Yesterday (and Today), we celebrate Independence Day in the United
States.

Freedom is not just the natural right of every human it is the
state of mind that enables people to create the greatest and the most inspiring
things. The spirit of freedom gives us the power to conquer new heights,
whether it is a real mountain peak or a bold business challenge.

Similarly Lean spirit gives you the freedom from daily
firefighting situations, heavy investments, taking out people, etc. It is about
developing a mindset, methods and tools to identify and eliminate Muda, Mura
& Muri in all its forms at every opportunity. Lean provides your workforce
the freedom that they need to own and maximize their productivity. In a Lean
production plant, the “freedom to control one’s work” replaces the
“mind numbing stress” of mass production. Armed with the skills they
need to control their environment workers have the opportunity to think
actively even proactively to solve workplace problems.

Lean is all about finding better ways to do things, so that they
require less effort, less time and fewer resources. It is not about cost
reduction – penny-pinching, cutting investment, taking out people – it is about
finding better ways to get work done. It is about developing a mindset, methods
and tools to identify and eliminate waste in all its forms at every
opportunity. It is about freeing-up resources because you no longer need to use
them.

Lean is a business method that extends employees
independence.  It provides more employees with the tools, methods and
authority to make decisions. It creates teams to measure progress and devise
new techniques. This leads to higher employee motivation and productivity as
workers are asked to come up with solutions to problems as opposed to having to
work with flawed procedures. There is much to be said for greater worker
independence in the execution of a lean philosophy. We may not have a day to
celebrate like the US but the message is no less important.

May your journey of operational excellence find solid
relationships & satisfied repeating customers.