When it comes to starting a Lean journey for a business, one of the questions I hear the most is where do I begin? Like building anything, you have to start with a solid foundation. For a Lean journey, the foundation is built on an environment and culture that embraces change. Here are some important points to remember when starting your Lean journey.
Support from Leadership - The most important piece of the puzzle to embarking on a Lean journey is support from top leadership. The President, CEO, CFO and everyone at the top of the organization MUST embrace, practice and lead by example when it comes to the core fundamentals and principles of Lean. If employees don't see that a company's leaders support Lean this will tell employees that it's not important and don't need to practice it either. If a Lean journey does not have support from leadership then the Lean journey is doomed to fail.
What leaders need to do... Embody the belief of go see, ask why and show respect. Encourage employees to get involved and sincerely ask for their feedback. Help to break down walls between departments to eliminate the silo effect. Most importantly, allow and encourage employees to take on improvement projects then give them recognition for doing so. Leaders have to walk the walk and talk the talk.
No Blame Environment - My personal belief is that people come to work to do a good job, yes there are some bad seeds out there but hopefully you have a good hiring/employment practice that can weed these people out. A no blame environment works under the impression that people don't intend to make mistakes and that when a mistake or problem does happen it is the result of something deeper. By blaming people for mistakes we turn them away from having them help to uncover the root cause to why the mistake happened. You want people to feel that despite being part of an error, with their help we can fix the root so that the problem won't happen to anyone else. The obvious result of this is making the company as a whole better.
Trust - Allow people to try new ideas. Lean is defined as continuous improvement and if new ideas aren't embraced, no matter who they come from, then the tap of innovation will be turned off. In a business, if you continue to do the same you will continue to get the same results. With this message passed to everyone at Ideon Packaging from day-one, I recently had one of the newest and youngest members of my production team come to me with an idea to increase capacity by 10-20%. The ideas are there and the people who are doing the work have them, so trust them to run with it. What's the worst that could happen? You go back to the old way? Not a big deal in my books. All I know, is that if you don't try, you'll never know.
Don't let failure stop you - Do you remember the Nike commercial with Michael Jordan about how has failed over and over again in his career, and that's why he succeeds? I do, it's part of my Lean/FITT 101 presentation I give to new employees. Or how about the Honda video on how they failed when they brought their engines to the racing world, only to become the sole engine supplier to the IRL. Check both of these out on Youtube. Even if you haven't seen these videos the message is the same, don't let failure stop you or slow you down. Rather, learn and reflect on your mistakes, use them to get better and try again.
Make it part of your everyday - Lean can not be something you dabble in, it needs to become part of your everyday work. The entire company needs to be aware and understand what Lean is. Regular training and communication to all employees is a must. Constantly update staff on your Lean strategy, completed projects, savings achieved and new projects on the go. Don't hide anything.
Make Lean your own - One of the first things we did at Ideon Packaging was to give our Lean Journey a name, we call it FITT. FITT stand for Finding Innovation Through Teamwork. We had a company wide naming contest where everyone could submit as many names as they could come up with, then at one of our Town Hall meetings (whole company attends) we voted on all the names and FITT won. Lean as a term has been misused by many companies, and if not explained well enough people will think that Lean equals losing their jobs, which is not what Lean is fundamentally about at all.
Vision
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
I've Heard That Before
I like to read, my belief is that reading is a very powerful tool for personal growth. However, the more I read the more I see the similarities in all the different books and articles that are out there. Not too often does a book come along that changes the game. For me, one of those books is Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. I'm sure you too have read a book that you think is a game changer.
Why do I bring this up??? As my profile on this blog states, I've always wanted to write, but with so much information out there it makes it hard to be unique. The Internet has made getting your thoughts out for everyone to read very easy, where before you had to get published to be in a magazine or book. Since the Internet age began, all you need is a free blog and away you go.
All that being said, I'm not going to stop writing because I find it therapeutic. I'm just going to focus on writing about the topics that mean something to me, topics that I have experienced, topics (like Lean Manufacturing) that I have knowledge about.
Thank you to everyone who has read what I've written, your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
Why do I bring this up??? As my profile on this blog states, I've always wanted to write, but with so much information out there it makes it hard to be unique. The Internet has made getting your thoughts out for everyone to read very easy, where before you had to get published to be in a magazine or book. Since the Internet age began, all you need is a free blog and away you go.
All that being said, I'm not going to stop writing because I find it therapeutic. I'm just going to focus on writing about the topics that mean something to me, topics that I have experienced, topics (like Lean Manufacturing) that I have knowledge about.
Thank you to everyone who has read what I've written, your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
My Favourite Quotes
"You always have a choice, no matter what. And it is by the choices we make the define who we are." - Me
"This is your world. Shape it or someone else will." - Gary Lew
"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong
"Aim for service, not success and success will follow" - Toyota L&F (Japan)
"Go see, ask why, show respect." - Fugio Cho
"If you continue to do the same you will continue to get the same results" - Unknown
"“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” - Unknown
What are your favourite quotes?
"This is your world. Shape it or someone else will." - Gary Lew
"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong
"Aim for service, not success and success will follow" - Toyota L&F (Japan)
"Go see, ask why, show respect." - Fugio Cho
"If you continue to do the same you will continue to get the same results" - Unknown
"“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” - Unknown
What are your favourite quotes?
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Get to The Root Cause
Written by Mike Nunn
When you're at work, or even at home, do you have any challenges or problems that continue to happen over and over again? Too often we get caught up in problem solving, which does a great job of fixing the problem but doesn't actually prevent the problem from happening again. Problem solving has another less popular name: fire fighting.
The best fire fighters are usually the ones who get promoted to Supervisor or Manager positions, and these are the same people who are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. What could be achieved if you were not fighting fires all day? How much more could you produce? How much more could you grow your business?
Think about it, if you spend 5 minutes fire fighting one problem that happens twice each day, then you will spend almost two full days each year dealing with that one problem. Staggering isn't it? If you could only stop that problem from happening after the first occurrence, what would you do with the extra two days? Moreover, how many other problems are you fire fighting in a day?
Instead of problem solving, you need to start getting to the ROOT of the problem(s). Once you discover the root of a problem you will know the reason that problem is occurring in the first place. Here's an example of a problem: A production worker did not add a specific part while assembling a widget.
In many companies this production worker might be reprimanded for not adding the part during assembly. But wait, did we ever stop to ask why this problem happened? I believe that people go to work to do a good job and never intend to make mistakes. People want to be recognized and rewarded. With that understanding we need to involve the production worker in getting to the root cause of why the part was missed in the assembly of the widget. There are many forms of root cause analysis tools out there but the easiest one for everyone to use is the Five Why method, which is simply asking why five times when a problem occurs. Now, let's Five Why the problem above.
Problem: A production worker did not add a specific part while assembling a widget.
Why? The worker didn't have any of that part to install.
Why? He had run out of stock.
Why? A replenishment order had not been placed.
Why? The person responsible for placing the replenishment order was not aware an order was needed.
Why? There was not a trigger to tell when a reorder is needed. Ah ha! The ROOT CAUSE!!
REMEMBER: When going through the Five Why process you MUST involve the stakeholders and DO NOT PLACE BLAME ON ANYONE!
Once you've determined the root cause you can put countermeasures in place to address/solve the root cause to the problem and as a result prevent the problem from happening again. Use this in all areas of your business, work or personal life to eliminate wasted time spent fire fighting and add more value.
When you're at work, or even at home, do you have any challenges or problems that continue to happen over and over again? Too often we get caught up in problem solving, which does a great job of fixing the problem but doesn't actually prevent the problem from happening again. Problem solving has another less popular name: fire fighting.
The best fire fighters are usually the ones who get promoted to Supervisor or Manager positions, and these are the same people who are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. What could be achieved if you were not fighting fires all day? How much more could you produce? How much more could you grow your business?
Think about it, if you spend 5 minutes fire fighting one problem that happens twice each day, then you will spend almost two full days each year dealing with that one problem. Staggering isn't it? If you could only stop that problem from happening after the first occurrence, what would you do with the extra two days? Moreover, how many other problems are you fire fighting in a day?
Instead of problem solving, you need to start getting to the ROOT of the problem(s). Once you discover the root of a problem you will know the reason that problem is occurring in the first place. Here's an example of a problem: A production worker did not add a specific part while assembling a widget.
In many companies this production worker might be reprimanded for not adding the part during assembly. But wait, did we ever stop to ask why this problem happened? I believe that people go to work to do a good job and never intend to make mistakes. People want to be recognized and rewarded. With that understanding we need to involve the production worker in getting to the root cause of why the part was missed in the assembly of the widget. There are many forms of root cause analysis tools out there but the easiest one for everyone to use is the Five Why method, which is simply asking why five times when a problem occurs. Now, let's Five Why the problem above.
Problem: A production worker did not add a specific part while assembling a widget.
Why? The worker didn't have any of that part to install.
Why? He had run out of stock.
Why? A replenishment order had not been placed.
Why? The person responsible for placing the replenishment order was not aware an order was needed.
Why? There was not a trigger to tell when a reorder is needed. Ah ha! The ROOT CAUSE!!
REMEMBER: When going through the Five Why process you MUST involve the stakeholders and DO NOT PLACE BLAME ON ANYONE!
Once you've determined the root cause you can put countermeasures in place to address/solve the root cause to the problem and as a result prevent the problem from happening again. Use this in all areas of your business, work or personal life to eliminate wasted time spent fire fighting and add more value.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Versatility of Lean
Lean is quite often thought of as a tool for improving a manufacturing/production environment, which is true. However, Lean can be used throughout your business from front office and accounting to shipping and maintenance. Lean can help you improve customer wait times, speed up order processing, reduce/eliminate paperwork errors, increase productivity and communication just to name a few. Take all the same Lean tools you use in production and bring them to the office, you'll be surprised.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Value Stream Mapping
Written by Mike Nunn
Processes surround us, and they are full of waste.
A Value Stream Map (VSM) can be applied to any business (from Manufacturing to Service) and any department in that business, from Sales to Production. If you want to understand, shorten, or eliminate waste from a process then a VSM is, in my opinion, the BEST place to start.
There are 6 fundamental elements to a good Value Stream Map:
1. Steps - Be sure you define the scope of your VSM before starting, that is what beginning and end steps are. Then let the stakeholders of the process help you fill in the rest. Ensure you capture any waits as steps.
2. Best Time - The fastest time each step can be completed, without rushing.
3. Worst Time - The slowest time each step can be completed.
4. Input - Does that step require any information or materials in order for the step to happen?
5. Output - Does that step generate any information or materials?
6. Issues - What issues are you having with each step? This is where the stakeholders are fundamental, encourage open feedback without judgement or criticism.
Once all the above information is captured for a process you need to identify which steps add value to the customer and which ones do not.
It is essential that when building a VSM that you have ALL the stakeholders in a process involved. Otherwise, you may not have captured all the steps or one of the other components to a Well built Value Stream Map.
Now that you've got a complete VSM it times for improvement, continuous improvement. That's an entirely different set of tools and skills but at least you're off to a good start.
Processes surround us, and they are full of waste.
A Value Stream Map (VSM) can be applied to any business (from Manufacturing to Service) and any department in that business, from Sales to Production. If you want to understand, shorten, or eliminate waste from a process then a VSM is, in my opinion, the BEST place to start.
There are 6 fundamental elements to a good Value Stream Map:
1. Steps - Be sure you define the scope of your VSM before starting, that is what beginning and end steps are. Then let the stakeholders of the process help you fill in the rest. Ensure you capture any waits as steps.
2. Best Time - The fastest time each step can be completed, without rushing.
3. Worst Time - The slowest time each step can be completed.
4. Input - Does that step require any information or materials in order for the step to happen?
5. Output - Does that step generate any information or materials?
6. Issues - What issues are you having with each step? This is where the stakeholders are fundamental, encourage open feedback without judgement or criticism.
Once all the above information is captured for a process you need to identify which steps add value to the customer and which ones do not.
It is essential that when building a VSM that you have ALL the stakeholders in a process involved. Otherwise, you may not have captured all the steps or one of the other components to a Well built Value Stream Map.
Now that you've got a complete VSM it times for improvement, continuous improvement. That's an entirely different set of tools and skills but at least you're off to a good start.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Exercise... It's up to You!
Written by Mike Nunn
I just got in from a run, something that I try to do 2-3 times each week. I have a route that is a little over 5km through the neighbourhood where I live. Pushing myself to get up and get some exercise is something I try to do whenever possible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanatic about exercise, I just know the importance of it and I don't let anything stop me from achieving it. Excuses could come easy to me; I've got a two-and-a-half year young daughter and an all around busy schedule that doesn't allow for much downtime, but I don't let that stop me. You may be wondering what does this guy know to be able to talk about the subject of exercise and health? Well, when I was 19 I lost 60lb (after being one of the biggest guys in my highschool graduating class) by applying this stuff, and more recently I've lost another 15lb. I am proof it works.
1. Limit or eliminate TV watching. I don't watch much TV at all, Canucks hockey games are about the only thing I make time for. Think about it, how has TV enriched your life? How has TV made you more money? Cut it out or severely reduce your TV time and put this new abundance of time towards your personal health and well-being.
2. Portion control (combined with a balanced diet). For most of us out there, we don't need to eat as much as we do. There's a quote I try to always follow by Adelle Davis (1904 - 1974), "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." There are many websites and professionals out there who can help with exactly what and how much to eat. Believe me, the first couple weeks are the hardest but stick with it. You can do it!
3. It's up to no one but you. Some people don't have the knowledge as to where to begin or maybe need some motivation, there are lots of professionals out there who can help you. But just remember, it's all up to you!
Go make it happen, I know you can!
I just got in from a run, something that I try to do 2-3 times each week. I have a route that is a little over 5km through the neighbourhood where I live. Pushing myself to get up and get some exercise is something I try to do whenever possible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanatic about exercise, I just know the importance of it and I don't let anything stop me from achieving it. Excuses could come easy to me; I've got a two-and-a-half year young daughter and an all around busy schedule that doesn't allow for much downtime, but I don't let that stop me. You may be wondering what does this guy know to be able to talk about the subject of exercise and health? Well, when I was 19 I lost 60lb (after being one of the biggest guys in my highschool graduating class) by applying this stuff, and more recently I've lost another 15lb. I am proof it works.
1. Limit or eliminate TV watching. I don't watch much TV at all, Canucks hockey games are about the only thing I make time for. Think about it, how has TV enriched your life? How has TV made you more money? Cut it out or severely reduce your TV time and put this new abundance of time towards your personal health and well-being.
2. Portion control (combined with a balanced diet). For most of us out there, we don't need to eat as much as we do. There's a quote I try to always follow by Adelle Davis (1904 - 1974), "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." There are many websites and professionals out there who can help with exactly what and how much to eat. Believe me, the first couple weeks are the hardest but stick with it. You can do it!
3. It's up to no one but you. Some people don't have the knowledge as to where to begin or maybe need some motivation, there are lots of professionals out there who can help you. But just remember, it's all up to you!
Go make it happen, I know you can!
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