lean manufacturing

Archive for the ‘lean implementation’ Category

The Gemba
The Japanese term for “actual place,” often used for the shop floor or any place where value-creating work actually occurs; also spelled genba. The term often is used to stress that real improvement requires a shop-floor focus based on direct observation of current conditions where work is done. For example, standardized work for a machine operator cannot be written at a desk in the engineering office, but must be defined and revised on the gemba .

The leader of a lean conversion who has the willpower and drive to initiate fundamental change and make it stick. The change agent—who often comes from outside the organization —doesn’t need detailed lean knowledge at the beginning of the conversion. The knowledge can come from a lean expert, but the change agent absolutely needs the will to see that the knowledge is applied and becomes the new way of working. Compare: Sensei.

For companies to be competitive, leaders must engage people at all levels to focus their energy and enable them to apply lean principles to everything they do. Strategy deployment, called hoshin kanri by Toyota, has proven to be the most effective process for meeting this ongoing challenge. In Getting the Right Things Done, Pascal Dennis outlines the nuts and bolts of strategy deployment, answering two tough questions that ultimately can make or break a lean transformation: What kind of planning system is required to inspire meaningful company-wide continuous improvement? How might we change existing mental models that do not support a culture of continuous improvement? Getting the Right Things Done tells the story of a fictional midsized company, Atlas Industries, that needs to dramatically improve to compete with emerging rivals and meet new customer demands. While Atlas had already applied some basic lean principles, it had not really connected the people and business processes so that the company could dramatically improve. Something was missing: a way of focusing and aligning the efforts of good people, and a delivery system, something that would direct the tools to the right places. The book provides readers with a framework for understanding the key components of strategy deployment: agreeing on True North for the company, working within the PDCA cycle, getting consensus through catchball, the deployment leader concept, and A3 thinking. It links action to theory and reminds us that lean tools are only the means to an end, not ends in themselves. It takes a step-by-step instructional approach to the strategy deployment process. Through this unique combination, Getting the Right Things Done balances the human and technical dimensions of making strategy deployment a vital part of the daily culture of any company.

On this site lean manufacturing, also known as Toyota Production system, will be discussed in more detail.  Lean focuses on the processes that add value and onto avoiding waste.  The overall process is outlined on a value stream map for better visibility.  Just in time (JIT) is a similar approach.