Lean Manufacturing

2008-05-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

The following video is a report about Toyota and lean manufacturing techniques that was aired on "Report on Business Television"

It provides a good overview of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which is the overall name for the lean manufacturing techniques Toyota developed, such as kaizen, kanban (JIT) and 5S. Their lean manufacturing techniques have given Toyota the ability to produce cars the way Dell makes computers. They have no inventory and they make each car to customer specifications as they are ordered. This is called flexible assembly.

This 4:20 minute video points out that the corporate culture is important. Everyone from the top down must embrace and support TPS principles. For example, unlike other car manufacturers the Toyota production line does not have a lot of quality inspectors at the end of the line. They are not needed because quality goes into the product, and is verified, during production.

So close! Don't overlook this in TPM ...

2008-04-28T15:04:00.001-07:00

Uh, oh …

The much-championed TPM has one tiny downer: An alleged increase in work-related injuries.

With all the potential benefits of implementing the Total Productive Maintenance philosophy, there are a few disadvantages. In the throes of championing worker autonomy, someone forgot to mention that a more diversified worker can potentially mean more diversified injuries.

It happens like this … A worker uses his machine with skill and ease. In a wave of TPM implementation, he learns to clean and maintain it. Blades are checked and cleaned, the engine is serviced, the functionality of various parts is tested periodically, and needed lubrication is performed. With each new task, the potential for injury increases.

“Not surprisingly, strains and sprains continue to be the bane of many companies, especially with increasingly autonomous workers who act as they think best,” said Robert Prater, a director with Strategic Safety, in an article for Occupational Health & Safety.

So what’s the solution? In the enthusiasm to implement TPM, be sure to address safety concerns. A more weighted workload will inevitably introduce more ways to get hurt. Safety training in addition to simple operation training is necessary, but often overlooked. Cleaning supplies can be harmful to the skin or eyes; sharp blades are dangerous to clean or lubricate. There are many potential hazards in any task in nearly any given facility that ought to be addressed, especially for a worker who is newly trained to perform such tasks. Fortunately, OSHA has set in place myriad standards for training and safety

Conversely, the benefits of TPM still far outweigh any negative aspects. The goal of TPM is to maximize equipment effectiveness and longevity and reduce and eliminate loss. These goals are accomplished through three main objectives: standardizing procedures for consistency, streamlining procedures with visual communication, and maximizing the use of space and resources (people and equipment). That last element – maximizing resources – can’t be achieved without necessary training on both operational and safety fronts.

Two, Four, Six, Eight ... Wait, No, Just Six.

2008-04-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Toyota got its own lean term. Anyone else? Motorola raised its hand in that great classroom known as industry and introduced ... Six Sigma.

While the methodology is lean at heart, its objective is more data-driven and statistically based. Six Sigma strives to reduce product- and service-quality problems or defects, which naturally translates into some lean-championed benefits like improved productivity, waste reduction, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma, so named because of its emphasis on the statistics measure of deviation from the mean, has fallen under fire lately with analysts questioning its validity.

A quick rundown of Six Sigma, according to Plant Services' asset manager: For normal distributions, 68% of the population should fall within one standard deviation, or sigma, of the mean. For quite some time, many companies upheld a three-sigma benchmark for quality, meaning that you could expect parts to be within specification 99.73% of the time (or have a defect rate of about 2.7 per 1,000 parts). However, Motorola noticed that a process could vary by nearly 1.5 sigma over time, which would mean those parts could have a defect rate of about 0.995 to 1.005 per 1,000. This slight variation in numbers could have a significant impact. For a 1.5-sigma drift in the mean, the sigma level would have to shift to a tolerance of plus/minus six sigma. This new acceptable tolerance level is 3.4 defects per million opportunities, or rather, at least 99.9996599% of data points should fall within plus/minus six sigma from the mean.

Got that?

Team Motorola figured that the ever-ebbing wave of technology was so complex that a more forward-thinking approach to quality levels was needed. Motorola Corp. was one of the first, back in the late 80s, to alter the notion that quality levels ought to be measured in parts per hundred to a case where quality levels should be measured in parts per million or parts per billion.

Since then, Motorola has reported savings of upwards of $17 billion. Not too shabby. The likes of Honeywell, 3M, and General Electric have followed suit, incorporating Six Sigma methodology into their lean practices.

So if money is being saved, mathematical minds are hard at work, and companies are going lean, what's the big problem? Plenty, according to analysts, starting with creativity.

A number of business publications have explored the criticisms of Six Sigma, coming to the same conclusions. First, the rigid and narrow standards of Six Sigma can stifle creativity, prompting "incremental innovation at the expense of blue-sky work." In other words, a company can get so caught up in meeting Six Sigma's limited acceptability that commitment to innovation or value is sacrificed in the name of stark quality. Second, that although the gist of Six Sigma is effective at fixing an existing process, it doesn't help in "coming up with new products or technologies," according to Business Week. Finally, some critics peg the standard deviation shift as arbitrary, maintaining the reasons for choosing six as the number is neither clearly defined nor justified.

What does this all mean? The lesson we have been learning all along: No lean process, be it TPM or Six Sigma -- worker based or data driven -- is a panacea for any business. What these methodologies ought to be promoting is a new way to examine processes, an example of how to think and act differently, and a basic outline for how to proceed successfully and effectively.

One-Way Ticket from Japan to Ohio

2008-04-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

How does that cliche go? You can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Consider this: That old dog might not need any new tricks. Especially when he's man's best friend.

Gary L. Convis, a 40-year veteran of the domestic auto industry, spent nearly a quarter century with the glorious Japanese auto maker Toyota at its North American manufacturing plant. Convis had just retired last year after running Toyota Motor Corp. stateside, and now has been picked up by the likes of Dana Corp.

The Toledo-based automobile-components supplier has been struggling with its recent bankruptcy and is looking to the touted "manufacturing whiz" for some lean, mean guidance, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Convis is now the CEO of the $8.7 billion Dana Holding Corp., and everyone is looking to the seasoned pro for his expertise in lean manufacturing.

Analysts believe that if Convis could get Dana to adopt a little Toyota philosophy, things could really turn around for the Fortune 500 firm.

Never mind that the Toyota Production System was generated half a century ago ...

But perhaps that's the magic of lean? Someone actually got it right the first time?

Dana reportedly lost over $550 million last year, but Convis is confident that with a little lean implementation, he can get that turned around, starting with restoring employee's pride in their company. It may seem an odd place to start, but really, it just makes sense. One of the main elements of lean TPM is worker autonomy, which is achieved by touting a worker's ability to have nearly complete independence in his or her job and total responsibility for his or her equipment. Lean experts promote such autonomy by fostering a sense of pride in those duties among workers, and perpetuate that pride with recognition of accomplishments and successes.

In an interview with the Toledo Blade, Convis commented, "I come back to the fundamentals. It's been a couple tough years for sure. I think people's morale is related to pride in working for a great company."

Norman Bodek, who publishes books on productivity, maintains that many companies have embraced lean, but they "wrestle with a fundamental component of the philosophy: the worker."

"We've had this myth of individuality," he said in an interview with the Oregonian. "Management has used that myth to dominate workers and keep them separate. The shame is, we all love teams. We're excited that the Blazers did so well .... It's puzzling to me why we don't have teams in every American company. It's a powerful missing ingredient."

So THAT'S how Toyota got it right the first time! They focused on the integral factor that would never go away: People!

With that concept at the heart of lean, I foresee that philosophy sticking around for another 50 years, and beyond. Dana Corp. will bounce back with Convis as its leader. And hopefully more American companies will follow suit and streamline their operations and focus more on their workers.

Another Point for Labels!

2008-04-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

As it turns out, labels are pretty helpful.

While brushing up on some reading about dry chemical safety (isn't that what everyone peruses in their spare time?), I came across an article about the importance of visual communication in the inspection process of dry chemical fire extinguishers. How about that! Apart from properly functioning valves and pressure gauges, the first thing to consider when inspecting a dry chemical fire extinguisher (and good old regular fire extinguishers, too, I imagine) is the labeling. First, a proper fire extinguisher should indicate the class of fire for which it is meant, and a rating number indicating its extinguishing capabilities. This information should be coupled with a rundown of required chemical levels and weight, suitable temperatures for storage and operation, and some hydrostatic test stickers. It sounds like someone over at the dry chemical fire extinguisher factory has 5S on the brain.

Visual communication as a means to organize, streamline operations, and ultimately deliver pertinent information at the exact point it is needed has become key in any business or operation. Its function to inform, warn, and assist has become seemingly commonplace, yet surprisingly few facilities seem to really embrace its benefits. A simple label or sign can diffuse confusion and enhance understanding. Just as you wouldn't want to pick up that fire extinguisher and pull the pin without knowing proper instructions and whether it was even appropriate for the job, you wouldn't approach a lighting panelboard without knowing which circuits are separated by which breakers. This information is generally communicated via color coding and labeling, two useful tools for making anything -- from panelboards to fire extinguishers -- more user-friendly. (And OSHA-friendly!)

At a loss for how to implement some lean-induced visual communication? Start with the basics. Take a visual tour of your facility or workspace, focusing first on safety (what hazards or warnings ought to be marked? what requires PPE?), and then on organization and function (should the inventory shelving be marked? could that bundle of cords be color-coded?). Then get to the fun part: creating the signs and labels. Try out the DuraLabel PRO , a leading industrial-grade label printer that can generate everything from the tiniest wire wrap to reflective parking lot signs. Working alongside your own PC, this handy printer can produce pipe markers, warehouse labels, NFPA diamonds, and OSHA-compliant safety signs, and more using its own templates or your Microsoft docs.

To take a page from the lean book, check out www.labelprinter.com.

Look, Don't Touch: Using TPS Effectively

2008-04-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

Let's talk Toyota. Not the cars (though I hear they have stellar crash-test ratings), but the methodology employed on the industrial and business fronts.

Since the rise of the TPS (Toyota Production System) regime, businesses everywhere have gone lean. Lean is good. Lean is efficient, productive, and waste-free. The main goals of TPS are to design out overburden, inconsistency, and eliminate waste. Seeing the obvious advantages, managers shake their heads while chuckling, “Those Toyota guys! What will they come up with next?”

So what's the problem? Revering TPS and all things appertaining to it to the point of complete dependence on it. When a business is confronted with a challenge, rather than examining its company-specific needs and roadblocks to find a creative solution, it asks, What would Toyota do? It’s a fair enough inquiry; after all, Toyota's name is in the title of the philosophy. But that's just it – TPS is meant to be a business philosophy, not a panacea for all things challenging on the workfront.

Using different lean concepts championed by TPS, businesses in need of a little direction should reevaluate their use of kanban, kaizen, and 5S techniques. Don't make a blanket comparison between your company and another – each is intrinsically different and will require solutions catered to their respective dynamics.

The following is an analogy from Gembutsu Consulting:

“Imagine that we are given the task of winning a bicycle race. Unfortunately, we are not bicycle experts and do not know what type of equipment to purchase for this race. Luckily, we are very good friends with an expert. In fact, he is a Tour de France champ! We call upon this individual for his recommendations with the mindset that his knowledge and experience can surely help us prepare for and win a race. With great excitement and passion, our friend runs through his preferred bicycle brands, models, and training methods. Satisfied with this information, we go to the local bike shop and make a purchase based on our friend's recommendations. On race day, we are terribly disappointed to find that this ‘expert’ recommended bikes made for competition on a flat, paved road, while we will be racing on dirt trails in rough, mountainous terrain.”

Every business is different, from warehouse to office space. There are differences in end product, in production, company size, equipment, building makeup, company hierarchy and culture, needs, etc. It is illogical, then, to expect that exact replication of business practices would translate well in any workplace. While a general system or model for improvement and success ought to be implemented, relying on the exact play-by-play of another business (even one as esteemed as Toyota) will fall short of your company’s needs, abilities, and goals.

“When we copy specific tools (“I need a bicycle”) without understanding why, even with the best intentions, we run a great risk of implementing the wrong solution,” according to Gembutsu. While one modification may have worked for the “benchmark company,” it may not be appropriate for your company based on all the factors.

The moral of the story? Don’t be lazy and expect Toyota to fix everything for you. I hear they've got a pretty demanding automobile schedule. If your business needs a little nudge in the right direction or a complete overhaul, examine the specific reasons that need exists in the first place. Evaluate the company dynamic, from equipment usage to personnel issues, and, armed with TPS philosophy, start making decisions that will result in a leaner, meaner business. You know what TPS' ultimate goal is; now use your brilliant business to get your company there.

For a little extra help on streamlining your business Toyota-style, check out Graphic Products, Inc., a lean manufacturer and supplier of premier industrial labeling and printing supplies sure to get any business shaped up with 5S aplomb.

Become TPM Savvy with Labels

2008-04-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Total Productive Maintenance, or TPM, is a wide-ranging program meant to maximize equipment availability. This is achieved with preventive and predictive maintenance. A central idea in TPM is the concept of self-directed maintenance, wherein machine operators are responsible for the routine maintenance and operations of their machines and equipment. With regular, routine maintenance, cleaning, and necessary upgrades, machines and equipment should ultimately improve in functionality and longevity. The major goal of TPM is total elimination of all losses – lost equipment, lost time, lost money. Eradicating these things can lead to improved utilization of production assets and plant capacity, as well as a boost in worker morale.

Graphic Products, Inc., an Oregon-based manufacturer and supplier of industrial-grade printing and labeling products and supplies, provides a key element in getting any facility organized and functional to comply with the TPM philosophy: Labels. By properly and plainly labeling areas, equipment, and maintenance protocol, a workplace will stay more organized and ultimately run more efficiently.

The concept of implementing a standardized labeling system in any facility promotes visual communication, which is simply the idea of communicating pertinent information to a person at the exact point that information is needed. For example, in a wave of TPM overhaul, some specific machinery could be affixed with a series of labels and signage: OSHA-compliant warning labels, RTK labels indicating the type of personal protective equipment (PPE) required for running that machinery, as well as a sign detailing operating instructions, and a sign detailing a maintenance plan. All of this information is presented graphically at the very place the operator most needs it. This is visual communication, and it is a highly effective tool for enhancing efficiency and productivity. Any uncertainty about operating, cleaning, or maintaining the machinery should be eliminated; accidents and injuries should decrease because any hazards or warnings are clearly posted. Graphic Products, Inc., makes this possible with the DuraLabel PRO, the premier labeling machine.This desktop thermal-transfer label printer is extremely versatile and quickly prints anything from small wire wraps to reflective parking signs with the help of your own PC.

As workers become more self-sufficient and proficient in their duties with the help of visual communication, the TPM philosophy can be sustained and a more efficient and ultimately more productive workplace will emerge.

Learn more about how TPM can improve your workplace by requesting a TPM guide, sent to you free.

Showing your Kanban!

2008-03-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled across this story on the origins of kanban.
Fredharriman.com tells us:

In once incidence remembered by Chihiro Nakao, Mr. Ohno caught someone he knew was about to pull his materials too soon and thundered: "Who are you and where did you come from?! What makes you think you have any right to this material?
Show me your kanban!!"

This illustrates some of what a kanban is not - it isn't a purchase order, it isn't a fax, and it isn't a taped or marked location. All of these can be part of a kanban, but a kanban is simply "a visual control that signals an upstream operation to deliver what is needed." (taken from Ralph Bernstein).

It is the "authority" created by need to "pull" an item downstream from an upstream operator.

Delving into JIT is a difficult process - one that takes time, effort, and
committment. We all know that going lean yields great rewards, but in
the midst of the difficult process of "gettling lean," it's nice to be
reassured that even the originators had trouble from time to time.

Kaizen and the Visual Workplace

2008-01-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Two additional sections of our lean manufacturing suite of web sites have come online.

Kaizen - visit this site to learn about kaizen, what it is and the benefits of kaizen. Test your knowledge of kaizen using the free, online Kaizen Quiz.

Visual Workplace - a basic component of all lean methods is visual communication, which results in a visual workplace. Visual communication is the use of labels and signs to communicate information at the point of need, when it is needed. This includes OSHA required safety signs as well as non-required, but still essential labels that identify equipment, and provide operating and maintenance information.

7,500 man hours to 3,600 - Saving with Kaizen

2008-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

I found a nice article at GrandsForksHerald.com about the often amazing benefits of a full lean implementation.

While the majority of the article concerns LM, this passage about Cirrus Design really stood out to me -

"Coincidentally, Cirrus Design, a neighboring plant in the Industrial Park, went through a similar process back in 2001. The company found its workforce was just too inefficient, preventing it from building airplanes as fast as it wanted. In came the Toyota Production System, also known as lean manufacturing.
Like kaizen, it emphasized continuous elimination of waste and inefficiency. Within just three months, Cirrus Design reduced the number of worker-hours needed to build a plane from 7,500 to 3,600. "

Let's ignore the little mix-up concerning kaizen, lean and TPM and look at those figures.
7,500 worker-hours.
3,600 worker-hours.

Labor hours were more than halved through the implementation of Lean Manufacturing.
Alternatively, one could say efficiency more than doubled!

That's mind blowing.
That's kaizen, that's kanban, that's lean.

We've repeatedly seen that the benefits of lean manufacturing can be found in almost any field. How many times do you have to see figures like this or watch companies like LM succeed before you implement lean?

Lean Manufacturing meet the Lean Web

2008-01-24T15:10:00.001-08:00

Perhaps I missed the boat on this one, but I had no idea internet giants like Ebay had dedicated lean departments.

Ahem. "Process Improvement for Customer Service" departments.

I find this out through the news that Peter Abilla, author of the shmula blog and a fellow U of C graduate, will be speaking at the Lean Six Sigma Summit.

A quick glance through the speakers gives a powerful testament to the advantages of adapting lean - Ebay, United Airlines, Walt Disney World Resort, Wells Fargo.

Companies from all walks of business are dedicated to lean - to the point that they have in house experts ready and willing to spread the word. Lean is coming, it can save you money.
Just ask Xerox, or Johnson & Johnson, or Countrywide Financial, or Tyco International, or ...

The visual organization of space, the implementation of kaizen, the use of a kanban system - these tools are used by some of the biggest and best companies in the world, why not yours?

Another Lean Adopter

2008-01-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

This time it's New England Peptide, a company who, unsurprisingly, produces peptides and antibodies based in New England.

Peptide "manufacturing" is clearly not one of the areas traditionally associated with lean, but that hasn't stopped NEP from reaping its benefits.

According to a recent press release NEP can improve its lead time by 25% in 12 to 18 months. For a company already with the best lead time in its industry, this increase can only boost customer satisfaction and worker productivity.

Using techniques like 5s, NEP's founder feels they are bringing a "new level of sophistication" to the business.

The visual organization of space can seriously improve lead time - it turns out in almost any industry!

Quick Article Posting

2008-01-07T12:06:00.001-08:00

Nice read on lean adoption not having to mean "layoffs" over on the Worcester Business Journal.

With a $50,000 dollar grant, a multi-million dollar corporation was able to enact and sustain a full Lean makeover - saving an estimated $8.2 million over the past five years.

That's not a terrible investment by any means.

How was it possible?
Only with the "trust and full participation of its employees."

This is why making lean not another coded word for a round of layoffs is so critical. It's success hinges upon employee buy-in.

FLEXcon appears to have done it in a slightly unusual way - they educated their entire work force on lean from the get go. Bringing everyone in up front isn't always practiced, but it certainly seems to have worked here.

The Meaning of 5S

2008-01-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

I write a lot about 5s, both in this blog and for my company. We get a lot of business from people interested in how labels can support, create and maintain the visual workspace.

But when is something a true 5S implementation and when is it just good business sense?
Take for example those wondrous little guide lights in parking garages - you know, the ones that tell you how many spaces are available in each row/section of the garage, saving both time and hassle.

They certainly visually organize the environment, they keep it clean and well organized and they sustain this organization.

But is it a true 5S implementation?

Pehsk's blog has a recent post maintaining that it is.

I can certainly see how it contains elements of 5S, and I can see how it benefits the garage and the consumer. I can also see how it empowers the individual user (in this case a driver) to make an informed decision about where to drive.

Take a look at some of his photos, and let me know what you think?
Is it lean, is it 5S - or is it just good solid business sense?
Is there a difference?

... And does it matter?

New Kanban Web Site With Online Kanban Quiz

2008-01-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

Our Introduction to Kanban web site went online today.

This new web site is designed to answer the questions: What is kanban and what are the benefits of kanban? It provides an overview of kanban that helps those new to lean manufacturing techniques to quickly understand what kanban can do.

As with our new 5S web site, the kanban web site includes a Kanban Quiz. This short quiz is a fun way to test your kanban knowledge and compare yourself with others who have taken the quiz.

We also offer a printed guide to Kanban. This 24 page booklet provides a complete overview of kanban, including information about implementing kanban.

New 5S Web Site & 5S Quiz

2008-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

Our 5S web site is now available.

Serving as an introduction to 5S, this web site provides a concise overview of 5S and its benefits.

What's unique about this web site is that it offers a free, online 5S quiz. The 5S quiz is a fun way to test your 5S knowledge and compare yourself with others who have taken the quiz.

We also offer two printed 5S guides. Our "Introduction To 5S" is a 12 page booklet that provides a complete overview of the basic information about 5S. The "5S Standard Color Code Guide" is a laminated chart that shows the code code scheme that has become the defacto standard for 5S color coding. Both guides are available free and may be requested using a form on our new 5S web site.

"The Right Stuff" vs. Standard Work

2007-12-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Pretty much every lean blog in existence has commented on The Checklist, an article running in the present issue of the New Yorker.

It seems the article has sparked debate across the internet, and hit the front page of both digg and reddit. For me, the most fascinating part of the article came in a discussion of how mavericks with "rock star like status" and "expert audacity" need to give way to standardization of the delivery of care.

As an avid Hugh Laurie fan, since the days of Fry and Laurie, I'll readily admit to House fandom.
The doctor as Sherlock Holmes, using logic and obsessive-like attention to detail to save patients, appeals to an underlying idolization of the wild and brash maverick in our shared culture.

Atul Gawande relates how Chuck Yeager's era of test-pilot as hero had to give way to the more standardized, safer era of test-pilot as procedure follower. In the same way, Gawande contends, we are entering the era of Medicine delivery as science.

The practice of medicine, that romanticized notion of thousands of House-like mavericks saving lives, needs to give way to standard work.

Repeatable, quantifiable, exact standards are necessary, and in turn, save more lives.
Funny how lean concepts can work almost anywhere.

Television and Lean

2007-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article concerning the effects of the Writer’s Strike on Television Production yesterday.

From a lean perspective, the strike might have a profound effect on the production of future shows.

Presently an "anachronism that dates from the early days of TV" is used - the pilot season.
This costs millions of dollars as every television studio competes to snap up available talent.

An entire year’s worth of production is done in a few months.
“Push” production with all its wastes.

But, with the strike, networks are considering abandoning this practice and moving to a “more year-round program development, shooting pilots at other times of the year as a way to sidestep the costly race for talent that occurs during pilot season and to lavish more time and attention on their shows.”

Aha!
Pull Production!
Lean!

Think about it – instead of pushing every show through at once, and then having the “inventory” of unaired shows and their accrued costs, the industry is going to “pull” shows through when they need them.

Putting on our lean goggles it’s not that difficult to imagine the industry converting to JIT production including, even, a kanban.

A television channel sees that it has upcoming free broadcast time and submits a work order to a production team.
Kanban in hand, the team hires the necessary elements and creates a “pilot.”
The pilot is created in time to fill the free air time.

No held inventory, no wasted production costs.
The television industry is lean.

Lean television, only in the age of the internet.

The Crisis of Lean

2007-12-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

I read a lot of blogs about lean. One I just discovered today is Fashion-Incubator: Lessons from the Sustainable Factory Floor.

Talk about a surprising application of lean philosophy. I never would have imagined lean on the fashion floor room could be so fascinating, or well written.

Congratulations go to Kathleen, especially for her piece on The Crisis of Kaizen.

She applies a kaizen philosophy to redesign a jacket and makes life easier and work more efficient for the stitchers at her factory.

Her new design is faster, more customizable, and much cheaper to produce. Kathleen effectively reduces waste and lowers production costs. But, is this always a good thing?

Suddenly "because things could be done better and more quickly than before, people were left without work to do," something management saw as a problem. Oftentimes, this can lead to shortsighted managers laying people off, perpetuating the myth that Lean leads to firings.

This doesn't have to be the case! Lean manufacturing is about improving efficiency - if there is no work to do, examine your manufacturing flow. A new kanban, or the redistribution of work tasks, can often increase profits even further!
Fortunately, this is what happened in Kathleen's case, where management redesigned their JIT system to accommodate the increased efficiency - pushing profits even higher.

The fear of firings when things become more "efficient," a misplaced notion of waste reduction, hurts lean. It prevents full commitment from workers and management.

Don't let lean fail from fear.
State from the beginning that the goal isn't to reduce staff, but to increase productivity.

Lean doesn't have to be mean.

Hidden Lean

2007-12-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

I love lean.

Whether it's at a manufacturing plant or in software development, I'm fascinated by "lean" and how its concepts can improve work and life. This blog is where I'll explore the unique issues concerning lean deployment.

Hopefully I'll find new ways of using lean, and new ways of supporting it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I work for a company that manufactures and sells industrial label solutions. We work hard at supporting lean efforts, focusing on areas like 5s and the visual workspace.

But, my love of lean goes much deeper.
Continual, visually based, efficient means of accomplishing goals seems like a useful technique to me.

And why shouldn't it?
Lean techniques have been used by companies as big as Toyota and as small as one man's garage (more on this in a moment).

Lean can be used to improve life as well as work. It can be enacted in almost any environment. And when well supported and fully invested, it can have drastic results.

Take a look at this man's use of the 5s system to organize and maintain his garage.
The before and after pictures say it all, don't they?

He even demonstrates how labels and labelling can support the proper deployment of the 5s's.

Lean Manufacturing

2007-11-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

This blog will feature information, news and commentary about lean manufacturing related topics.