Today, we are bombarded with information about lean; what it
is and about what lean tools can do. Still, there is very
little practical information on how to implement lean
transformation and lead the change. Every company's lean
journey starts under different circumstances, so there can be
no one recipe, no "right way." But, to ensure success, there
are many factors to consider before embarking on your lean
journey.
Why is it that such a low percentage of companies that know
about lean turn it into a success? It's not because they
haven't heard about continuous flow, or they don't know how to
do the 5Ss or they've never seen a kaizen workshop. It is
because the leadership, cultural, organizational and
implementation challenges are much greater than they
anticipate.
Someone, to whom I would give credit if I could, said
wisely, "experience is not what you've been through; it's what
you take from it." The fundamental message is that every
success and failure should yield as much learning as you can
wring from it. Focusing at all times on what makes lean
transformations successful, we've compiled the following top
ten lessons.
And neither will be your lean transformation. Lean is not a
one- or two-quarter commitment. It takes one to two years to
build the necessary momentum, and from there your journey will
last forever. Yes, tools such as kaizens can provide very quick
and significant improvement. But, without taking the time to
implement a program that yields sustainable benefits, process
improvements gained by lean tools will slowly deteriorate back
to where you started. Significant and sustainable results will
occur throughout the entire process, but the most profitable
returns are realized through a 2-5 year plan.
Don't expect someone to lead the lean charge in his/her
spare time. You need to assign a dedicated leader or team to
take on this challenge. It requires daily attention from
leaders who fully understand the scope of the project and who
won't get caught up in today's distractions. Most cultures are
centered around solving today's problem, reacting faster and
better and getting results today or tomorrow. Stuck in that
culture, it is hard for leaders to consider a multi-year
journey; people need to be extracted to focus on a different
timeline. In addition, these leaders require continued support
from management throughout the implementation. You don't have
to start big, but make the commitment; it will pay
dividends.
Lean is not born from what you see, it is born from how you
think. Lean is a set of rules and principles, not just tools.
Tools focus on physical system changes, but that is not where
the heart of lean beats. The entire way of thinking must become
embedded in every person of your organization. You may fix one
problem or process with a lean tool today, but if the old
thinking continues, it will recreate the old problems. Only new
principles or beliefs change behaviors, not systems or tools.
Sustainable lean changethe kind that builds momentumcomes from
the mind and heart of all employees.
There is a tendency for companies to declare "we've done it.
We've achieved lean." The truth is, lean is a constant,
never-ending process. You will always strive to be lean, but
you will never get there, because there is always a gap between
where you are and your ideal state. If you believe that your
journey has ended, you've failed. Even when you can consider
yourself a success, do not stop. Success is an organization
that continues to move forward at such a pace that it would be
difficult to even try to slow it down.
When change is proposed, people often feel threatened. Some
will think it's because there has been something wrong with
what they were doing, but most will just be uncomfortable with
the unknown. So, as your company embarks on this journey, you
must work to help people understand why, what and how. Remove
the fears, or make NOT moving forward the more fearful choice.
Also, many people think lean means cutting staff, when in
reality it's about working smarter to preserve heads and even
grow the workforce through market growth.
Managing is maintaining current reality. Leadership is
moving people towards the ideal state. And you can't lead
people to where they already are. Lean transformation is about
leadership. And leadership is not a position or rank. Look for
people at every level of the enterprise capable of this. If
lean is about transforming thinking, then in order to lead
lean, you must be able to teach.
People will need to learn new skills and they will need the
time to gain them. This means experimenting with every process
everyday to get it right. There is also a financial investment,
mostly in training, but also in process changes. However, the
evidence is clear that the payback for this period is in months
and not years. You can use focused improvement tools such as
kaizens to get immediate gains and pay for your investment. The
potential of difference between lean and non-lean companies is
not 5-10%, it is 100-1000% differences in quality, cost,
delivery and, of course, profit.
Taiichi Ohno, one of the fathers of the Toyota Production
System, said decades ago that "the Toyota Production System is
not just a production system." If you reduced your lead time in
manufacturing by 90% and can get product out in hours, but
order entry takes four weeks, then you aren't really moving
forward in the market. You must attack every corner of the
business from accounting to human resources to
manufacturing.
A recipe tells you exactly how to do something: the amounts,
sequence and timing. There is no such recipe for lean success
since every company starts with a different set of ingredients
(or factors and constraints). However, there is a roadmap.
There are guide posts along the way that help you determine
where you are and offer potential solutions to help you get to
where you want to go. Learn from as many other journeys as
possible to help understand the roadmap.
Many people have tried to succeed at lean in the past by
copying the solutions that Toyota or others have found, either
through benchmarking or out of a book. The problem is, this is
like a kid copying off someone else's test only to find out
they were taking a different exam. Your company is unique and
will likely have some unique problems and constraints; you must
engrain lean thinking in your organization so you can find your
own answers.
Never stop collecting the lessons you learn along your path
to lean. Lean transformation is a long journey that will
require you to collect experiences and reflect upon each and
every lesson you learn along the way.
Mr. Flinchbaugh is a founder and partner of the Lean Learning Center. He is a graduate fellow of the highly-regarded Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the MIT, where he received an MBA from the Sloan School of Management and a Master's of Engineering degree. Flinchbaugh is co-author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road. Andy Carlino is the co-author. This book reveals the most critical lessons learned over the authors' combined 30-plus years of exploring lean highways. It shares concepts and stories based on real-world applications. For more information, visit www.hitchhikersguidetolean.com. Mr. Flinchbaugh can be reached at Jamie@LeanLearningCenter.com.