Daily Lean Tips Edition #36

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 #526 - Create opportunities to showcase your employees.

"Billboard" employees to your own supervisors and to others in upper management as well as to those outside your department or division. Some managers erroneously think that if they give workers credit, upper management will question the manager's own performance. But managers who fall into the trap of competing with the employees they supervise usually stall their own careers.

Lean Tip #527 - Add interest and challenge to workers' day-to-day routines by implementing job rotation.

Job rotation simply involves placing employees into jobs of equal value that they may have expressed an interest in or that you expect, based on their skill strengths, they may do well in. Some organizations encourage employees to initiate job rotation through a formal process, thereby increasing job skill levels as well as motivation.

Lean Tip #528 - Provide employees with responsibility and authority to successfully accomplish assignments.

Today, progressive companies utilize the skills and talents of their employees by assigning them to cross-functional or self-directed work teams. Employees not only perform their own specific job functions by have a team identity as well. Team members are responsible and accountable to the team for achieving its goal, implementing processes, and sharing the recognition for its results.

Lean Tip #529 - Provide assistance to employees without taking away responsibility to complete the job.

Clearly define your role and avoid the temptation to do the job yourself when employees find themselves in hot water. Let employees go it on their own and face those gut-wrenching challenges.

Lean Tip #530 - Find ways to foster employee self-esteem and self-confidence.

Although important, managers and supervisors must do more than give praise and provide meaningful work. To empower employees, supervisors must continually build employee self-esteem.

Lean Tip #531 – Limiting overproduction helps make the process Lean but also a lot more Green.

Identify areas of overproduction and root causes of waste in the current manufacturing system and find ways to reduce or eliminate them in the future. Some raw materials can be recycled meaning your carbon footprint will be reduced, however energy consumption will increase and the amount of unnecessary products needing disposal is a distinct possibility.

Lean Tip #532 - Manufacturing companies who want to reduce costs and increase efficiency, should not neglect quality control.

If this area is overlooked, you end up with defects and added waste which will need to be disposed of. More space is required if these products are stored for reworking or repair and therefore means an increase in energy use for heating, cooling and lighting.

Lean Tip #533 – Eliminating or reducing waste will maximize product yield, while helping a manufacturing company be more green.

This means less waste will go to landfills and more products made. Additionally, it saves the company money as typically, waste makes up four percent of business turnover.

Lean Tip #534 - Expand the definition of waste to include not only product and process waste, but also the business consequences of unsustainable practices.

When you expand your thinking, Muda’s list of wastes takes a different form:

• Waste of natural resources
• Waste of human potential
• Waste due to emissions
• Waste from byproducts (reuse potential)
• Terminal waste, that is by-products that have not further usefulness
• Energy waste
• Waste of the unneeded (e.g., packaging)

When sustainability is viewed this way, it isn’t something new that has to be planned from scratch and agonized over. Instead, it can be integrated into existing continuous improvement programs – Lean, or even Six Sigma initiatives.

Lean Tip #535 - A lean and green supply chain helps manufacturers save money and reduce environmental impact at the same time.

Manufacturers can stay competitive and reduce their environmental footprint at the same time by partnering with the Green Suppliers. By targeting the root causes of wasteful practices along the supply chain you can mutually achieve business and environmental goals.

Lean Tip #536 – Productivity Tip: Know how you currently spend your time.

The simplest way to do this is to keep a log of what you do each day for a period time. While this may initially feel like a time waster, it is a necessary planning step. Just like you can't budget your money without knowing where you're currently spending it, you can't budget your time without knowing where it's going either. By keeping a log you'll become more aware of stress times and down times, and will be better equipped to plan your time.

Lean Tip #537 – Productivity Tip: Identify your "prime time."

Your "prime time" is your most productive time. For many people that time tends to be in the morning while others find it take a while to get going. By scheduling your most important tasks for the times you're at your best, you'll be able to get them done faster and more effectively.

Lean Tip #538 – Productivity Tip: Do tomorrow's planning tonight.

Being prepared for the coming day will enable you to get more work done, and be more effective at what you do. As you wind down at the end of the day use this time to create a simple, prioritized to-do list, so you'll be better able to focus on what needs to be done the next day.

Lean Tip #539 – Productivity Tip: Continually ask yourself "Why am I doing what I'm doing right now?"

If you cannot answer this question, you are not being as productive as you could be. Make sure that you are doing something for a specific reason, and simply not wasting your valuable time spinning your wheels.

Lean Tip #540 – Productivity Tip: Handle each piece of paper or e-mail once.

When you have completed a task, either file it away or pass it on to someone else. When doing tasks and making decisions, make the decision and then stick to it. Do not put off making a decision, and don't make vague, wishy-washy decisions. Being more decisive will free you up to move on to other tasks, making you more productive.

Making Quality Faster Is All About the Delivery and Feedback of Value

In this month’s post by ASQ’s President Paul Borawski he asks that we share some of the ways the practice of quality is changing to meet the needs of faster, faster, faster.

Quality is an ever evolving perception by the customer of the value provided by a product. It is not a static perception that never changes but a fluid process that changes as a product matures (innovation) and other alternatives (competition) are made available as a basis of comparison.

The objective of “Quality" is to satisfy the ever-changing needs of our customers, suppliers and employees, with value added products and services emphasizing a continuous commitment to satisfaction through an ongoing process of education, communication, evaluation and constant improvement.

In a Lean/Quality organization, the entire organization concentrates on value delivery and quick feedback on that value. And so, the notion of “quality and faster” is not so counterintuitive as we may have once thought.

We need faster and faster feedback loops in time-to-market in order to continuously improve our ability to deliver quality (defect-free and valuable) features back to the market. Symmetrically, we need higher and higher quality features that are not defect-ridden or dubious in value in order to respond ever faster and more innovatively to the market.

Fast, high quality processes benefit revenue, cash flow and operating expenses.

• Improve cash flow by shortening the order-to approval cycle.
• Reduce overall exposure by avoiding high risk accounts. 
• Reduce operating expenses by improving performance.
• Increase sales by adding value to products.

Being fast is about companies that can deliver quicker than customers can change their minds. To achieve that you should focus on 3 main practices:

1. Eliminate Waste: Take out all activities that do not add value from the perspective of the customer; in other words eliminate any material/resource beyond what the customer requires and is willing to pay for. 
2. Build Quality In: Mistake-proof your process from the beginning to prevent appearance of defects late at the end of the process. One tool used to do that is poka yoke. You can’t sustain high speed, unless you build quality in.
3. Team work: Use groups to go faster. We all have roles in our organizations but it is the power of teamwork that makes our endeavors successful. It takes everyone working together on a common goal to be successful in quality.

In a world where the speed of business is increasing, it is important to not just speed up the manufacturing/service process, but to speed up the thinking process and ask how we can do/be better.



I’m part of the ASQ Influential Voices program. While I receive an honorarium from ASQ for my commitment, the thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own.

Lean Quote: Using Lean As Only A Tool Will Leave You Disappointed

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.

"Using Lean as only a tool will leave you disappointed. It is much more than that." — Paul A. Akers, Author of 2 Second Lean

While reading Paul Akers book, 2 Second Lean, I came across this quote that really struck me. We all have stories of those you try to use lean as a tool to improve their business but fail. Those of us who have experienced the true power of Lean understand that it is more than that. My good friend Bruce Hamilton, aka Mr. Toast, says that “Lean it 10% Tools and 90% People.”

The most important thing for Toyota is people – teaching and training people in a culture of continuous improvement. Domo Arigoto, Vice President of Lexus

Tools do not solve problem but rather people do. It is not about the tools it’s how they are applied. A large number of organizations have failed to produce the desired results from the direct and prescriptive application of Lean tools. The tools themselves have been proven to work in many situations. The difference must then be in how the tools were applied, their appropriateness, but not the tools themselves.

Lean is a system of tools and people that need to work together. A single tool by itself, like 5s or value stream mapping, is likely to fail because its benefits are likely to be marginal or even negative.

Developing people means challenging people. But just issuing challenges isn’t enough. It would be disrespectful to not also teach a systematic, common means of developing solutions and meeting those challenges.

The best way to encourage employees is not to manage them. You need to coach them to success. This is a process of developing their skills and providing them specific feedback to meet high standards. Employees want to be on the same team with their bosses.

To get people across an organization to systematically work on improvement every day requires teaching the skills behind the solution. And for that to happen, their leaders and mangers also need to practice and learn those skills. Be their coach and lead the team to success!

Productivity Today, To Do List are Evil, Life is for Living

Productivity is a frequent topic for discussion here. I came across and interesting presentation on productivity. This talk was presented at Ignite Charlotte 2 on February 8, 2011 at the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, NC. Flaviu Simihaian was speaker #13. Originally from Romania, now in Charlotte NC. Flaviu is obsessed with learning more about web development, design, open source, startups, and life.

Flaviu advocates eliminating to your To Do list in favor of scheduling your time on the calendar. He further recommends not checking email first thing in the day. Start your workday first.

Flaviu says hold on, it is more important to feel free than to feel productive. Life is for living not for living uptight. What do you really want? It is the small side projects that we are the most passionate about that we never get to that are the most important. Its those that will make you feel most accomplish, free, and productive. So do those now.



What do you think? Does he have a point?

Meet-Up: The Lean Office's John Smith

On the Meet-up today, I am pleased to introduce John Smith, who blogs on The Lean Office. John is fairly new to the Lean blogosphere. The mission of The Lean Office blog is to provide a place to share Lean Six Sigma examples in the office, and share thoughts and ideas of implementation of Lean Six Sigma in the office or other places your journey may take you.

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is John C Smith and I am a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt for the U.S. Army. I lead a few enterprise level projects, mentor Green Belt and Black Belt candidates, and mentor Process Owners to use Lean Thinking in their organizations.

How and when did you learn Lean?
My first exposure to process improvement was when I served in United States Marine Corps artillery and change-over improvement was our focus. In 1997 a member of the Alabama Technology Network spoke at a local Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) chapter meeting in Huntsville, AL. They brought the Kanban simulation and it blew me away. I then realized that “automate everything” was not the answer. I then took Introduction to Lean as an on-line class through SME. In 2003 when I was at Boeing I was trained to be an Accelerated Improvement Workshop Facilitator and then a 3P Facilitator in 2005.

How and why did you start blogging or writing about Lean?
I have been working with teams in a pure transactional environment for the last three years. We all know “process” is the same whether you are drilling holes, installing systems, or creating contract documents. I am on a team that teaches the Introduction to Lean Six Sigma to all employees and the students ask really good questions and want to see examples of flow improvement in their offices. Armed with this knowledge and experience I began writing about Lean Transformation in the information flow based on the model from the book Lean Thinking to try to reach people working in offices.

What does Lean mean to you?
Lean to me is a way we “do” business. It means the product flows through the system without stopping until it reaches the customer, we maintain a learning environment, and we help our employees grow where they want. It is not tweaking the edges of Batch & Queue.

What is the biggest myth or misconception of Lean?
The biggest myth I have seen is that Lean is a program. It is something we do extra, along with creating, moving, reviewing and reworking documents, more moving and reviewing and reworking ad nauseum. Improvements in the product flow must be targeted to what is important to the customer, the boss, and the organization or there will never be buy-in with the actual people doing actual work.

What is your current Lean passion, project, or initiative?

My current passion is reaching young office workers with this “new” way of thinking about work. Today’s information flows at the speed light across many different economies, but our ways of responding are too slow and opportunities are missed. Waiting for, Reviewing and Reworking of information contains the highest levels of waste. So I teach and show what value is to make the information flow; 1) customer focused, 2) each activity transforms the product closer to the customer’s needs, and 3) is executed right the first time. At the end of the day, Flow is King.

The American Society for Quality Releases The Lean Handbook

Latest manual is a collaborative effort on the part of the lean industry’s most passionate professionals.

The American Society for Quality announced the recent release of The Lean Handbook: A Guide to the Bronze Certification Body of Knowledge. Several authorities on lean technology were carefully selected to contribute to the most comprehensive resource on lean to date. The following are the contributors authors of Lean handbook: Christopher Abrey, Andy Carlino, Adil Dalal, Grace Duffy, David Foxx, Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth, Bruce Hamilton, Pat Wardwell, John Kendrick, Matthew Maio, David Mann, Anthony Manos, Brian Maskell, Timothy McMahon, Dr. Mark Morgan, Frank Murdock, Mike Osterling, Bob Petruska Govind Ramu , Rama Shankar , Mark Paulsen, Gregg Stocker, Chad Vincent and Jerry M. Wright.

Lean has been described by its proponents as an effective growth tool capable of transforming any organization by optimizing strategies, systems, and processes through the elimination of waste. The Lean Handbook is an encyclopedia on quality and efficiency, serving practitioners on their path to certification, while also providing an invaluable resource for experts in applying their craft in the field. Tony Manos, the handbook’s co-editor, says, “We only approached people that we trusted had the knowledge and the real-world understanding, along with writing experience that would enhance the readers’ experience”.

Frank Murdock, incoming Chair of the ASQ Lean Enterprise Division, described the manual as the industry’s “living document”, and elaborated on the handbook’s role for practitioners in implementing Lean. “What is exciting about the new Lean Handbook is that it is built upon the Lean Body of Knowledge which has been gathered from the best practices of hundreds of practitioners through the efforts of the SME, the AME, Shingo and the ASQ. “

The book is currently available for purchase at ASQ website: The Lean Handbook (eBook).

This has been very exciting as this is my first participation in writing a book.  It was a wonderful project working with all these experienced and well known practitioners. A special thanks goes out to Tony Manos who got me involved and of course led the editing of this book.

Green MBA: Lean Manufacturing and Sustainability for the Future

Today I am pleased to welcome Linda Forshaw, who is providing a post on A Lean Journey today, where she discusses Lean manufacturing and its correlation to sustainable business practices.

Linda Forshaw is a freelance writer and published author from Liverpool in the UK. She is writer for DegreeJungle.com and specializes in social media, marketing and technology. Contact her on Twitter at @seelindaplay

“The principles of this philosophy are about streamlining processes and making flow more efficient.” - Six Sigma, Aveda Business Institute

Considered a philosophy as much as it is considered a process, Lean Manufacturing is built on the tenet of waste elimination. With an underlying concept of value, the method seeks to add value to a finished consumer product via the elimination of things like time, materials and personnel. Often referred to simply as “Lean,” the method may also focus on providing internal benefit to a company by reducing cost and investment in inventory. The desired result is to maintain a steady production schedule to deliver the optimal quantity of quality goods at the best time and place. In practice, this method of manufacturing is often seen to be mutually beneficial; to create profit and enhance end product quality.

The core ideas surrounding Lean Manufacturing can be traced back as far as the 1800s when Eli Whitney perfected the concept of interchangeable parts. In 1910, Henry Ford took the idea a step further when he arranged all of the elements required for manufacturing the early Model T automobile into one continuous system. His innovation and ability to see that everything from people and machines to tools and products should work together harmoniously has often led Ford to be declared the first practitioner of Lean Manufacturing. The retooling of Ford’s plants for war production saw the Willow Run Bomber plant famously build “A Bomber An Hour.” This notable feat caught the attention of the Toyota Motor Company in Japan. The Japanese industrialists refined Ford’s practices in order to develop the Toyota Production System, commonly referred to as the “Just In Time” system.

By the 1980s, American manufacturers had started to realise the benefits of such a production system. Various acronyms such as World Class Manufacturing (WCM), Continuous Flow Manufacturing (CFM) and Stockless Production have been used, but they essentially all use the same concepts as those seen in the Toyota system. The term “Lean Manufacturing” was first introduced by James Womack in his 1990 book, “The Machine That Changed The World.” The concept has now captured the attention of thousands of manufacturers, with lean implementations in production environments now commonplace. The experience and knowledge base surrounding the technique continues to expand rapidly, helped in part by the growing interest in sustainability and green manufacturing techniques.

Lean manufacturing and sustainability can be seen to go hand in hand. Growing ecological responsibility and an increasing commitment to preserve precious resources for future generations have seen the introduction of many green MBA programs at educational establishments across America and the globe. Until Spring 2012, the Aspen Institute conducted a biennial survey known as Beyond Grey Pinstripes. The resulting data produced a list of the highest ranking green MBA programs in the world. In the 2011-2012 survey, three US universities featured in the highest ranking five establishments. The Stanford Graduate School of Business took top place, with the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame taking fourth, and The Yale School of Management coming in at number five.

Individuals seeking a better understanding of the concept of Lean Manufacturing and its correlation with sustainable practices may wish to undertake the free online course from the Aveda Business Institute. For a limited time Six Sigma White Belt Certification is offered free of charge. This offer represents an excellent opportunity for those interested in Lean to benefit from free online education.