The Self Evident Truth About Lean

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

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