As Published in “Southwest Florida Business Today,” July 2022
Say words like lean, six sigma, black belt, and continuous improvement and many employees will roll their eyes. They envision training programs, special projects, expensive consultants, and extra work. They anticipate the nightmare of being stuck in the new “Lean Conference Room” for hours doing special “Lean Projects” while their regular work piles up. In short, they see another “flavor of the month” program, while still having to do their regular job.
While this does happen in many companies, it doesn’t need to be this way. Lean can be a critical tool to help your business succeed and grow. But it must be done right. And it doesn’t need to be complicated.
The expansion of the global economy has provided the ability to purchase goods and services anywhere around the world, wherever one can get the best price, delivery and quality. While this is a significant opportunity, it also means that markets have become more competitive at all levels. In order to survive and flourish, your business must improve. All the time.
In my experience, a number of common elements must be present for lean to be effective. First, management must take the time to make the case to the employees – explaining why improving is so important. And then reinforce it regularly. Create buy-in. Second, management must demonstrate ongoing personal commitment and participation. Third, everyone must be given some level of training. Fourth, lean must be considered a regular part of everyone’s job, not a side task. Fifth, measure to determine success or failure. Sixth, victories should be celebrated, large and small, and defeats considered educational, with no adverse consequences for having tried and failed. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it must be kept simple.
Two effective and simple techniques you can quickly implement across your business or job are “5S” and “value stream mapping.” From there, you can add techniques and tools at your own pace.
In simple terms, 5S is the process of organizing your workspace and keeping it that way. The result is that you don’t waste time looking for things. It’s that simple. As an example, an auto mechanic practicing 5S would have a visually marked “home” for every one of the tools at his or her station (and all the tools needed to do the job are available!). No other tool will fit in that home. It might be a specifically labeled drawer, an outlined rack, or a shadow box, but the tool is ALWAYS there, unless it is in use. Period. In doing this, no time is ever wasted looking for a tool. This same concept can be applied in the office. Instead of tools, it might be clearly organized and labeled files and supplies. Think of how many times you have wasted minutes, hours, or even days looking for a file, book, production part, or other “tool.” The wasted time adds up fast. And it is costly.
Value stream mapping is also simple in concept. In basic terms, walk through any regular process and document all the steps taken, and how long each step takes. This “current state” is analyzed for potential improvements, which are tested to see if they actually improve things. After some trials, the new “future state” is documented, and contains the validated improvements. It becomes the new standard process.
A simple example: You are sitting at the conference room table and are handed a small package. You realize you need scissors to open the package. You stand up, walk across the room to the credenza, grab the scissors, return to your chair, and open the package. You then return the scissors to the credenza and walk back to your chair. This “current state” has four legs. You quickly realize that you could have eliminated two of those legs by simply carrying the package to the credenza and opening it there, then returning to your seat. This represents a 50% savings in time and distance traveled! When you start thinking this way and applying this concept to the important processes in your factory or office (or both), you will find a gold mine in improvements.
Now for the key part…you must actively take advantage of the improvement! You must fill the previously wasted time with additional, productive work. If you find that a particular work area can complete the normal 8 hours of work in 7 hours with some improvements, you must fill that last hour with new, productive work or no real savings will be realized!
This stuff really works, but it is a journey, not a destination. It never ends. You need to do it. Now.
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