It's not all about the Tools & Techniques

Although the use of the well recognised and documented tools & techniques will help in a Lean Conversion, this is not the only thing you will need. 20% of the required change will come from the use of tools & techniques, however the remaining 80% will only come from a change in culture. The other thing to remember about tools & techniques is that in most cases you will need to adapt them, from the hundreds on offer, to more accurately align to your organisational needs.

Its not about carrying out wasteful activities more effectively.

The most difficult concept to understand when starting a Lean Conversion. To be truly Lean we must take a fundamentally different view of the work we do. A large proportion of what you currently do is not really (value adding) work, it is actually waste. Remember that carrying out "waste" activities more effectively is not actually being Lean.

It's not about waiting for someone else to solve problems

Leaders in Lean Organisations are very different from Managers within a traditional enterprise. You do not have to be able to provide all the answers. You will however need to support your staff, (the real process experts), in order for them to own their processes and be able to solve problems as they arise.

It's not only about processes it's about the whole System.

Processes are the links throughout the entire organisations system. Improving each of those processes is a good target, it is however not the entire story. Improving the processes in isolation without streamlining the system will not bring about the overall improvement as well as could be expected in a truly Lean operation.

It's not about effectiveness at any cost, it's about effectiveness at the best cost.

Possibly the biggest hurdle that a Lean Conversion needs to overcome. We must recognise that Lean is clearly not just about cutting costs and carrying out our function faster, however cost reductions and system/service improvements are a naturally occurring consequence of a Lean Conversion. Lean focuses almost exclusively on our Raison d'etre our purpose. In a truly Lean enterprise your main focus will not be exclusive to Key Performance Indicators such as Not Right First Time, Delivery Schedule Achievement or other well known measures. You will know what the end user views as value and you will pursue anything and everything which helps your customer achieve their goals in terms of perceived value.

Jargon Buster

Jidoka -    Jidoka has two meanings:

Autonomation Jidoka

Automated equipment that stops automatically when it detects a part or machine fault.

Manual Operations Jidoka

The practice of operators stopping-the-line when something goes amiss.

Jidoka is stopping the process and taking action to prevent the production of bad parts or assemblies

If there is a need for us to control:

                         SAFETY

                         QUALITY

                         COST

                         DELIVERY

then a safe, standard method of working is essential, this is commonly known as a Standard Operating Procedure or Standardised Work.

Any process that is allowed to operate in a non-controlled manner will inevitably produce variations in the products or services it generates. These variations are a consequence of the differing methods, employed by different personnel and different shifts etc.

The end result of these variations will be quality problems, equipment failures, non achievement of performance targets and health and safety concerns etc.

Standard Operations are a way of ensuring consistency; they should be viewed as the foundation upon which any improvement can be developed.

So what exactly is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) the best definition of an SOP I have found is "the best current method of SAFELY combining process inputs in order to achieve Quality, Cost and Delivery every time"

How I hear you ask will that help us to control the 4 major elements above.

SAFETY is and should always be number 1. Under no circumstances should an unsafe method of working become part of an SOP.

QUALITY SOP's will ensure that we can generate the expected level of Quality in line with customer requirements.

COST SOP's allow a clear understanding of what resources are employed to achieve the task and costs can be controlled at a consistent level.

DELIVERY SOP's will show what resource should be employed to meet & satisfy customer demand.

Jargon Buster:

Kamishibi: originates from the traditional Japanese picture card show. The process uses cards, (often colour coded),to create a standard set of instructions and checks to ensure all tasks are completed. Displays visual status of completion of tasks in real time.

Do you ever find yourself in a position where, you seem unable to take any decisive action, due to over thinking about the details or over planning. This is due to one of the best action killers we can find when applying Improvement strategies, and known simply as "Analysis Paralysis".

Planning is essential when starting any new endeavour, it should however, not be to such a level that it overwhelms us and therefore prevents us from making a decision or worst case cause us to abandon action.

I have come across this particular problem on many occasions where organisations have failed to take decisive action because they were constantly planning what to do, and were also fearful of the potential pitfalls, of taking action.

Here are one or two tips which may help you to overcome  Analysis Paralysis.

Plan

You will obviously still need to plan, however this time round, over-planning is forbidden. Decide what you need to know before you start and get a grasp of the current state. Brainstorm and decide what would be the most painful to change, get more information and make a more informed decision. As far as possible make plans for the most likely things that could go wrong and seek to avoid them.

Deadline

Set a Planning session deadline and be strict about it, only spend that amount of time planning, this forces you to only take account of the necessities and prevents over planning.

Get on with it

When you have  finished your planning session, stop looking for reasons, why not, and just get on with it. Instead of "what if" scenarios, you will have real time opportunities as you learn by doing.

Don't seek Perfection

By taking action, 50% of targeted improvement is better than, the 0% which can be gained by inaction. Forget about perfection, it is extremely unlikely that everything will turn out just as perfectly as you wanted it, so just do it and adjust your plan as you go, do not expect to cover every eventuality during planning, trying to do this can also kill your project stone dead.

Keep Going

Once you have started, don't stop to think (re-think) again. Just have a to do list and carry on towards your objective, (obviously checking at each stage to ensure there have been no detrimental side-effects), and complete the tasks.

Make Decisions

Do not dilly dally when a decision needs to be made make it, try to speed up your decision making by practicing on normal everyday decisions, set a 5 second time limit and make the decision, e.g. Shall I have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee?

Find a Mentor

Find someone who appears to be able to take action in their stride and to achieve results. Whenever you find yourself in the Analysis Paralysis trap, find your mentor and talk it over, you will probably get a positive action plan from the discussion and generate the momentum required to overcome the inertia.

And Finally

Always remember Analysis without action will not help you to achieve any kind of positive results, why don't you go and start something that will help to enhance your life. Stop thinking about it, go and do it today.

Jargon Buster:

"Chaku-Chaku" A method of conducting a single-piece flow in which the operator proceeds from machine to machine. Means load-load in Japanese.

What is the Difference

I was asked recently "exactly what is the difference between Lean Thinking and Systems Thinking?"

I referenced my questioner to the following article by Mr John Seddon as it seemed to explain succinctly the essence of the difference. I make  no apologies for using Mr Seddon's own words.

• Posted in Systems Thinking Concepts . Systems Thinking and Contact Centers . Systems Thinking and Education . Systems Thinking and Financial Industry . Systems Thinking and Government . Systems Thinking and Healthcare . Systems Thinking and Management . Systems Thinking and Measures . Systems Thinking and Technology

Jargon Buster:

"Genchi Genbutsu" Interpreted by Toyota to mean, "going to the place to see the actual situation for understanding. Go-Look-See".

How does the 80:20 Rule apply to Continuous Improvement

The 80:20 rule, also known as Pareto’s Principle, states that 80% of an observable effect is caused by 20% of the variables at play. The first recognition of this rule was by Vilfredo Pareto who, in 1906, recognised that 80% of Italy’s wealth was owned by 20% of Italy’s population.

The same 80:20 split can be seen in many places; management, economics, software/interface design, quality control systems and many more places. Whilst the rule is called the 80:20 Rule – the actual percentages are not all that important: 90:10, 70:30, 80:20 are all valid variations. Indeed – it is perfectly valid to say 70:10 as there is no requirement that the two sides add up to 100 – the important thing is the principle that a large number of outputs are determined by a relatively small number of inputs.

So I find myself constantly addressing the age old problem that, given the knowledge of the Tools & Techniques for Continuous Improvement of our Organisation, why is change not taking place as we would expect. I have to answer that the 80:20 Rule is in operation. Tools & Techniques account for 20% of our required improvement; indeed without them there would be no improvement. The most significant part of our observable effect is caused by the Culture of our Organisation; if we do not have the right mindset then we can learn all there is to know about the Tools & Techniques of Continuous Improvement but nothing, in effect, will change.

Jargon Buster:

Poka-Yoke A mistake-proofing device or procedure to prevent a defect during operation. May sometimes be called a baka-yok.

Could the application of 5 'S' have helped you during the recent bad weather?

If you are like a lot of people, then you think, probably not. Even though it came sneaking up on us, we or most of us anyway, found ourselves getting up in the morning, to deep snow or severe frost.

Obviously we could all immediately find our snow shovels - is it in the shed or in the garage, or even just abandoned where we dropped it the last time we used it? What about De-Icer, have I got any, and as it is now nearly 12 months since the last time I used it, where exactly is it?

So could the application of 5 'S' have helped us? I believe we could all have benefited from having a place for everything, and everything being in it's proper place.

The 5 'S's as we know are:

• Sort - Remove all unnecessary items.
• Set - A place for everything and everything in it's place.
• Sweep / Shine - Clean the area "cleaning is inspection".
• Standardise - Establish the rules to maintain the 1st 3 'S's.
• Sustain - Audit regularly to maintain the standard.

So think about it, can we implement these ideas in our everyday lives as well as our working lives? There is no good reason why we cannot.

Jargon Buster

Just in time (JIT):

A strategy that exposes waste, makes continuous improvement a reality, and relies on total employee involvement. It concentrates on delivering what the customer wants, when they want it and in the quantity they want. The key elements of JIT are flow, pull, standard work (with standard in-process inventories), and TAKT time.

Identify the 8 Wastes existing in any process

The 7 Wastes (MUDA)

I can here you asking yourself, what is he on about? This is supposed to be about the 8 wastes and he starts off talking about 7. Well dear reader, don't despair all will be revealed.

Originally it was developed by Taiichi Ohno, the Chief Engineer at Toyota.

MUDA, or the seven wastes, apply in equal measure to both the manufacturing and the service sector of the economy.

The approach is geared to increasing productivity by reducing the wastes that result in reduced profits and / or loss of competitiveness.

The discipline describes the main forms of waste so that each can be examined, and if they exist, they can be addressed and removed.

In short it is a technique that makes the areas of potential waste much more visible.

The original seven identified wastes were as follows:

• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Transporting
• Over Processing
• Unnecessary Inventory
• Unnecessary Motion
• Defects (or errors)

The Classic 8 Waste Categories

Ohno originally only identified 7 wastes, however since then there has been extensive and significant debate around the issue, and many new potential forms of waste have been identified (most of which seem to simply be extensions of or reiterations of the original).

I personally believe that we should search for the 8 classic waste categories, which, to a greater or lesser degree, will all be visible within any process which we perform, as follows:

• Defects
• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Non utilised skills
• Transfer / Transport
• Inventory
• Motion
• Excess Processing

Lean, at its core is about the systematic and continuous identification and elimination of waste which will ultimately reduce our D O W N T I M E.

Jargon Buster

GEMBA: " Actual Place" or the place where all the real action occurs, that is where products or services are performed. This is where any transformational activity takes place.

Does it really matter what we call it?

Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, Business Optimisation, Re-engineering, Lean Transformation, Service Systems are all terms which we hear on a regular basis.

Does anybody care what we call it?

As long as it does what it says on the tin, and improves our functional performance, we should not be concerned by whichever handle happens to have been hung on the approach we adopt.

My personal opinion is that in order to dress simple ideas up and to make them appear to be more complex, and hopefully more interesting than they actually are, we can often find ourselves being driven to find even more outlandish and complicated ways of describing what we do.

As a result of this I am often asked "What does this word mean"? "What does this process involve"?

In order to try and unravel some of the mystery surrounding Business Improvement, it is my intention to add to the end of each Blog entry a definition of some of the terminology in regular use, and in order to start us off here are three I have recently been asked to describe or interpret.

Six Sigma : Is a business strategy originally developed by Motorola. It seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability within the in control business processes.

Hoshin Kanri (Policy Deployment) : A strategic decision-making tool for an organisation's executive team that focuses on the critical initiatives, (the vital few), necessary to accomplish the strategic objectives of the organisation. Three to six key objectives are selected. The selected objectives are translated into specific strategies and deployed down to the implementation level in the organisation. Hoshin Kanri unifies and aligns resources and established clearly measurable targets against which progress toward the key objectives reviewed on a regular basis.

Kaikaku : Old school term which is now more commonly known as Kaizen Blitz is about really "going for it" aimed at spectacular and very rapid productivity improvements in a focused area. It is a no holds barred, go for it approach and the exact opposite of "paralysis-by-analysis".

Why is Policy Deployment important during a Business Transformation?

I was asked recently “How can we keep our attention focused on the right things”?

This query came about as a result of a Business Transformation we are involved in.

At first the answer seemed obvious; we need to manage the transformation.

On reflection I decided that, as with life, it was not really that simple, and we can be in danger of micro managing our projects, and losing sight of the bigger picture.

What exactly do we need to manage?

What strategies will we employ?

How can we measure our progress (our actual versus target)?

And vitally, how could we track everyone’s commitment, contribution and adherence to our objectives?

So where did this leave me, where should I turn, in my search for a transformation technique to help me.

The most obvious answer was Policy Deployment (or Hoshin Kanri, also known as Jishu Kanri), translated from the Japanese as a “methodology for setting strategic direction”, which has become a well accepted way of aligning and communicating goals throughout an organisation.

In essence according to Dr Joseph Juran, there are 5 stages:

• The business plan is expanded to include quality and productivity goals, not merely profitability and ROI.
• These goals are deployed down the organisation to determine the required resources, to agree on the actions, and to fix responsibilities.
• Appropriate measures are developed.
• Managers review progress regularly.
• The reward system is adjusted to support the quality and productivity plan.

Policy Deployment (Hoshin), starts with the concept of homing in on the “vital few”.

If change is minimal we can rely on departmental management.

Where there is significant change Senior Management must step in and steer the organisation. This requires strategic planning (for future alignment, to identify the strategic gaps, on the vital few). Policy Deployment (Hoshin) is however not a planning tool, but solely an execution tool.

Once the vital few strategic gaps have been identified, employee’s and teams at each level are required to develop execution strategies to close the gaps.

There must be a clear link between the organisational goals, key objectives and activities.

In real terms, Policy Deployment is an expanded form of 'team briefing' but it needs written commitment, identification of goals, the setting of measures, open and honest discussion and review at each level.