The Life of an Idea

The Life of an Idea Presented by Toyota

Every idea has a life. A moment of inception. A period of growth. Struggle. Realization. It can be big or small, simple or complex and evolve to change the course of human history. And the beauty is that anyone can have a great one. Meet the Ideas for Good gurus and watch as they take you through the challenging, dynamic and incredibly rewarding process of coming up with ideas and ultimately making them a reality.



Ideas are an important part of continuous improvement. Some ideas become reality and other ideas just get buried deep into the pile of bad ideas. But without ideas there would be no improvement.  And remember bad ideas are a necessary part of learning to solve the problem.


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Toyota's Ideas for Good Finalist Show Ingenuity

A couple of months ago I mentioned Toyota's new challenge called Ideas for Good.  The idea was to take Toyota's technology to solve a problem to make our world a better place like this idea to help during natural disasters.  



They have picked the 25 finalist, 5 from each technology category, from all the ideas submitted. 

Take a look at these ideas, you be impressed by the ingenuity. From now till April 30, you can vote for your favorite idea in each category. You can vote daily to support your five favorite ideas! 


With your help, the five winners will be crowned. They will be flown to Pittsburgh, PA, for a three-day weekend of designing and further developing their concepts with the mechanical masterminds from engineering firm Deeplocal at the world-renowned Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, they’ll get their pick of a new Prius, Venza or Highlander Hybrid.

Lean Quote: Lean and Green, Think about Future Generations

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.

"Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us." — Henrik Tikkanen

Today, April 22 has been designated Earth Day which creates a moment of reflection.

For over 40 years, Earth Day—April 22—has inspired and mobilized individuals and organizations worldwide to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.

Future generations should have the same opportunity that we have had using natural resources. Conserving and protecting our natural resources is important because some resources are not renewable and conservation is the only way that future generations will be able to access them. Since civilization is always pressing forward, the future generations should be focusing on how to preserve the remaining natural resources. We know little about the economic or long-term impacts of these energy resources.

In order for green technology to have an impact on the environment for the long term it must be sustainable for everyone everyday. Finding innovative and alternative technology that does not harmfully affect the environment or its people is the key.

Like the quote above indicates we need to think about our future generations. Many organizations fail to have this outlook in their vision. Lean and Green both require long term thinking to be successful. Not a few years but an outlook of generations, long after we’re done working. I have heard that Toyota thinks out 50 years into the future. When you think about your processes and products how long into the future do you consider? Would you change the way you do things based on a 50 or 100 year view?

So this Earth Day I challenge you to think long term in both your Green and Lean thinking. Your prosperity and sustainability depends on it.

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Bring Your Green to Work

Continuing this weeks discussion a Lean and Green has brought me to another resources for reducing energy at the work place. Energy Star has created an environmental challenge for organizations across the country.

The ENERGY STAR Challenge is a national call-to-action to improve the energy efficiency of America’s commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more.

The Energy Star website has a section dedicated to Bringing Green to Work which has some useful tools.

Did you know that the energy used by a building to support just one office worker for a day causes more than twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as that worker’s drive to and from work?

One of the most useful tools I found was An ENERGY STAR® Guide for Identifying Energy Savings in Manufacturing Plants. This Energy Guide focuses on energy used in common industrial
applications:
       • Lighting
       • Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
       • Motors
       • Compressed air
       • Pumps
       • Hot water and steam systems
       • Process integration
       • Process heating – furnaces

Energy Star follow a process that looks like PDCA for their energy management program

This guide goes beyond the design of a energy program to provide opportunities for reducing energy with numerous case studies for reference.  I am sure you will find this information very helpful on your Lean and Green Kaizens.  

Saving energy saves our environment and resources which makes it cheaper to add value for our customers. Make a commitment this Earth Day to get started on your Lean and Green Journey.

Lean and Green Reduces WASTE

This Friday (April 22, 2011) is Earth Day so I would be remiss if I didn't mention the synergy of Lean and Green efforts and techniques to mutually eliminate waste.  This combination of thinking can help you make everyday Earth day in your organization.  Here is a portion of a popular article I wrote about a year ago.

Many manufacturers know the benefits of Lean manufacturing: higher productivity, better quality, reduced cycle time, plus enhanced employee engagement.  Lean is excellent at marshalling different groups and individuals into a high performing team focused on rooting out waste. That relentless focus on eradicating waste makes Lean a necessary partner for Green.

Environmental waste is any unnecessary use of resources or a substance released into the air, water, or land that could harm human health or the environment.  Environmental wastes are often a sign of inefficient production, and they frequently indicate opportunities for saving cost and time.

Lean efforts can lead to significant environmental gains since environmental wastes are related to Ohno’s 7 deadly wastes.  The table below from EPA's Lean and the Environment Toolkit  lists the environmental impact of these wastes.

Despite the relationships between Lean’s 7 wastes and environmental wastes, many Lean implementation efforts often overlook opportunities to prevent or reduce environmental wastes.  I have found adding the following 5 environmental wastes with the acronym WASTE to the traditional wastes helpful:

Water: leaks, waste streams from processes

Air: evaporation of chemicals, dust, particulate

Solid Waste: filters, excess material scrap

Toxic/Hazardous Waste: solvents, process residuals

Energy: machinery on when not in use, heat loss, oversized motors

These five wastes raise awareness of the opportunities for improvements that not only affect the process, but also working conditions and overall environmental impact.

Environmental benefits from Lean alone are often incidental; they are not a result of an environmental focus or concern.  Green and Lean should be synergistic not just additive or complementary concepts.  The integrated whole of both methodologies is often greater than the sum of the impacts from each approach.

Lean Meetings: A Better Way

Have you been to a meeting lately that seemed to take forever, drifted off the original objectives and agenda, and left you none the wiser of what was really achieved? By applying Lean thinking you will never have to have that experience again. Lean meetings give Structure, visibility and with a little discipline have the ability to drive improvement. 


Here is a great video from The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Western Australian Region explaining the improvement of meetings using Lean.



My friend Matthew E. May just posted an article where he explains how to hold Lean meetings.  He says Lean meetings has two key differentiators from traditional meetings:
First, meetings aren't necessarily scheduled.
Second, very little discussion occurs.

Matt, shares a method of transforming your meetings with 3P's:

Purpose: Determine why you're meeting, define the purpose.
Process: Determine the best way t accomplish the goals from above, create a plan.
People: Determine the participants and the roles required for a successful meeting.

So now that you have seen a better way to meet this advice will make it easier for you to start transforming meetings in your organization.

4 Essential Green Gadgets for Your Lean Kaizen

Green and Lean should be synergistic not just additive or complementary concepts. The integrated whole of both methodologies is often greater than the sum of the impacts from each approach. The tools in the toolkit for Green and Lean improvements are one in the same. They include techniques like value stream mapping, workplace organization and standardization with 6S, spaghetti chart, waste walk or treasure hunt, kaizen activities, and standardized checklists. As in Lean these tools are used to visualize and identify the wastes in our processes so we can eliminate or reduce them.

There are four tools or gadgets that will make finding your green wastes easier.

1. Kill-A-Watt Device

This is used to determine the electrical cost of a machine.  Simply connect a machine with a plug to the Kill-A-Watt, and it will assess how efficient they really are. You can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, even an entire year.  As you turn off equipment or replace order equipment you can calculate the cost savings.

2. Infrared Digital Thermometer 

Infrared digital thermometers are a quick, simple and effective way of obtaining temperature information. The gadget measures temperature without having to come into contact with the target.  You can use it to detect is a motor is running efficiently by it's temperature.  If it is too hot then it is over working and consuming more energy and will likely fail early.  These devices can also be used to find hot and cold spots in your facility that may need some attention to reduce your heating and cooling bills.

3. Ultrasonic Detector 

An ultrasonic detector can measure the sound wave of tiny noises, like that of air leaking from a pipe. They can be used for almost any plant application from simple leak inspection to ultrasound assisted lubrication programs.  It can be very effective in detecting wearing bearings before they fail savings your equipment and process.  One of the reasons Ultrasound technology has become widely used is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to increase your production value, asset availability, and overall reliability.


4. Light Meter

A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light.  Light meters can be used to both measure the amount of light in a room and also measure how much energy a light bulb uses. Many areas in your building many be over-lighted, and measuring the excess illumination allows you to reduce lighting or use energy efficient light bulbs.

These gadgets are relatively inexpensive.  You can probably outfit yourself with all of these for about $1000.  There are a number of other gadgets that can be helpful in the energy reduction programs like infrared camera, voltmeter, ammeter, airflow measuring device, and vibration analysis equipment for example.  But these can be more expensive.  The basic tools with little training will allow you measure and make improvements immediately.  Get started today on Lean and Green improvements.