Got Milk? Got Lean! Replayed

Jeff Hajek, author of Gotta Go Lean Blog and The Continuous Improvement Companion, and I recently shared our expertise in a brand new format. By combining a radio-show format with a webinar platform, and you get a brand new tool for learning about Lean.

In our second live show, we discuss Lean with another everyday example so anyone can learn the improvement methodology. The majority of households have one thing in common. They have milk in the fridge. But you may not realize that even the simple act of stocking this staple item puts a number of Lean concepts to work.

Part 1 of 4


Part 2 of 4


Part 3 of 4


Part 4 of 4


If you would like to use the presentation you can find it here.  

Got Milk? Got Lean!

View more presentations from Tim McMahon.

Top 10 Posts for 2010 on A Lean Journey

As 2010 goes into the history books I want to take a moment to reflect on this past year. Nearly 41,000 people have visted the site this year.  I posted 185 articles on the site in 2010.  It has truly been a very positive full calendar year.  Here is a collection of the Top 10 posts for 2010 by views:

10. Stop Multi-tasking Before You Can't Anymore! - posted October 5, explains why the more you multi-task the worse you get at it.

9. Ineffeciency Through Default Meeting Times - posted May 16, has a number of pointers on how to make your meetings more effective including the 22 minute meeting.

8. Lean Round-up - Toyota Recall - posted February 9, who can forget the vast array of articles written about the infamous Toyota recall.

7. The Characteristics of a Lean Enterprise - posted July 25, explains 15 characteristics that comprise the defintion of a Lean Enterprise.

6. Why is Lean Office more difficult than Lean Production? - post August 26, this post is a repost of an explanation by Bruce Hamilton, aka. Mr. Toast, on why Lean is harder in the office.

5. Lean Gone Lego - There must be a better way - posted October 18, highlighted an Australian video demonstrating the traditional and Lean work examples with Lego characters.

4. The "Hot Stove" Rule of Discipline - posted January 26 explained how to discipline using the analogy of a hot stove and the importance of immediacy, advance warning, consistency, and impartiality.

3. Kanban for Personal Management - posted May 18, highlighted my first introduction into the use of kanban system for personal management.

2. 10 Things to Avoid During a Kaizen - posted December 6 was about pitfalls to avoid during a kaizen event.

1. Personal Kanban Kaizen - posted August 29 on the improvements made to my own kanban system of managing tasks and activities.


Do you have any favorites not on this list that you would like to share?  Leave a comment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Lean Tips Edition #7

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #91 - Milk runs can reduce the waste of transport, improve fast, flexible flow, and reduce lead times.

Like in a plant the idea behind the milk run is that a vehicle travels frequently around a set route starting and ending at the plant, and visiting several suppliers en route. At each supplier a small batch of parts is collected in a particular time window.

Lean Tip #92 - There are three sources of unstable Lean supply chain resulting in more inventory.

In simple terms, there are three enemies of a stable Lean supply chain:

1. Inventory and delays that worsen any 'swing' of amplification. The longer the response time to a change, the worse the swing upstream.

2. Unreliability or uncertainty - Any kind of uncertainty needs to be covered with inventory. Unreliable processes cause unreliable delivery and ultimately uncertainty.

3. Hand-offs or decision points - Every hand-off or tier in the system bears the danger of distorting the demand signal.

These all result in more buffers or inventory to cover the supply chain.

Lean Tip #93 - Build a strong supply chain by conducting joint improvement activities.

A collaborative supplier relationship model is essential for supporting a Lean supply chain. Conduct joint improvement acitivities with the following emphasis:

1. Exchange best practices with suppliers.

2. Initiate kaizen projects at supplier's facilities.

3. Set-up supplier study or work groups.

Lean Tip #94 - Strengthen your supply chain by sharing information.

Within your supply chain share information intensively but selectively. Focus on these principles:

1. Set specific times, places, and agendas for productive meetings.

2. Use rigid formats for sharing information.

3. Insist on accurate data collection.

4. Share information in a structured fashion.

Remember sharing information is all about shared learning.

Lean Tip #95 - Develop a suppliers' technical capabilities to strengthen your supply chain.

It is important to understand and develop your suppliers' technical capabilities. Start with the following elements:

1. Build the suppliers' problem-solving skills.

2. Educate them in Lean thinking and teach them to see waste.

3. Develop a common lexicon.

4. Hone core suppliers' innovation capabilities.

If your suppliers are not technically proficient your supply chain will be your weak link.

Lean Tip #96 - Don't forget to manage your suppliers within your supply chain.

Managing your supply chain is really about managing your suppliers. Here are couple things you can do to make this effective:

1. Send monthly report cards to core suppliers.

2. Provide immediate and constant feedback.

3. Get senior managers involved in solving problems.

4. Turn supplier rivalry into opportunity.

5. Source each component from two or three vendors.

Direct and timely communication with your suppliers is essential collaboration.

Lean Tip #97 - Support your suppliers by creating compatible production philosophies and systems.

For a supplier and vendor to want to together long term there must be a win-win proposition. Create compatible production philosophies and methods. This can be done by:

1. Set up joint ventures with existing suppliers to transfer knowledge and maintain control.

2. Understand how your suppliers work.

3. Learn about suppliers' businesses.

4. Go see how your suppliers work.

5. Respect suppliers' capabilities.

6. Commit to co-prosperity.

Lean Tip #98 - An effective measurement system is one of the most powerful tools for change.

Measurement should:

•Provide short-term indicators of problems - and no problems.
•Be part of a feedback or capability of the process or people.
•Focus on improving performance.
•Be capable of being acted upon.

Lean Tip # 99 - A good measurement system has four keys for sucess - first is Context.

First key of a successful measurement system is Context. Effective measurement can only occur in a positive, supportive context. This is the culture that surrounds the measurement - informational or punishment, process not person. The attitude of the boss. An unfavorable measure is an opportunity not a threat. We want to surface issues, not suppress them.

Lean Tip #100 - A good measurement sytem has four keys for success - Focus is second.

The second key for a successful measurement system is Focus. Measure the right thing. Be aware of measuring too much. Derive many of the measures from participative policy deployment, not sucked out of the air.

Lean Tip #101 - A good measurement system has four keys for success - Third is Integration.

The third key for a successful measurement system is Integration. There must be an integrated system for measurement. Maybe a balanced scorecard or policy deployment, although better in a Lean context would create flow, maintain flow, and organize flow. In any case measures need to be aligned, balanced, and adaptive.

Lean Tip #102 - A good measurement system has four keys for success - Fourth is Interactivity.

The fourth key for a successful measurement system is Interactivity. Measures need to be acted on in real time. Two-way interaction. Actually setting up the measures is only a small part - how they are used and reviewd is at least as important. Perhaps a daily meeting around the communications board. This is social process, not a technical process.

Lean Tip #103 - You must be focused when you decide which project to pick.

People always ask where to start. Which project should be pick to work on?

You must be focused:

•Focus on the Porcess
•Focus on the Product or Service
•Focus on Cost Savings
•Focus on Problems
•Focus on Internal processes
•Focus on supplier processes

Lean Tip #104 - Question each review, approval and status report to make sure they will make the project better.

Question each review, approval and status report to make sure they will make the project better. Consider the following:

•List the interim and final deliverables that need review and approval.
•Who will provide the review?
•Who will provide the approval?
•What is the reason for the review?
•What is the deliverable of the the review?

Lean Tip #105 - Simple strategies for evaluating possible solutions

Try these strategies when evaluating possible solutions:

Be creative with generating solutions.
Look for combinations of solutions to optimize outcome.
Generate the evaluation criteria BEFORE discussions.
Use data to review strengths and weaknesses of each option.
Consistently evaluate the potential options against the criteria.

Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
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You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Got Milk? Got Lean! Presentation

Jeff Hajek, author of Gotta Go Lean Blog and The Continuous Improvement Companion, and I recently shared our expertise in a brand new format. By combining a radio-show format with a webinar platform, and you get a brand new tool for learning about Lean.

In our second live show, we discuss Lean with another everyday example so anyone can learn the improvement methodology. The majority of households have one thing in common. They have milk in the fridge. But you may not realize that even the simple act of stocking this staple item puts a number of Lean concepts to work.

Got Milk? Got Lean!

View more presentations from Tim McMahon.

Stay tuned for a recording of this webinar to come shortly.  In the mean time you can review our first webinar show on Learning Lean Through Making Coffee.  Plan on joining us for our next webinar show after the New Year.

Team Selection: Best and Brightest or Not

I came across this comic the other day and paused.  It is really about a stereotype of continuous improvement teams that I don't agree with. 

While it shouldn't matter who we pick from organization for an improvement team or initiative in the begining it does.  During the early stages of a transformation the selection of the team members is important for the success of your initiatives.

Here are a couple of things to consider when picking team members:

• Balance of "hard" and "soft" skills
• Best experience possible
• Coverage of the knowledge areas needed
• Willingness to join
• Availability
• Leadership and/or Management skills
• Maturity to take responsibility
• Follows through on commitments
• Good listening skills
• Willing to actively participate
• Can give and take feedback
• Can communicate clearly

You may not directly benefit from every improvement but that's not the point. We aren't tying to optimize individual performance. That continues the silo mentality.  An improvement in a part of the value stream is an improvement to the whole process.

Personally, I would send the best and brightest to support the improvement activity.  It is a question of where you spend your time.  How much time do you spend trying to convert the bottom 20%?  In my experience spending time with the top 20% is more beneficial.  The top 20% can have an infectious way of getting the middle 60% to come along with you on the journey.  You probably can't convert all the bottom 20% for various reasons.  But if you can get the majority of you organization working on improvements then your teams will be more effective.

What do you think of this comic and depiction of improvement teams?  Who would you lend to a new improvement intiative?

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How to Hit Your Goals

Last week I had several posts on performance measurement systems since this is the time of year when many organization are planning for the next calendar.  While this isn't necessarily the Lean way it provides a good opportunity to talk about these subjects.  This annual organization goal setting process is usually followed closely by the annual individual review and goal setting process.

Today, I want to share a ClarityMap to help you hit your goals.  A clarity map is visual guide to help give you the insight needed to make good choices. 

Click here for a pdf version of this map.

While there a lot of valuable information on this map I quite like this:

Action Creates Clarity - At first the details to achieve a goal may be fuzzy but as you take small actions toward the goal it comes more into focus.

This ClarityMap is the work of Derek Franklin who was gracious enough to allow me to share it with all of you.

Derek is also the creator of the 3 Steps to Get Things Done ClarityMap and The Action Machine, a visual time management software based on the above steps. The goal behind The Action Machine is simple: To give you a way to visually structure your day in a way that you feel absolutely compelled to take action and get things done, once and for all!

I shared the 3 Steps to Get Things Done ClarityMap this past March.

I post both of these documents next to my goals so I can use these tools to effectively focus on what is important when I get lost.  Maybe it can help you, too.

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Lean Quote: Measurement Gets

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"What gets measured gets done, what gets done well gets rewarded, and what gets rewarded gets repeated." - Unknown

There are number of variation of this quote attributable to several notable authors.  It is often recalled in some discussion of performance metrics or motivation.  This is no different but I believe there is a truth to this statement.

Metrics matter! What gets measured gets changed and what gets rewarded gets done. If you don't measure it, you can't change it and if you don't reward change it will not happen.

Some say performance measures are a waste.  I don't agree.  They should be minimized and improved for effectiveness but not skipped entirely.  Regular measurement and reporting keeps you focused — because you use that information to make decisions to improve your results.  Metrics create an environment of accountability throughout the organization.  An organization that closely tracks performance metrics creates a culture where goal achievement is the norm and where there is no room for mediocrity.

Performance metircs also provide a way to convey corporate goals to the organization in a tangible form and get buy-in at all levels.  It also sets an example that the company management is holding itself accountable for success.

It is important to remember performance metrics are one measurement technique in your arsenal. They can be a quick and useful tool to let you diagnose strengths and weaknesses in your process, make strategic decisions, and ensure you are heading in the right direction. Don’t forget: the real value is in the discussion of results with your team, not the numbers themselves.

“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” – Albert Einstein

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