There are a lot of variations on a theme where someone asks an Internet forum how to quantify or justify the benefits of implementing a continuous improvement program. If you think about it, though, this is really interesting question. What are the benefits of NOT having continuous improvement? Why would managers deliberately decide not to [...]
One of the more effective facilitation tools I have come across is to have a team first construct an ideal flow, without the constraints of the space geometry, known flow-busters, or even too much concern about the takt time. Just make things flow as smoothly and efficiently as you can envision. Develop the flow as [...]
Sometimes we like to talk in abstracts. “Reduce batch sizes” or “reduce lead time.” But let’s be clear what we are striving for. With every improvement we make, we want to converge on the idea of: Batch size of one. Lead time of zero. Zero waste of resources. Lest anyone thinks that is impossible, consider [...]
I have probably written around this question in the past, but it comes up often enough that I wanted to address is specifically. One of the challenges facing the lean practitioner is the “What can you do for me?” boss (or client). This manager wants to know the expected ROI and outcome of your proposal [...]
5S has become an (almost) unchallenged starting point for converting to lean production. Although the basics are quite simple, it is often a difficult and challenging process. After the initial push to sort stuff out and organize what remains, sustaining often usually almost always becomes an issue. Again, because of early legacy, the most common [...]
In this world of laser beams and ultrasonic transducers, we sometimes lost sight of simplicity. Remember- the simplest solution that works is probably the best. A good visual control should tell the operator, immediately, if a process is going beyond the specified parameters. Ideally the process would be stopped automatically, however a clear signal to stop, given [...]
“What have you learned?” It is a question I hear often at the end of kaizen events and other improvement activity. The key points of a typical report-out, though, seem to be on how much was accomplished, and what was learned comes as an afterthought. A typical week-long kaizen event is organized like this: Monday: [...]
Now and then, usually when coaching or teaching someone, I get what I think is a flash of insight. Then I realize that, no, there is nothing new here, it is just a different way to say the same thing. Still, sometimes finding a different way of expressing a concept helps people grasp it, so [...]
One of the issues Mike Rother says he has had with the coaching questions in Toyota Kata is question #5 “When can we go see what you have learned?” In the west, inevitably it seems, once the word “When” is uttered, everyone in the conversation leaps to hear “When will you be done?” no matter [...]
Duke has posed an interesting question on the forum: http://forums.theleanthinker.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35 Actually a couple of questions. They get to the heart of “When can you say something is actually a process?” I have my views, but I want to hold back until I hear from some of you. This could get as good as the 5S [...]