877-870-7744
Welcome to Kaizen Sensei
"Lean" means doing less and getting more. It is the methodology Toyota has perfected which is known as the Toyota Production System. This has set the world standard for being the most efficient company possibly in the world! When referring to "Lean", Just-In-Time, TPS, Lean Sigma or Heijunka, people automatically link these efficient production terms with the elements of the Toyota Production System. We use all the improvement tools available throughout the world !
Heijunka, Lean Methodology with Culture Change
Unfortunately most executives forget that "Lean" is 85% philosophic and 15% physical change. It is not just applying the lean tools such as 5S, Jidoka, SMED, Kaizen and such, it is mostly a culture that must be embraced by all
Too many 'experts' are teaching the unknowing all the physical aspects of "Lean", telling us that Kaizen events are the main tool, that by employing 5S, Kanban and developing a Pull System, reduce WIP, employ TPM, SMED, and Jidoka, we can emulate the Japanese successes.
What we haven't heard though is that there must be a paradigm shift in the way we run a business. This change, which represents the 85% of the "Lean" transformation, consists of involving the workers in decision-making with Participative Management, Kaizen Suggestion Programs, by teaching the value of time, how to eliminate waste, develop the sense of urgency the importance of dedication and the total commitment needed. For many getting "Lean" is a destination; in reality it is a continuous journey to perfection.
The preliminary understanding of "Lean" focuses on the elements of the Toyota Production System from the psychological view first. The experts from Toyota remind us that only after a worker understands what the Toyota Production System is, as a methodology based on the elimination of non-value added activities and the total commitment to do away with all waste, then only can he make the logical physical moves to shape a workplace into a "Lean" mechanism that does more with less and continues to evolve into a leaner state the longer it survives. It is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets. If you don't use it, it atrophies.
In order for a new methodology to succeed there has to be a new set of operating rules and controls. The way we measure progress has to change to reflect new metrics, which guide the journey towards perfection.
The idea is to be able to solve problems at the lowest level, closest to where they originate, by the people most familiar with the everyday operation. Waste no time asking your supervisor what to do, instead we train the workers to be able to make the same decision as the supervisor, give them training that qualifies them to do what the supervisor used to have to do to make the decision.
The cultural aspect of implementing "Lean" must be learned first; that workers who co-author change will champion change because it is what they believe in, not what was mandated to them.
Once the cultural aspects of Participative Management and Teaming are understood and adopted, then the physical aspects of "Lean" can be taught. Before the "Lean" initiatives can be started there has to be complete acceptance by upper management to fully support this endeavor. They must support it like the pig that gives us bacon for breakfast, not like the chicken that gives us the eggs.
We Keep It Simple
Business Assessment Instructions
We have compiled a business assessment that allows you to test yourself and see where you are in relation to World Class companies such as Toyota.
Here is how it works:
Get a cross-sectional group together; say production operator, production supervision, production support, maintenance, management and quality. (5 to 7 people is the comfortable size.) Look at the assessment topics, there are three major categories; People, Materials and Machines. Each section has 12 questions that when answered, give an indication of how well you're doing in that particular area of business. Each Category, People, Materials and Machines has six choices, 0 being that nothing pertains to that subject through 5 which describes what a "World Class Lean" company would be doing.
(Example: On the sheet for Business Analysis - People. there are 12 subjects, 5S through Safety. Each subject has 6 descriptions of proficiency. Read each description and as a team, agree to where you really are. Then circle that box. If in the 5S category the team concurs that the plant is at the third level; "Plant uses floor lines and labeling. Material not organized. Some bulletin boards used, plus the descriptions from box 1, which states, "Floor dirty, benches unorganized, WIP everywhere. No communications, and also the description from the "0" description, then Circle the box under 2. Do this for all twelve subjects and add up the scores; 0;s 1's 2's 3's 4's and 5's. Multiply this total by 1.67 to get a percentage. Mark this score where indicated on the sheet.
Poll each team member as to what they think are the three most important subjects on the page of 12. Draw up a matrix showing all first, second and third choices and determine the consensus. (Give three points for each person's first choice, two points for second choice and one point for third choice. Add up the scores from the matrix and thus you have the three most important priorities of the team) Do this for each subject and on the last page, add up the totals for a "Business Assessment Overall Total."
Now where you come up low in the areas that the team has selected as the most important, you can go to the "Work Smart Production System" and see what is available to remedy the low scores. Each tool in the "Work Smart Production System" has a brief description. Use this to create your company’s Roadmap to World Class, Lean Status
