picture from: https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/30267/lean-manufacturing-techniques
While he worked on TPS (Toyota Production System), Taiichi Ohno, never expected that he is creating a breakthrough approach which will influence such big changes in many industries.
Although a lot of books and experts are pinpointing the beginning of Lean (TPS) in the first decades of the XX century, some individual practices can be found even in the XV century (in Venice for example – thanks to the idea of the flow production, people managed to build 1 ship per day).
LEAN – WHAT IS IT
We can define Lean in many ways and before I will answer this question, I would like to go through a few key points and principles...
THE 5 PRINCIPLES OF LEAN (Womack & Jones)
1. Specify VALUE
2. Identify the VALUE STREAM
3. Make Value Stream FLOW (without interruption)
4. Let the customer PULL the value
5. Pursue Perfection
The 5 principles of Lean were introduced by Womack & Jones in their “Lean Thinking” book in 1996.
Lean thinking begins with the CUSTOMER and the end goal – We must understand the value through the customer's eyes. Once we know where/when/how we create the value for the customer and the end goal has been determined, we must understand a full end-to-end process and how the value is delivered – this is what we call ‘VALUE STREAM’.
Third principle – the FLOW. We must make the value to ‘flow’ through processes without any interruptions, delays, bottlenecks, etc, which will improve customer experience and reduce our cost.
“Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so that the product or service will flow smoothly toward the customer.”
Lean Enterprise Institute
4th principle – let the customer ‘PULL’ the value, which means that the customer demand is dictating what and when we produce in the exact quantity needed, right first time and with a minimum cost to us. As a result, products do not need to be produced in advance and we are avoiding expensive inventory.
5th principle summarises the philosophy of Lean – there is always room for improvement, and we need to make Lean thinking/process improvement to be a part of our organisation culture.
4 UNWRITTEN RULES OF TOYOTA (Steven Spear & H. Kent Bowen)
These 4 rules have been presented in the Harvard Business Review (1999) article “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System” and they are:
1. How People Work - All work is highly specified in its content, sequence, timing, and outcome.
To put it more simply – standardise all processes (without exemption).
You probably think – yeah, we have standards and SOPs in our company. Most of the companies are very good with standardising their products, not processes itself. Toyota standards are on a completely different level than you think and there is no room for any variation from the way to do the task.
“…The work is designed as a sequence of seven tasks, all of which are expected to be completed in 55 seconds as the car moves at a fixed speed through a worker’s zone…if after 40 seconds the worker is still on task 4, which should have been completed after 31 seconds, then something, too, is amiss. To make problem detection even simpler, the length of the floor for each work area is marked in tenths. So if the worker is passing the sixth of the ten floor marks (that is, if he is 33 seconds into the cycle) and is still on task 4, then he and his team leader know that he has fallen behind.”
Steven Spear & H Kent Bowen about install the seat into a Toyota Camry
You need to understand, that such exactness within the standards is applied not only to the repetitive motions of production operatives but also to the activities of all people regardless of their functional specialty/hierarchical role.
2. How People Connect - Every customer-supplier connection must be direct, and there must be an unambiguous yes-or-no way to send requests and receive responses.
The first rule explained how each individual needs to perform the task, the second one telling us how people connect and work with each other. All the network is based on the supplier-customer relationship between each person within the organisation and every connection must be legible and standardised. Standardised to extend that we know all people involved, the form, quantity, expected time frame and service to be provided within the process. The process of standardisation within connections brings a lack of “grey zones” – everyone knows what needs to be provided to whom and by when. Each request/issue has the owner.
3. How the Production Line Is Constructed - The pathway for every product and service must be simple and direct
All processes (production and service) are designed to flow to the specific place (person/machine), not to the next available.
“The third rule doesn’t apply only to products— it applies to services, like help requests, as well. If our seat installer, for example, needs help, that too comes from a single, specified supplier. And if that supplier can’t provide the necessary assistance, she, in turn, has a designated helper. In some of Toyota’s plants, this pathway for assistance is three, four, or five links long, connecting the shop floor worker to the plant manager.”
Steven Spear & H Kent Bowen
4. How to Improve - Any improvement must be made in accordance with the scientific method, under the guidance of a teacher, at the lowest possible level in the organization.
TOYOTA 3M MODEL
Lean Management is a conglomerate of different tools, techniques, and principles which are aiming to eliminate 3M:
- Muda - waste (activity without value for the customer)
- Mura – unevenness in operation/process
- Muri – overload/overburden
MUDA – from the Japanese language, means waste/wastefulness which contradicting value-added steps within the process. Value-added work is a process that adds value to the product/service that the customer is willing to pay for (think about it this way - if your customer would see you and the task you are performing right now, would he be willing to pay for it?). This is quite a big topic (for another article really, if not a book) so for now, you just need to know that there are two types of Waste: Type 1 – non-value added activities but necessary for the end customer, and Type 2 – non-value added and unnecessary for the customer (famous TIMWOOD 7 Wastes, or DOWNTIME in other publications).
MURA – means unevenness/irregularity. Mura is one of the reasons which leads to Muda. If your department schedules the work according to internal systems and not according to the end-customer demand or if you are witnessing constant bottlenecks you can be sure you are facing Mura itself.
MURI – in other words, overburden. If you utilise your people or machines for more than 100% capability to complete the work, they are overburdened. Muri can result from Mura or excessive removal or Muda from the process. Mura could cause machine breakdowns or absenteeism of your employees.
HOUSE OF TPS
Lean is a methodology derived from Toyota Production System (TPS). The story of how TPS “became Lean” started from a group of engineers who conducted a meticulous study of Toyota’s company. They tried to discover what is the secret of Toyota and why they are so successful organisation.
The easiest way to describe the TPS is by thinking of the system like a house, a strictly organised house.
The house of TPS is built on a strong and stable under-structure with 2 main pillars which overarching the goal of TPS. It is no accident here, why the house is built like this.
We are starting to build the house by pouring the foundation. Without strong foundations, you cannot proceed further. It is the same here – without a stable process, you cannot implement Pull system, Just-In-Time, One-piece-Flow or even standardise the process – Start from the foundation, work at the grassroots (we will talk more about each of the “component” of the house in the future).
15 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAN ENTERPRISE
“Lean thinking can be applied by any company anywhere in the world but that the full power of the system is only realized when it is applied to all elements of the enterprise.”
Womack & Jones from “Machine That Changed the World” (1990)
Any organisation which implements Lean becomes a Lean Enterprise (over time). 15 characteristics that are defining Lean Enterprise are:
1. CUSTOMER FOCUS – The end Customer is both the starting and ending point. Customer requirements determine the strategy of the organisation (rather than company capability).
2. PURPOSE – Always focus on purpose – Vision (where you want to be), Mission (what you want to do), and Strategy (How to get there).
3. ORGANISATIONAL ALIGNMENT – everyone needs to understand the company's purpose and been actively involved with it.
4. KNOWLEDGE – people are the heart and engine of every company. It is crucial to build and share knowledge (hard and soft skills). Knowledge is built through the scientific method of PDCA.
5. QUESTIONING – Ask ‘why?’ to get to the root cause and understand everything. Encourage everyone to question everything - “Seek first to understand, then to be understood,” said Stephen Covey. Go to Gemba (where the process occurs) – implementation emerges there, not in your office.
6. HUMILITY – the more you know, the more you realise how little you know. Be always open-minded.
7. TRUST – Build confidence in your commitments and promises.
8. EMPOWERED EMPLOYEES – Everyone should have the opportunity to solve the problems. All employees should share in the responsibility for success and failure.
9. FLEXIBILITY – “The only constant is change” – variance is the part of every process and we need to strive to eliminate it. Flexibility is the ability to react successfully to changes in customer demand.
10. PARTNERSHIP – seek the partnership and teams internally (between functions) and externally with suppliers – the supply chains are competitive, not companies themselves. Remember - Employees are partners too.
11. SIMPLICITY – Strive for simplicity within your actions, system, technology, and control. Avoid complicated solutions, automation, bonus schemes, or production lines (avoid complexity).
12. PROCESS – think and organise your company through the prism of the end-to-end process. Concentrate on the way the product moves through your building rather than people and service (think horizontal, not vertical).
13. IMPROVEMENT – Continuous Improvement is everyone’s goal (not only waste reduction, this includes innovation as well).
14. PREVENTION – Control the process, not the product. Seek to prevent errors rather than inspect and fix them.
15. VISUALISATION – Make all processes visible so you can spot any difference between expected and actual straight away.
LEAN – WHAT IS IT – SUMMARY
After reading all the key points above, I am pretty sure you start to have a bigger picture of what Lean is.
In Summary:
Lean is a methodology derived from Toyota Production System (TPS) which helps to deliver value to the customer in most effective way.
…it uses less of everything, compared with mass production. Half the human effort in the factory, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools, half the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time. Also, it requires keeping far less than half the needed inventory on site, results in many fewer defects, and produces a greater and ever-growing variety of products.
Womack & Jones about Lean Production
After undisputed success in automotive and manufacturing (Lean Production), Lean started to be adapted in different business sectors and covered wider processes (Lean Management) to become a universal concept between XX/XXI century (prevalent in banks, offices, NHS, HR, etc).
Lean Management is a wider concept than Lean Manufacturing. It is embracing broad rules of the management culture and how to run and develop a successful business. With the introduction of Lean Management (Lean Enterprise) to your organisation, you are able to achieve real resilience, flexibility, and agility. You can adapt very quickly and, what is more important – successfully, to changes dictated by customer or environment.
Lean is equaled to:
- Safer environment
- Higher morale of the people
- Better quality
- Better processes
- Better management
- More revenue
- Better THINKING
Lean Management is the way to perfect, successful organisation.
Check the video below – it is a good example of how Lean could be used in day-to-day life.
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