviors that remove waste. Sometimes those behaviors can be driven by policy, procedure and even metrics. Whatever the means of driving behavior that finds and pursues the elimination of waste it is much more powerful when done every single day. Like it became obvious on the Jiu Jitsu mats that day with my friend, we often times don't realize the importance of seeing and identifying waste daily. Because waste is not accompanied by a shortness of breath or excessive sweat it is harder to pinpoint than categorizing low profit margins and lead times that are increasingly long. But when we make an effort to discover waste daily, like an athlete may train in his sport daily the results can be astonishing.
If your interested in finding our more about waste click on the link here: 8 Forms of Waste Introductory Course. The course is completely free while updates are occurring. Inventory as many of you already know is one of the 8 wastes in any organization. Along with Over-processing it may be one of the deadliest forms of muda there is. Without a clear demand attached to inventory there are many risks involved in storing large amounts of stock. While there are many ways to reduce inventory it is often times a combination of tools that follows a detailed analysis and assessment of why inventory keeps "piling up." Today we will address a few key elements to take into consideration when looking to reduce the waste of inventory.
We should note first that there are 4 main types of inventory which include: raw materials, work in progress, finished goods and MRO items that are often used to support operations and any other organizational functions that may be necessary. This is a concept that often gets overlooked, however what it tells us is that inventory can be built up and cause waste all throughout the value stream. One other key concept that should be taken into consideration when looking to reduce or mitigate the effects of inventory is what inventory is actually used for. There are many reasons why a company might choose to have inventory on hand, some of which are: supporting the organizational strategy and its operations, support financial objectives and finally as a buffer to balance supply and demand. While inventory is one of the deadliest forms of waste often times it can not be "completely eliminated." However, it should be at the most effective level so as to be seen as an asset and not a cost that is eating up your balance sheet. So how can we reduce inventory to an effective level without creating bottlenecks and losing customers? Well there are many different ways but here are a few that may support your efforts and move you closer to a "perfect balance." Eliminating waste in general will lower inventory Now that we understand there are multiple different types of inventory and not just the "stuff" sitting in stock awaiting an order it is much easier to understand that items "waiting" in queue are considered work in progress, and those bulky packages that are being "transported" to and from areas, well those items are the in-transit inventory that often never get accounted for. These are only two examples of how inventory can almost always be lying silent behind other forms of waste, by removing or reducing transportation, motion, waiting, over processing and any other form of waste you will move product much quicker. This ultimately increases your "inventory turns" and inevitably creates an environment where your funds are not invested quite so long in the inventory items that are being produced. One of the most effective ways to identify inventory and any other form of waste is to map processes, product lines and services out. By doing this you can make visible the types of waste that are in your value stream and ultimately plan for their mitigation. Produce based on demand generated at the customer's pull One of the most common reasons associated with the waste of inventory is working to a forecasted demand or "pushing" products through the system. Push systems and forecasts are often a build to plan type system, additionally they build to that plan and at times set aside changes or fluctuations that may occur. This can result in excessive inventory and waiting. When we build to external customer demand that flows into internal customers we have a better view of what the "customer" is actually pulling for. One method associated with pull systems is the kanban system. Much like a sales order triggers the recipient to fulfill a need or solve a problem kanban helps to connect actual needs with the associated information. Often times kanban can be a powerful tool to reduce inventory and move towards the ideal single piece flow environment. The same concept is used when our MRP systems have accurate lead times and actual demand being driven. For instance a sales order is placed in ERP/MRP which in turn drives a "project" for engineering to review and then get's flowed down to a planned order in the exact quantity that the sales order was put in the system, unless of course there is some "safety stock" built in. This is of course assuming that it is a make to order environment. None the less when we build only to the pull or demand of the customer we can infact produce only what is needed when it is needed. Be cautious of bullwhip effect The bullwhip effect is the idea that demand is generated by and through the customer, however as the demand travels up the supply chain or an extended supply chain "worry" sets in at each level causing more and more safety stock to be built in at each entity in the chain. So if the customer wants one, from the retailer, the distributor might order two and the manufacturer might produce three causing somebody in the chain to have some inventory. Often times this can be mitigated through communication methods such as S&OP and providing an accurate amount of visibility into the actual demand of the customer. Utilize Six Sigma There are some instances where inventory is held in order to prevent a constraint from becoming a bottleneck. This is a very common practice in organizations that utilize a strategy known as the theory of constraints. While the theory of constraints is a very effective method of acknowledging that there is in every process at least one constraint, we should also recognize that there is a fixable root cause that can usually assist the constraint. Sometimes that method is to reduce variability coming off of lines. One common example of this concept is when a company has a poor yield rate or they continually get "defects" coming out of a process. In order to deal with the defects they place a calculated amount of inventory in a strategic location to make up for the poor yield rate. While the defects may be common cause or special cause reducing the variability to a sigma level and controlling it may be the answer. While all four of these points can be a powerful way to reduce inventory, you will only really know what to do after analyzing and assessing how much inventory is actually needed vs. what is being held and answering the "why" element. In closing there are many different ways to lower inventory but again be very cautious that one action does not affect others in the value stream. You wouldn't want to solve one issue only to create another. As we all are aware the PDCA method is cyclical in nature. continued repetition of PDCA that brings you closer and closer to your objective/vision each time the cycle travels around. This concept makes the PDCA model a perfect model for strategic Implementations. We have now traveled through P-D and C leaving us with only A left in our cycle. If you remember we referred to PDCA as Prepare, Do, Continuous Improvement and Again. The again stage may hint that the cycle starts again and inevitably it will, however it is very important that as you end your cycle you realize first that it is only the beginning. In the beginning of the deployment we had our vision (assumed in our case) and keeping in line with the concept of Hoshin Kanri we pointed our needle in the visions direction using reason and logic through analysis in the prepare phase. Additionally we established appropriate metrics in order to control and channel the organization's strengths while harnessing new opportunities and mitigating to the best of our ability any threats at hand. Eventually after "doing" we came to a point where progress needed to be checked in relation to benchmarks and scorecards. If you remember this third stage was our continuous improvement phase where we focused on the continued development of teams, training and moving forward. Now our cycle is ready to begin again. Chart the course, are you on the right path? At some point or another you probably caught yourself thinking, "are we headed in the right direction?" Uncertainty can begin to swelter and that lack of faith can affect the strategies positive effects on the organization. Although strategy is usually a 3-5 year journey (at the least) you should plan for regular check in's throughout the journey.
You can think of Lean as the vehicle to reaching your vision. The course you chart is the route or method that will get you there. In both situations you may need to fix, maintain or refuel the vehicle, course and even the people riding with you, essentially this can be compared to PDCA, cyclical in reaching its objective it must happen in order to keep moving forward.
Remember it takes time Strategic implementations can be quick, however most of them require resources and focus on three elements: people, process and technology all of which can require significant investments. Along with time each tactical action may require a certain level of investment. The investment comes in the form of money, buy-in, time and often times with the change there is a need for repetition. Be aware that lean is not a light switch that can be turned on and off but rather it is a journey that requires significant planning and execution. The PDCA method provides a clearly laid out "system" for implementation. Although your metrics, plans and tactical objectives will no doubt be different than other organizations with time your lean strategy can be just as fruitful as any other. If you have been following along with our Lean Implementation series you have now completed analysis and assessment in the planning stage and your organization is fully engaged in training, improvement projects and the actual tactical initiatives that support the building of a kaizen culture. By now you are probably seeing some results in very specific areas of your organization and are starting to ponder the thought, "how do we keep all these great changes?" Well that is where stage 3 begins, continuously improving and sustaining the changes. Here we will look at 3 key elements that will support the changes that have already began and help to continue improving your department/organization.
Continue developing and training teams In the spirit of kaizen we want to ensure that the three key elements of our strategic implementation stays focused on people, processes and the systems or technology the organization is currently engaged in improving, which leads us to the first important tactic of continuing to develop and train teams that are focused on removing waste and transforming areas of the business, in short keep training your teams. Additionally we want to ensure that trainers are trained in order to spread the new knowledge and skills that each individual is currently developing. These types of activities are commonly referred to as train the trainer. By developing leaders that can turn around and develop other leaders you will support a community based culture where everyone can not only understand the dynamic changes occurring around them but can also assist in ensuring the capability of each team. Utilize a balanced scorecard and make your metrics visual A balanced scorecard is a list of the financial and operational measurements that can be used to continue evaluating the results of your activities and the organization's performance against those measurements. Generally the scorecard focuses on 4 overarching areas of measurement: Customer perspective, financial perspectives, process perspectives and learning and innovation. Using a scorecard connects the measurements to the goals and objectives and allows you to continuously monitor progress towards the goals. Although the balanced scorecard might not always be streamed across television screens in your shop the key performance indicators that you have set to measure progress towards objectives should be shared with appropriate individuals. When setting your key performance indicators keep in mind that lagging indicators can not be influenced as well as leading indicators which tells us if we are setting indicators for change it may be best to establish a leading indicator in order to influence and change results towards the overarching objectives. Find a way to share and benchmark The concept of yokoten can be very powerful in sustaining change. Yokoten refers to the sharing of knowledge or experiences laterally within an organization. Since we are building a lean community and culture sharing can be a very effective and quick way to apply positive results to other parts of the organization. One other aspect of sustainment can be found in benchmarking other great companies. this can be done on three levels which are: process level benchmarking, best-in-class benchmarking and competitive benchmarking. Sustainment and continuing to improve can be a challenge as it is natural to want to "return" to what you feel comfortable doing, however by establishing measurements, training teams and looking for guidance outside of the bubbles we work in the act of continuously improving or sustaining results can be achievable with some work. Next week we will address the most important aspect of our PDCA based implementation, again. Last week we left off our Lean implementation with a clearly laid out plan on a 1 year road map. If you remember we first went through analyzation by mapping the organizations "door to door" current state value stream. This value stream helped us to understand what was going on right now not what should be going on. Next we identified the organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by conducting a SWOT analysis. Having analyzed every portion of the organization it was then time to start the assessment and establish metrics/key performance indicators that would help us gauge our journey and ensure it stays on track. Then after measurements were established to track the course towards our vision we were able to identify some "Gaps," those gaps helped us to plan out the actions needed in order to begin closing the gaps. So, ultimately the output of our analysis and assessment is a clearly laid out plan of tactical activities that will guide the organization towards the vision and objectives. Now we are ready to begin the "Do" stage.
The do stage is all about the execution of the plan we generated in the prepare phase of our lean implementation. There will be 3 key elements that will go into this phase of the journey, which ultimately should begin moving the strategy further ahead. Training and development Like any other strategy "training and development" are one of the first big steps for the organization. Employees not only need to know what the strategy is but they need to understand how they can support it so they can do just that. The training should ensure that employees have the necessary skills and experience in order to complete any new roles or responsibilities they will have as a result of the deployment of a new or further initiative. If everyone is setup to succeed the overall strategy will succeed too, think of it like water around a boat as the water rises on each of the sides the boat inevitably begins to rise too and so will your organization/department and individuals. Very Specific Kaizens Of course there is no standard recipe for what kaizen event or projects should be deployed, but there is the prepare phases roadmap and assessment that was performed. The specific kaizens that are on your road map are the gaps that were identified in the assessment of the organization, they may also simply be some of the "opportunities" found in the SWOT analysis that you can now move forward with. Your very specific kaizens should be those that were laid out in the 1 year plan of the preparation stage, now it's time to execute each of them. Remember metrics were established not just to gauge the journey but to ensure the tactical events are infact pointing you in the right direction. You will know if they aren't and You will know if they are. Application of appropriate tools Now your lasered in on specific improvement events and employees are trained in the basic elements of your new lean strategy. You may even have some experienced employees on staff who have been through different implementations before, those individuals can be a great asset. With experience and trained resources we need to give them opportunities to now execute and develop their skill set. This stage will begin to apply tools such as: 5S, VSM, SMED and Poke yoke to the appropriate processes and areas in your organization. After the application of appropriate tools your organization should be looking more efficient and have noticeably less waste in both the overall value stream and some targeted areas of the organization. Finally after completion of your road map the resources you have may be starting to notice they have more time for improvements after they get through the initial J-curve of the strategy. Well it may seem like at this point of implementation that everything is done and complete, it's not we're only halfway through our PDCA implementation and a small percent towards the reults years of repetition can bring. Next week we will advance one more stage into the "C" or continuous improvement stage. A little over sixty years ago, Dr. W. Edwards Deming visited Japan. His purpose in going there was to share what we know today as the PDCA cycle. Based on the scientific method the PDCA cycle works in cyclical iterations, with each step moving the practitioner closer to their objective. Over the years the PDCA cycle has been used for process improvements, quality projects and developing critical thinkers. In more recent years the PDCA cycle has been utilized with great success at a strategic level. Yes we are hinting that aggregate activities that impact the bottom line and resources can experience transformative results when the PDCA cycle is applied. In today's Tuesday tip, we will talk about the first stage of lean implementation and how continuous improvement can be driven using the PDCA cycle. Assuming you have a vision established, we are ready to begin. Oh and our apologies but we refer to PDCA in this article as Prepare, Do, Continuously Improve and Again. So let's jump into the first part of implementation "prepare." What does it mean to "prepare?" One definition of the term prepare is: to make something ready. In order for us to make our organization ready for a lean implementation we must first look at the current state of the organization. This look at the current state is your opportunity to strategically analyse where we are at. A few key steps in analysing your organization will be understanding what is happening and preparing a plan for implementation. Step 1- Understand The purpose first is for everyone to understand exactly where you are. One fantastic tool you can use in your understanding of the current state is a current state value stream map. You will want to map the "door to door" process at a fairly high level (note- eventually you should look at an extended view). The objective of this value stream map is to take a hard look at the organization and identify opportunities to improve. Step 2 - Take a SWOT at it! Okay, now that we understand the organization much better we are ready to start fixing everything. Wrong! taking a SWOT at it would not be the best swing at the hundreds of flies you most likely have found, however performing a SWOT analysis will keep you on track. Before we go fixing everything we first should identify what are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats from both an internal and external perspective. Step 3 - Measure it After all of the analysis and understanding we are now ready to establish some metrics for assessing and measuring our journey towards the vision. These key performance indicators should be linked to the strategic objectives that are specific for your organization. Hurry up and take your time establishing these KPI's they will be used throughout your strategic implementation to show performance levels and track progress towards objectives. This is the stage where benchmarking can be very powerful. Some possible key performance indicators you may want to use are; On-time delivery, first pass yield, Inventory turnover, fill rate or even our T.E.M.P. Assessment which takes a broad look at both qualitative and quantitative measures. By now you should have a very clear understanding of where you are at, additionally your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats that may be creeping up are out in the open and key leadership has been made aware. Finally establishing key performance indicators will help you track progress and notify you of GAPS which points us to the next step of the "prepare" phase. Step 4 - Plan of attack Now it's feeling like strategy. We have understanding, Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and gaps and issues that have been preventing us from reaching goals and objectives are all laying on the table ready to be improved. Those gaps may be thinking "let's just close" at this point. Why? Because they are being measured and what get's measured can no longer hide. The last and final step of preparation is to plan your implementation and how the organization will handle behavior and culture changes that will undoubtedly come. This stage is all about laying out the appropriate "tactical activities" that will support accomplishing strategic objectives. A Yamazumi chart like the one shown below will be helpful in laying your plan out and showing everyone where the plan is at. Remember just as the saying goes if you fail to plan you can plan to fail here too, so be sure that your preparation phase includes a deep analysis of opportunities in the current state and that you have established KPI's that provide a clearly defined assessment of exactly where you are at. In the next Tuesday Tip we will jump into the Do Phase of our 4 step Continuous improvement implementation.
On May 19, 2016, Lean Strategies International LLC and Apics Los Angeles teamed up for a very successful professional development meeting. The course was titled "Empowering Our Most Important Resources Through Lean Thinking". We focused on five major topics that I will share with you in this week's Listen to the Gemba. First and foremost, we defined empowerment as the extent to which somebody provides encouragement, tools and authority enabling them to use their power, talent and abilities effectively. We also learned that empowerment is not letting people do whatever they want to do. Those who are empowered enter into an agreement that we will still respect processes, policies and the rights of others. They also should agree to uphold organizational values in the process of empowerment. Aligning Our Visions to Empower Employees The first topic the group discussed was how clear visions can assist in guiding behaviors and actions. We first discussed how much of setting strategy is like a favorite vacation. You must know where your destination is before you get going. That destination is your vision. It is where you want to move closer to with every action, decision and behavior. Clear visions not only help us to make educated decisions, but they bring teams in alignment when deployed properly, creating a community and empowering employees to guide decisions. When employees know where they are headed or what the destination of their "vacation" is, they are empowered to make decisions that are in line with organizational values and company strategy. Lean Strategies International also shared our strategy deployment methodology that has been in the making for about a year now. The methodology is designed to simplify the development and deployment an effective strategy. We call it VISION methodology: Vision, Inline, Servant Leadership, Integrate, Offense and Normal. If you have any questions on our Methodology for Strategy deployment feel free to message us at info@leanstrategiesinternational.com. Checking in on People Genchi Genbutsu is the term that we all know as "Go and See", but at this PDM we talked about how that term can support empowering others. The very nature of the gemba is quite powerful. Whether you are a manager or an employee, going and seeing problems can take you away from opinions and fill your mind with facts. The more time you spend in fact based environments, the more we influence others to do the same. We talked about important questions that should be asked at the gemba: 1. What's been going well in your area? 2. Is there anything that is not going so well in your area? 3. What can we do to improve 4. What can I do to serve you? Lastly, we looked over the Gemba methodology that Lean Strategies International uses during gemba walks. Making Life Easier For One Another One of the major elements that leave employees feeling drained and worn out is when work, life or social environments are filled with excessive amounts of waste, imbalance and burdens. These origins of waste often times affect efficiency, effectiveness and quality in organizations. They also leave employees feeling as though it's "all on them". Along with this overwhelming feeling, we tend to focus on the "firefighting" and/or pushing on the "value-added" vs eliminating waste. When employees are empowered and trained to identify and eliminate waste, it can really build their ability to solve problems as they discover the root causes that stop the inferno from creeping up while you're pouring water on the little fire. At this point in the meeting, we shared with attendants our ©Treat 1,2,3 problem-solving method. The method is simple enough for any level of employee to use and have the power to eliminate "illnesses" within processes. For more information on our problem-solving method please feel free to email us at: info@leanstrategiesinternational.com Developing People Through the Shu-Ha-Ri Method There are three main focuses of any strategy: people, technology and processes. If you have ever taken the Apics CSCP they dig into these three elements in their course on implementation and operations. I think we can all agree that developing people may be the most important of the three. Shu-ha-ri focuses on where people are at in their journey and how sensei and coaches can help them reach the next level. In the Shu stage, we are "protected". When I say protected, I mean that the coach/sensei is there every step of the way. The student does exactly what the master does, he or she follows their lead and develops foundational skill sets. In this stage the student is still learning to fish. The next stage is Ha. In the Ha stage of development, the student has now reached "understanding". They often times are able to perform the new task or skill but may still ask questions from time to time. They may still use standard operating procedures or follow work instructions as they move towards mastery of the skill or task. As a student, they now display a certain level of empowerment but might not be confident enough to step completely away and perform on their own. When you are the coach, boss, sensei or person responsible for the development of the student, it is very important to let them continue to try, even if they may fall. you can now distance yourself and focus on finding opportunities for the student to continue developing their new skills and support their self confidence. The final stage of development is called the Ri stage. Now the student isn't learning from other people but they are learning from their own work and experience. They are now capable of innovation and design on their own. The core idea of shu-ha-ri is that the individual's development and the criteria for their development is very specific for them. Much like a "vision" you have a clear consensus of who that person ultimately strives to be. Shu-ha-ri allows the learner to know where they are at helping them to gain self confidence and become a more empowered individual. Rewards and Recognition The last topic that was covered was rewards and recognition for employees. It goes without saying, but "good job" can really lift someone's spirits and help them feel empowered. There are so many aspects to the successful development and empowerment of an individual. Through defining clear visions, going to the gemba, simplifying through the elimination of Muda, Muri, and Mura; having a clearly laid out development process for everyone, and finally, defining a rewards and recognition program, employees can feel empowered and the organization's success will certainly take off.
Blisters were forming, Arms were tired and the hot sun of the late afternoon began to set in on all of us. As the day went on my family and I were beginning to feel as though we would never have our garden prepared enough to begin planting the seeds we had purchased two weeks before.
Although the work was hard we knew that eventually we would have some beautiful flowers in our newly renovated backyard. The process looked something like this; 1. Remove the rocks and trash from the mud, 2. Remove the weeds in the soil 3. Cultivate and prepare the soil 4. Water and prepare soil again 5. Plant seeds 6. Water 7. Maintain 8. Enjoy. Let's pretend for a moment that the Garden is your organization; Full of potential and endless opportunities. The weeds would be the issues you will certainly face and the flower seeds are new opportunities. In any organization to some degree the ground is prepared already to one degree or another but over time wind/culture and ideas blow in various types of seeds. Those seeds could be good and yield flowers or they may yield weeds. A lean journey is much like this parable there's the initial stages of the journey assessing what needs to be done the preparing of the soil (Culture/behaviors) and the removal of root causes or in our case weeds and the planting of improvements that will with time and care grow. Preparing the Soil The first stage of any Lean Journey is to begin to prepare the soil; We have all at sometime or another had "the man" come and say "do it this way" or maybe you are the man and a few months later you're wondering why the "seed" never stuck. Some seeds can be embedded in rather hard ground and it takes a while for the idea to really breakthrough the current culture or embedded behaviors, for this reason the preparing of the soil is so crucial to the start of your organization's lean journey. Some ideas that will support a Lean startup are; 1. Take a survey of who has experience in Lean and who does not. 2. Find out what "people" think about Lean and or Six Sigma as a strategy. 3. Look for volunteers 4. Brainstorm how you can support the exceptions (rocks, hard soil) 5. Be an example Water and prepare again 80% of the time "Lean" and "Six Sigma" will appear to have failed. In reality though the Strategy has not failed but rather shown you the exceptions to move the bar up even more. Like a garden you will prepare the garden and after letting the soil sit for some time some little weeds may begin to pop up again. This is the perfect time to say "Forget it, I bought these flowers and tools and worked very hard and now I'm done!" Can you see how silly that sounds? In reality it's the perfect point and time to review your strategies plan, Hoshin Planning or Implementation plan. You can now re strategize and deal with the exceptions or the rocks in the water that have now become visible. Remember much of strategy and Lean is incremental and calculated making small improvements every day and resetting the bar. Attack the roots Addressing or deploying just the visible portions of Lean will not make the strategy stick. Although 5S, Kanban and Value Stream mapping are crucial tools of a Lean Strategy the overall goal is to find and eliminate waste, remove burdens and relentlessly pursue perfection. Unles you're growing a garden of weeds take the time to dig down into the soil (foundation for lean) and expose the roots. Once you have done this you will have a much better chance at removing it from your soil and not having it grow back again. This will leave the ground fresh and ready to receive and spread the seeds you plant. Plant and care for what you want to grow Now that the soil is prepared and you have the seeds you want to plant begin to place them in strategic locations so that tactically they can start to lay solid roots for the future. like an organization if you place your investment in an area full of rocks and weeds it may get choked out and fall to the wayside. But if your new green belt is placed in an area that is well prepared it will better be able to secure its roots. Don't forget that many plants lay seeds of there own and that allows for more growth without much work on your part. Last but not least is the constant feeding of your precious new seeds and ideas, of course flowers and plants need water, mulch and maintenance and employees or champions need training, challenges and rewards and recognition in order to continue to grow. Maintenance A lot of the power of PDCA is in the repetition of the method being performed. Like a garden you will need to continue to remove harmful things that the wind may have blown in and nurture the solid foundations you have invested in. Some great ways to maintain new initiatives or implementation levels are; Clearly defining metrics to track to, frequent audits, suggestion forms and repetition. Last but not least enjoy the scenery and take in the amazing results Now that you have good soil, planted seeds and you have been diligently working at growing and maintaining your hard work; take some time to enjoy the scenery. This comes through rewards and recognitions for everyone. If you are an executive come out for that bbq, receive a gas card for your hard work or let somebody shake your hand and say thank you. What ever position you are in be sure that you enjoy the faster throughput, improved quality and extra cash in the budget, In short stop for a second and smell the roses. A Lean journey is not as hard as it is sometimes made out to be. As long as you have taken the necessary steps to prepare, plant and maintain your garden you can bet that the results will be the most beautiful memories and returns you will ever get. The How of a Vision is somewhat unique by company in general it requires defining a detailed description of an organization and what carries out its operations. This can range from deep analytical thinking, qualitative stand ups or even a dive into the original reason the business started. Remember that your purpose and your vision are different, the vision will utilize your purpose and make it clear for all parties but in simple layman's terms it is the dream state of your organization.
What does it mean to be a leader? That's an interesting question to answer; A lot of times it means bearing the burden of another while teaching them to become stronger. Often times it involves providing the necessary supplies, elements or examples to help them succeed. Most of the time it is putting another before you. What I'm sure we can all agree on is effective leadership is no longer "Do it my way" and often times is no longer "Do it your way" either but rather a mix of "Follow me and let's figure this out together."
Think Long Term, Think Strategic- Leadership involves asking the question "If I do this now, how will it effect tomorrow?" While often times we want to fix the immediate symptoms; Stop the crying of a child, run and fix the issue of a fellow employee or go and completely redo the system we have to stop and ask first how is fixing the symptom going to solve the root of the problem? This past week my family and I dug up a garden that had been long over do. At dinner one night my wife said to me, we dug all those strands of grass out but I still saw a few new pieces of grass popping up, it really makes the concept of getting to the root of the problem visible. Thinking long term helps us not just see the strands popping up but the roots that are digging and creating solid foundations, as leaders that vision of pulling, fixing and preparing the soil must always be on the mind. Leaders are Teachers- To become a teacher there must be some display of mastery. Teachers know when the time to follow is and when to grab the student by the hand and say let's go is. A key concept of leadership is the manner in which the teaching is done; parables, allegories, mnemonics and a bit of the old "I'm not sure" can be very valuable skills to gain and knowing when and where to use them can be even more valuable. These teaching styles can really invoke a pattern of deep thought and remembrance when used correctly. As a leader we often times don't see the immediate effects of solving problems for another right away but think back to the amount of time in your life was spent solving a problem for another and how much they could have learned by solving it themselves; Let them learn even if it hurts for a bit. Follow the turtle but be kind to the Hare- Leaders often times may stop and take the time to fix problems as they go, they may get up and go and see what's going on, most likely they are slow to plan and yet quick to act but for sure an effective leader is the one who separates emotion, bureaucracy, and personal motives to accomplish what is best for the team. Even though you may be tempted to exhaust or try to keep up with the speedy rabbits or other organizations taking time to coach and develop others and support daily incremental improvements will surely win the overall race then a few key blitzes only to realize that nobody in your journey is left supporting the goal. There are many elements to becoming a great leader including knowing when to lead and when to follow, by taking time to reflect on the elements of leadership that are most important for your organization you can be that much more effective. In short, we think of Lean and Continuous Improvement as a strategy; just as we do with those important initiatives we should also think of leadership as a strategy and improve everyday. Some time ago while training for a cycling race I was riding with a friend on a trail in the southern part of California. My energy began to fade as I was approaching hypoglycemia. I quickly pulled out my meter tested and to my surprise my blood sugar had plummeted to 38 mg/dl. For those of you who may not know, that is dangerous. We pulled to the side and went in a donut shop to get some more sugar. When my sugar got back to normal and we had turned back, my teammate made a statement that has stuck with me for a while, he said; "You may know your body, but if you don't assess things before you start you could end up never finishing."
So, why is an assessment of such great importance? Unless you are the perfect leader, follower or employee we never know absolutely everything that is going on in our plants, offices, or facilities. Like my trouble on the bike trail I could have avoided the sudden plummet in sugar by having regular check-ups and frequently monitoring the situation. Our organizations are no different; they require "check-ups" or "assessments" to diagnose how the health of the organization is doing. Along with those assessments frequent audits can be performed to monitor and maintain the improving health of your organization. One of the most important elements to an effective assessment is just what it actually generates. In my case my doctor's assessment following that "low blood sugar ride" told me I needed to both test my sugar more often and carry sugar with me. Your company assessment will prompt a few things but the focus should be on generating actions that either "get you back on track" or deploy something completely new into your organization. If the assessment does not yield any of those things all the interviews, data and power point slides in the world could not be value-added (remeber transformation must occur). In closing, getting started on "the lean ride" can yield many positive benefits which include; better control of assets, increased throughput, improved quality and an environment that everyone loves to work in. These benefits can appear rather enticing and motivational, however without the proper health assessment to start off, your new journey may leave you searching for sugar to keep the journey alive. In short take the time to assess and re-assess, you will find that the new knowledge gained and better understanding of the current condition will help you re-start or deploy initiatives that have a much better chance of making it across the finish line, if there is one. Value Stream Mapping is one of the Most effective methods and Skills a Lean practitioner can have. With an effective VSM methodology the tool of mapping can be used to truly transform processes from process level all the way to extended enterprise systems and maps. Let's look at a few elements that can be applied to mapping and keep your vehicle on course; 1. Define the Objective Like a vision the people mapping need something to align their thoughts with. Clearly defining the objective with all parties will allow people to ask the all important question "Is what I'm about to do going to move me towards or away from my objective?" Of course you want to head towards; you can define objectives through a charter, contract or an A3. The use of these project tracking tools will help to keep the objective insight. 2. Teardown the process Now that you have clearly laid out your objectives and all parties agree on the goals at hand, it's time to Go see and understand what is exactly happening in the Current State. Remember to include process owners and SME's they will help you understand the as is. While investigating at the Gemba, it is a good idea to snap photos and take notes. The Goal here is to really understand what is actually happening not what is supposed to be happening. In this stage you will also want to begin to make what you are understanding visual. Making the process visual means getting the good old stickies out and putting them on the wall. The process owners can help you to map out the steps which will further your understanding of the current state at the gemba. 3. Apply the right Metrics It goes without saying but if you are looking to reduce cycle time you would not want the Mapping participants to to identify cost (cheapest, most expensive). Now I'm not suggesting you use process mapping for more than just reducing process times, but use process mapping for more than just "time". After you have listed the steps in the process you will want to list the cycle times below, the best and worst is okay or if you are looking at cost reduction the most expensive and least expensive will work too, be sure you capture the appropriate metrics in the row shown below, it should be in line with your objective. The photo below may help you understand. 3. Review and Examine
Now that you have laid out each step in your process and have the appropriate data and or metrics associated with the Objective in place you can begin to review and examine the Current process. The word "Review" gives us the hint we will scrub again so make sure everyone who was involved still is involved. When we "scrub again" we look for anything that might be a bit messy or that we missed so take this opportunity to identify key bottlenecks or constraints that are choking the life out of your process. Take a microscope to your process and make visual what category each step fits into (VA,NVA,BN/BVA). Of course as you examine each of the symptoms that are brought up you will want to get to the root cause. 4. Decide what the "best route" is and "drive" Well we haven't started our "vacation" yet, but we have clearly defined where we are going (objective) and we figured out our gas and speed (data metrics) and of course we talked about all the things we would enjoy to do (VA,NVA, BN/BVA) and nobody left out all the things that could go wrong (bottlenecks and constraints). Now it's time to decide what the best route is (solutions) and advance. In this stage you can finalize your solutions, gain consensus amongst everyone and plan out any implementations that might need more resources or approval from the mountain top. Anything other solutions that you can do quickly, get er done. 5. Last but not Least In the process of driving towards your objective you will want to figure out "how to sustain or improve" your plan so that the end result of reaching your objective happens as it should. We all know that stuff comes up and need to pivot at times, that time comes as soon as it happens adjust as necessary and share with the entire team any changes that have revealed themselves. Lastly update any new procedures, standards and policies that may need to be updated. One last Key element to sustainment is proper training to bring everyone up to speed. Value stream mapping like a vacation can be fun and yield transformative results if the right elements are in place and experienced practitioners are involved. Now go and reach your objectives, if you get lost along the way give us a holler, we're happy to support. Now days you can ask any parent "How much paper do your kids go through every week?" They will likely share with you that they go through quite a bit of paper and even more ink. Yes most schools now have online portals, logins and homework that can be completed digitally and or printed out and completed manually. Let's flashback to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth and caveman were turning triangles into wheels; No offense but that time was when you and I were kids going through school. It was when chalkboards filled the rooms and children wrote on paper for homework. Call me old fashioned but there was something special about the sensory development that repetition and writing created. It helped us internalize what it was that we were trying to learn. We gained the ability to memorize formulas, hard to spell words and methods of solving problems. Today a Similar problem solving pattern has been sweeping the Globe. It stems from a sheet of paper that is 11 x 17, that same standard size gives the A3 report and thought process it's name "A3." Much like when we were writing stories on paper the A3 report helps teams or individuals tell a story. This Story can help us solve problems and through repetition creates a specific problem solving mindset. The A3 report is commonly used with the PDCA method of problem solving (A3 thinking and New Years) and it can be used rather effectively with PDCA. Today However in hopes to expand your mind to new ideas and possibilities I would like to suggest to you that A3 is only the size of the paper. In school we did Math, Language Arts and Social Studies all on paper and in the same way any methodology can use A3 paper to create a thought process. Remember the A3 report is meant to tell a story, but I would also add that using the A3 report can assist in Problem Solving, Justification to Leadership for projects, Planning and even in Policy deployments. Chances are you may have tried to suggest a great idea to someone else and been shot down before; well that's what we use the A3 for telling a store from fact based Problem solving methods. Now let's look at a one example of how another methodology can be applied to the A3 report to create Opportunities for results and a new way of thinking for the Individuals using the A3. 1. DMAIC D Placing the DMAIC method in an A3 chart can help develop a thought process focused on improving quality and reducing variability. Keeping in Mind that we are now using the DMAIC method not the PDCA method we will make a few of the necessary adjustments; first we will DEFINE our background information and clearly state any information you have. I have from time to time placed my objective in this column too for storytelling purposes, but for this example we will simply Define the background. M Next We will want to layout our measurement stage of the DMAIC method, in the measure stage we will document the 1. Current Conditions (VSM, Photos, Gemba) 2. Define the Goal, objective or Target if you haven't already done so and finally add any visuals that will assist you in clarifying your Objective during story telling or an attempt for buy in. A Now we are ready to move on to the Analyze portion of the DMAIC method. In this stage we want to look deeply into the measurements we have gathered with the intention of reaching a root cause for each and every one of the issues and or bottlenecks, constraints or symptoms that have been discovered. On Our A3 report we will show the Root Cause analysis (Fishbone, 5 why's) and each of the discovered root causes. After you have done this you will want to develop your possible countermeasures (used in the improve stage). I After discovering the "Root Causes" and defining possible solutions it's now time to Show in your story what it is you're going to Do (PDCA) only in this case what you are going to Improve (DMAIC). This section will clearly list and show implementation of the Solutions or a Gantt chart listing all solutions and when they can be completed by and who is doing them. C Now we are ready for the last phase of our DMAIC method hence the last block on our A3 report. In the Control phase of the DMAIC method we will need to Evaluate the Results, Create new Standards and any necessary actions to prevent the Original issue identified from returning and most importantly share the success with others that it may be applicable too. Now that we have completed our A3 report using the DMAIC method it becomes much clearer how any methodology can be placed on an A3 report and shared with the entire company in a single page. Even more important is that by provided the appropriate Methodology for Storytelling, sharing and improving you can help your employees memorize effective ways of improving your Organization. It should also be noted that just as the days of old, writing, writing and a little more writing...Repetition creates a thought process and links the thought with action. By giving your employees the knowledge base of how to construct an A3 report with any methodology you give them the power to discover and innovate new ideas that will eventually turn into powerful methods of Igniting your Organization's power.
あまりにも販売中リーン作品。Unless you speak or read Japanese, those first few words may be unfamiliar to you. They say quite simply, Lean works in Sales too. Well, I hope they do; although I have been to Japan I can not say I am fluent by any means. While it often times ends up being a learning curve or feeling like babel Lean principles can also become the common language in Sales and Marketing too. In fact it may be that Lean when applied to sales and marketing can yield increased results that will provide noticeable improvements to your bottom line.
1. Identify Customer Value Remember the principles of Lean still apply, we still want to define what value is to a customer. Because sale and marketing are often in the pipeline this is a fantastic opportunity to get some of the purest data on what customer value is, right from the source. You may want to investigate some options for CRM initiatives or conjure up an anonymous voice of the customer survey, whatever your tactic is take advantage of this key principle and begin to identify exactly what value is to your customers. 2. Set the Standards We don't often think of Sales and Marketing as strictly Internal functions, they work on both sides of the Vale constantly going out and returning to report back. By setting Clear and decisive standards for common activities like quoting, sales orders, email campaigns or contacting customers in the pipeline we can ensure that our sales and marketing team don't start their blogs in a foreign language. Remember that standards are the basis for improvement opportunities and they can be applied anywhere. 3. Eliminate "Tacit" Implement Transparent While this tip is very similar to Standardization, we should note that many times Sales managers and employees are often left trying to figure out what "language" they should speak. Often times a sales process is not defined and salesman must turn to their experience in hopes that it will work without variation. One solution to this common issue of Tacit knowledge is to begin to gather the elements that can be standardized and do so, remember if performed correctly Standardization takes the benchmark or the best practice and puts it to work for you. This simple tactical activity will transform tacit knowledge into a common language. If you can take 20% of your Sales and Marketing teams activities and standardize them just think they will have 20% more time to hone in on Transforming or adding Value to the relationships that may be sitting in queue. 4. Huddle up! While huddling is a great start to becoming more transparent, making Sales and Marketing activities Visual is so, so powerful. When things become Visual we can then manage and support based on the activities shown. That would mean if some activities became Visual in Sales and Marketing or S&OP activities we would then see and be able to track; 1. Relationships or Conditions that are falling to the wayside 2. Opportunities not being attended to 3. Performance While many of these Key performance Indicators allow us to track activities that may "not" be happening we should also note the activities that are happening; 1. Meeting Goals 2. Big Sales 3. Cross selling performance 4 Improvement of Triple Bottom Line Let's remember too that we track metrics to figure out how we can improve and continue to create new Economic, Environmental and Social opportunities so make things visual with the intention of improving, aligning and supporting each other. While it may seem like a foreign language from time to time and you may not be fluent right away, every language has the ability to be learned or translated even the language of Lean in Sales and Marketing. It's like any other Journey, just get started and one day you will look back with astonishment on what once seemed so foreign that now seems so familiar. A few weeks back my wife and I decided it was a perfect night for a redbox, while looking at our choices we decided on a movie called Martian. The movie was fantastic it documented an astronaut by the name of Mark Watney. During a mission to Mars Mr. Watney get's left behind when his team has to take off due to some other emergencies. Without giving away to much of the story towards the end Mark says to a group of students " You do the Math, you solve one problem, then you solve the next and if you solve the next problem you get to come home." As I pondered this profound concept for a bit I came to the conclusion that Mark Watney was not only a very intelligent astronaut but also a practitioner of Lean.
Okay don't quote me on that, but you certainly can quote that theoretically in Lean journey that is all we do we solve one problem, then we solve another and pursue perfection by continuously closing gaps within our Organizations. This is a key concept to your strategy, but you can also quote me when I say that at times solving problems may seem a bit overwhelming. For that reason it is much more effective to develop a team of astronauts who don't just solve problems in one world (department) but can solve problems all over the universe (Organizations). So How do we create that army of problem solvers? Let's take a look at 5 Key concepts that will be very helpful throughout your journey in creating a problem solving universe; 1. Empower your crew to Identify and Solve problems You've been working hard all morning on a report for another project but 5 people have stopped in and asked for your approval to solve an issue, upon review there suggestion was adequate and you let them all solve the problem they discovered. upon further thought you realize all 5 of those people did not just postpone your work but they had to leave there work and slow down the work of others. Giving people the proper authority to not just identify issues but to solve the appropriate ones too can be very powerful to an Organization. Put a process in place to document, contain and solve problems so that everyone has a clear understanding of where there authority lies in terms of solving problems. After all if Mark Watney had to wait for problems to be solved on Mars what would have happened to him? 2. Are they really problems? To Often we come across a symptom and start the process of standard question 1."Who" 2. "Who" 3. "Who" Not only does this leave people feeling attacked but it creates a culture of hide and seek. A problem or issue may show up and rather then working together to close the gap it get's hidden. Often times that the issue has gone on for quite some time and upon discovery it has now become what we call an "Opportunity," which is really what all problems are, they are opportunities to Improve quality, make a process more efficient, repurpose resources or build a culture of trust and problem solving. This requires us to ask are these really problems or could it be this is an opportunity? 3. Look at the System/Process not the people! Early one morning while at a weld shop I was observing a worker turning down some build up on a part. As I watched I noticed the worker suddenly become rather frustrated. Of course wondering why I asked him "what happened?" his response was that the part was now out of tolerance and he could not fix it. Naturally I followed up by asking "Oh how did that happened?" his response again was something I had heard before, "I was just doing what my supervisor showed me." Noticing that he was becoming defensive I placed my hand on his shoulder and assured him we were looking for the process failure not the person failure. I then followed up by asking " Is there a standard operating procedure you normally use?" he responded "no." This answer brought me a little closer to one possible solution. What I was utilizing was a process quite common to many Toyota engineers it is a standard set of questions that are focused on revealing the process failure. Had the worker said "yes" we could have reviewed the SOP and discovered the point that it failed, but given the process of utilizing only Tacit knowledge our first step was to put a process in place. This process based problem solving method makes finding, discovering, preventing and error proofing much easier and believe it or not you will find that focusing on the process will naturally help you shift towards a culture of find, fix, find fix. 4. Teach them the basics Most of us are quite familiar with different problem solving tools. But although we may be familiar with the tools we don't always know how to utilize these powerful problem solving tools and methods and we may not even have access to them. Having quarterly training on using problem solving tools and methods gives people an opportunity to master, learn and gain experience so that they can be more effective in your problem solving journey. A great place to start is by teaching everyone how to utilize The Seven Basic Tools of Quality. 5. Give them the Opportunity Last but not least, nobody and I mean nobody will become an effective problem solver if the are to busy just trying to keep up. It's like asking someone to hammer nails and not giving them a hammer; So be conscious that it takes time, support and opportunities to develop as leaders, managers and owners it is your job to give them that and help them to succeed. One of the most profound qualities I loved about Astronaut Mark Watney in the movie Martian was his ability to laugh, stay calm and solve problems. Which brings me to my last point, ensure that the journey is enjoyed nobody will want to solve problems in a miserable forceful culture and stay there, so as you develop and utilize these 5 tips in your Organization be sure to reward and recognize your army of problem solvers, they are the ones who will ensure your arrive at home safe. Houses are built most often on a Solid Foundation. Houses that are not built on Solid foundations or the dirt has not been prepared over time, stress or resistance begin to tear, split, cave and eventually the house it supports will crumble and fall. So how do we ensure that a solid foundation for Lean is in place and ready to support the resistance it will face time and time again?
Lean for the most part is a people centric strategy that is largely dependant on the development and willingness to support a Lean culture of the people who work in an Organization. That's right much of a Company's Lean Strategy, start-up and initiative will require your most important resources buy in and Support, but there are other elements of a Lean initiative that will help build a foundation for Lean in your Organization. Buy In From The Top Whether it's Executive support or the owner who "swears" to understand, provide and assist in driving Lean, Gaining support from the top will be a valuable asset to have. One reason is that a Lean initiative requires many elements of a company; everyone from Supply Chain, to Production even the Administrative and Sales staff that operate primarily out of an office need to understand that at some point or another they will be part of the journey of Lean, when the Executive and Ownership have a deep conviction of the strategy it sets the tone for the rest of the Organization's success and Support. Communicate your Commitment Now that you have received Buy in from the top, it's time to align the Organization with your new Strategy. One of the key ways of creating alignment in an Organization is opening up the lines of Communication. Communication show not only the importance to the Strategy but that the Company is behind the Lean initiatives. Top Management and Executives should in some way explain to the organization what Lean focuses on and why the Organization chose to deploy the strategy. You can do this via; Townhalls, Celebrations, Email, newsletters, video messages just make sure that whatever line of communication you open up it shows those receiving it how supportive you are of Lean. Find Your Champions and Leaders If you haven't seen Derek Sivers Ted talk on Leadership Lessons it is certainly worth watching. Although it is not often easy to make the decision who champions and future leaders will be if the first few steps are performed correctly you may find that people will scout you out. That is what you want, not necessarily the Master's degree or the 20 year veteran although it may be them. You will want excited, passionate and ready to develop leaders to become your future leaders, in short it's the leaders who want to develop other leaders that may become your leaders and champions. Develop and Reward the team Now that the foundation has been leveled and the concrete poured, it's time to let the material cure and become solid. A key portion to this stage is the time, however Tactics like "Train the Trainer" courses and the necessary authority to support your new strategy will speak value to the new team. One last important thing that may help to keep energy in the newly forming "Core Team" is to put in place a reward and recognition program. A few positive things will develop from this; It will show appreciation, It will give people an opportunity to recommend others for appreciation and finally a clear criteria regarding what constitutes "rewards and recognition" will help in driving proper behaviors that are in alignment with the overall Company Strategy. Often times after building a house the Contractor must hire an "inspector" to verify and advise that what has been done meets both the Criteria set by the future homeowner and safety measures. These inspectors can be interpreted as your Change agents and or Consultants and are key to helping the house develop as time goes on. With these few Elements in place you will have laid a very solid foundation for your new and improved home to be built on. When Looking into various systems of replenishment, there is no doubt that the Kanban system is at the top of every list. Although the ideal system in any Organization is true single piece flow, the Kanban system can help you to adjust buffers, trigger material before it is out and free up hundreds of thousands of dollars in company assets. We often times don't realize as much as 50% of an organization's assets are usually tied up somewhere in the supply chain, for that reason Kanban has become a go to system to solve many of the problems experienced by supply chain professionals. The Kanban can be in the form of a card, bin or even just an empty space that has been clearly labeled and identified. the simplest way to explain the Kanban system is that when the Kanban is empty it acts as the "trigger" for replenishment. Grocery stores often times have Kanban systems in place to restock shelves or trigger the re-ordering of necessary supplies. Originally the Kanban system was a "Best in Class" benchmark that was observed by Taiichi Ohno while traveling in America. Although the Kanban is a very effective way to control activities and production rates there are a few key elements that should be put in place that will help ensure the Kanban system is accepted and Successful. 1. Clearly Label your Kanban Be sure that the System is clearly labeled with a part number or Stock Keeping Unit, if you are using a Bin make sure the Bin has been identified and the location for the bin is clearly marked. 2. No Min/Max Quantities What? That's right the Quantity on the Kanban should be Clearly defined; There should be no minimum or maximum buy or produce ammount, what's on the card is the number. 3. Empty Kanban, replenish Be sure that the Kanban is the trigger to replenish and that means the only trigger. It is important to note that no counting of any form should be required if the Kanban quantity has been properly figured. 4. All Kanbans should Maintain a 5S standard and Integrity Keep the Kanban areas in proper 5S shape, you wouldn't want any sort of mixing and matching or confusion in the Kanban system. Maintaining a 5S standard will help to keep things Visual and Organized. 5. No Purchase Orders, None This is an important element to Kanban that is often times overlooked but honestly is very powerful to the system. The whole purpose of Kanban is to create replenishment that in one way or another frees up resources and provides the activities, actions or product you need when you need it. The Kanban card should have the same authority as a purchase order and sets the quantity for the supplier to provide. While your looking at it another element that can help free up more resources is to batch your invoices on the back side. Kanban can be a powerful system when properly implemented into an Organization, it works during high months and low months and cuts out a lot of Forecasting errors and Fluctuation in Supply and Demand. If you are interested in Receiving the Template shown above please feel free to touch base with us by emailing info@leanstrategiesinternational.com, we would also be happy to answer any additional questions you may have in stting up your Kanban system. The Seven deadly wastes come across our mind just about everyday. We can see Transportation on every street corner in Logistics, we witness waiting every time a community printer spits out 5 different pages and Defects in manufacturing become very obvious when the re-work has standard routings for repair operations, But how often do we stop and think about the Move, Wait or Queue of information flowing through your organization.
70% of all the waste found can typically be found in an office environment, but where do you look when you are discovering the office Waste? Well let's jump into this really quick with the hopes that today in your office you can discover new opportunities to move the bar up a little More. First Let's start by clearly identifying the need to look with very narrow eyes when identifying Information waste. It is not uncommon for there to be no tangible evidence of the form of waste visible so that requires us to do some digging. Often times by going to the Gemba or following a Process from start to finish you can identify many points in the process where the Flow of Information Bottlenecks. Be aware to,that information waste does not always come from the Origin of Muda but often times will include the Origins of Mura and Muri; as with any other Gemba walk, be respectful and humble when walking informative process lines. So what do we want to look for? TIMWOODS Although we are looking for Information waste, the elements will be no different then Material waste. Information must be transported from one place to another and it is quite often placed in excessive inventory points like E-mails waiting to be read, notepads or excel sheets stashed on computers. Don't forget that any time information is transferred and the action can not be completed due to inaccurate information or information that was not be included it is very likely that you will see the wastes of Overprocessing and Defects following close behind. Signs of Stress Now let's admit, we don't always know how much everyone has on their plate or what they are dealing with on a daily basis, that doesn't mean you need to run out and become a therapist but if you find that someone is saying things like "I've got to run my email is full" or you see a worker plowing away through lunch and breaks there is a good possibility that they are both a hard worker and they are experiencing what we know as Overburden, It won't be long before the gas runs dry. This is a great opportunity to see just how much is being placed in other people's lap there may be opportunities for some load leveling or balancing of the line, nevertheless these always working always rushing moments are often a sign that some origin of waste is creeping behind the rushing actions. How long does the Value-added activity take? Value added activities are the element of Work that we do that Transforms the activity being completed. This applies to Information flow too. if you look deep enough you will come to understand that there are some information; may be services that a customer is willing to pay for. You will also see that Information can be Transformed too. One example would be looking at the Inputs of a process and asking "Is the Information that's going in Transforming this point of the Value stream?" When we actually see that often times cutting the PO, sending the email, or having a conversation doesn't take that long we discover that the added time usually lurks in the realm of Non-Value. This is a good opportunity to take a look at the Information going in to the value added activity and what it is producing or the Output. These are only a few key elements to finding and discovering opportunities to Transform processes by attacking information; Some other ways may require analyzation of ERP/MRP systems, evaluating what metrics are driving and searching through word documents, excel sheets and powerpoint presentations and every other network drive or connection you can imagine, the point is attacking Information flow will yield hidden gold and provide many opportunities for Kaizen. The Alarm Clock goes off, you hit the snooze button and go back to sleep for a little bit, then it goes off 5 minutes later and you realize, "Oh my goodness, I'm Late!" So you start to rush panicking that you might show up late for the "big meeting." Finally you arrive at the office, jump out of your car and reach for your briefcase, your briefcase? Oh no, you've forgotten your briefcase. Well hopefully this wasn't the start of anybody's morning but to be quite honest it happens all the time in Kaizen Events, Projects or daily work activities. Nobody Keeps Takt of the time. Takt time is the rate at which we need to complete our work, but most importantly it is the rate in which we need to complete our work according to the Customers demand and there needs. In essence Takt time can be compared to the way a heartbeats; the heart keeps pace or beat in order to provide our body with the necessary blood and oxygen it needs. What happens when it falls off pace? You get light headed, miss a step or worse yet come to a complete stop. Just like our body falling out of beat if we have no Takt time or precise interval of time it becomes much harder to tell when something is not operating at quite the rate it needs to be. Here are a few simple tips for Calculating and using Takt time to your advantage. 1. Assess where you are at It goes without saying but if you are doing work there is a time figure you can use to assess the current situation. You may be able to pull data from your ERP/MRP system or take the Gemba approach; Grab your stopwatch set up an excel sheet and start gathering some times (cycle, process, lead). Be sure that the data you gather is in alignment with your objective. 2. Where is it you need to be? This is the exciting point where we ask ourselves at what rate does our Heart need to beat in order for the customer to continue circulating a healthy amount of blood into the organization? Let's start with how we figure out the Takt Time. You will want to find out exactly what the customer demand is Per day (internal or external) and you will need to define how much "available time" there is in the work day (i.e. 1 shift 8 hours, 2 shifts 16). Once you have these two pieces of Information you can now figure the Takt time. Let's look at an example of How we can figure Takt. Let's Say Our Customer wanted 100 pieces per day(keep in mind the pieces don't have to be actual materials they may be services or activities that are not so tangible) and our shift was exactly 8 hours or 480 minutes with no downtime and no breaks or lunches (breaks, lunches and downtime should be figured into your available time if you have them, and we hope you do) that would mean that each piece needs to be made in 4.8 minutes to keep up with the customer demand. 3. If there is a Gap identify it If not Support it
Now you can probably tell it would be very clear if we were meeting takt time or not (compare current as is situation to the Takt time). If you are not meeting the Takt time we suggest Identifying the Gap and any of the Contributing issues so that you can make a plan in order to reach the Takt time. As with anything else set your team up to win try to give them goals they can meet and inch your way to meeting the Takt time. If there is no Gap continue to support the crew's efforts and reward their hard work and labor. 4. Post It Once you have defined the rate at which you need to complete activities, it will be to your advantage to make everyone aware of the Takt time, You can post it on Huddle boards attach it to a meter or any other way you want, the point is make it Visual. The purpose of making the Takt time Visual is that you can remove barriers as they pop up, remember we are here to "Support" the team in accomplishing their goal not monitor, spy, or tattle on one another. One way you can do this is by observing when the activity has fallen off pace, you can then identify the contributing issues and remove the Root Causes. Not having a Takt time can cause you to be late for work, forget items in the hurry to make up time or place unnecessary burdens on individuals. Though it may not be quite as obvious to you if you are not involved in the activity, having a Takt time established will allow you to identify abnormalities and see lines or processes that may be out of balance. Just like any other Origin of Waste once we identify those abnormalities we remove them. Well you all better get back to work; If you need any support in keeping Takt of time feel free to email info@leanstrategiesinternational.com, we would be happy to support. Let's make this week the week where you establish and keep Takt of at least one of your times. We would love to hear about your experience in doing it. |
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