Practical recommendations for implementing a Lean project
Acquire knowledge
For change agents, it is fundamental to have both in-depth knowledge of lean thinking and the will to apply it. Technical skills are essential (and will certainly be acquired and refined during the project), but perhaps even more so are strength of character and the ability to “bring order to chaos.”.
Unfortunately, people who possess both leadership and a practical, hands-on approach are not very common. Therefore, it is advisable to have experts available who have the necessary strength of character to overcome any resistance and guide the change process.
No, grand strategies.
At first glance, it's best to forgo strategic analysis and competitor comparisons. Don't immediately look for answers to questions (however legitimate) like:
- Is it the best business?
- Should we cut some business divisions?
- Should we increase R&D spending?
- Should we seek strategic alliances?
These analyses are generally alibis and often turn into studies that remain in the bottom of drawers and do not resolve crisis situations.
It's too easy to criticize your own industry without making the effort to delve into your own company's reality!
Let's focus on our Company instead: let's quickly eliminate waste from the three major business processes: product development, order management, and production.
By reducing costs, shortening production lead times, and the time to market for products, we will discover new and interesting prospects for our Company.
Ask for immediate results
This is perhaps the most important recommendation of all. The characteristic of a lean project is in fact immediate return.
It is necessary to start with a specific and highly visible activity – often a production activity is chosen because the change is easier for everyone to see there. An activity that is very important to the company.
Don't engage in lengthy planning exercises. Don't worry about running “what-if“ simulations. Just do it. A value stream map can be completed in a couple of weeks, and after that time, you can start eliminating the muda that emerges from the mapping. Improvement teams and all workers should be able to see things change in a short period of time. If you can't achieve anything significant in the first few weeks of working on a task, something is wrong. Perhaps we haven't put the right people in place, or perhaps the problem lies elsewhere. However, you must address it immediately.
Finally, when the first results start coming in, it’s important to communicate the changes: the simplest way is to take people to the site and show them what’s been done. A prime example (and one worth emulating) is what the CEO of an American company used to do: after having his employees participate in a two-day session on Lean principles and a three-day kaizen session—and thus teaching them “how to see” muda—he would take them on a tour of the factory and offices along what he called “the path of shame.” «There was muda everywhere,» he would say, «and now my managers can see it!».
Create a function to promote lean thinking
It is very important to create a permanent function to promote lean thinking. This function should depend directly on the change agent for many reasons:
- There is a need for continuous training on lean principles and methods, which will be gradually extended to all workers.;
- Periodical progress reviews are necessary to ensure we are not regressing.;
- The necessary logistical infrastructure (equipped offices, meeting rooms, etc.) is needed for those involved in process mapping, improvement groups, and change leaders.
A good idea, already tested, is to combine the function of promoting lean thinking with quality control so that improvements in quality and productivity, reduction of lead times, and all other business “performance” can be considered together, with the same attention and, not least, with the same terminology.
To fully understand the need for this continuous training in lean skills, it's important to remember that while it's now accepted that higher management levels must learn to listen to frontline teams (because they are the ones who know the most about how to do a specific job), it's not yet clear to everyone that frontline teams (direct labor and department heads) don't understand or don't know how to think horizontally about the total value stream and how to “pull” it.
Therefore, “special training” is needed to teach managers how to embrace lean principles and learn or at least understand operational activities, and workers and foremen will need to be taught lean principles and the same problem-solving approach.
When you fix something, fix it again.
People need to understand that there is no such thing as a sufficient level of performance and that there is always room for further improvement (5th principle – Pursuit of Perfection).
So, at the end of the first improvement activity, tell the work team that it will be necessary to work on it again within a few months.
It is necessary to repeatedly attack each value stream. Let's do it like at Wiremold (USA), where, from the very beginning of the Lean Thinking project, hundreds of one-week Kaizen events were activated, involving practically all employees and repeatedly analyzing all value streams, with the slogan “if you can't achieve significant improvement in three days, you're doing something wrong.”.
Two steps forward and one step back is fine; no steps forward is not.
This recommendation is also very effective and conveys the idea well that errors in pursuing a just objective should not be considered a failure. It is unacceptable to do nothing to improve one's activities under the pretext of too high a risk of failure. Unfortunately, these are excuses that many (too many) people hide behind who don't want to take risks or get involved.
Make everything transparent
Clarity and transparency always pay off. In the case of lean companies, they are fundamental.
Internal performance comparison is vital, as is knowledge and visibility for everyone of the production process. No special investments are required: simple diagrams and a process progress board are enough to clearly show the status of activities and the improvement trend.
At this point, ask yourselves the final question: “Do you have the desire to work with passion, to accept inevitable resistance and failures, and despite it all, tenaciously carry forward this challenging project for the next 4 or 5 years?”
If the answer is yes, if you are determined, if you have the necessary experience (or the will to gain it), then the results will come and will be extraordinary.
The ultimate goal will be the integration of high QUALITY, low COST, and reduced TIME to achieve world-class production.
High quality will come from translating the Total Quality approach into company culture and behaviors, achieved by extending the Quality System to all company processes, sectors, and levels.
Cost reduction will be a consequence of the simplification of processes, the elimination of non-value-adding activities, and the empowerment of all actors in the production process.
Regarding design, the reduction in timelines will depend on the ability to operate in simultaneous rather than sequential modes, promoting coordination and allowing the process to be designed before the project concludes. Regarding procurement, it will depend on reducing the number of suppliers, their lean reorganization, and their certification. Regarding production, the reduction in lead times will be a function of reducing waiting times and setup times, and synchronizing production flows.
