As we noted earlier, it is not our intent for this to be a “how to implementlean
tools” book. There are already numerous books filled with excellent descrip-
tions of each of these tools. Our objective is to focus on the philosophy and an
understanding of the process.
Identify and Eliminate Large Waste
As mentioned previously, the identification and elimination of waste is a primary
philosophy of lean. If this is a virgin site for lean, there’s a lot of low hanging
fruit. For example, simply using 5S to label where inventory should be held and set-
ting visible maximum and minimum levels can have a large impact. Standardized
work and 5S can significantly improve manual operations. Improvements in
equipment uptime and reductions in lost time by reducing changeover times
will add capacity and improve process throughput.
Removing the first, large layer of waste generally yields significant
improvements in overall performance. At this point most of the improvements
are at the individual process level, not at the level of flow-connecting processes.
Subsequent cycles through the continuous improvement spiral will connect
processes and can have even larger impacts, and reinforce motivation to main-
tain the stability of individual processes.
Standing in the Circle Exercise
Learning to identify the seven types of waste begins immediately during the
stability phase and is reinforced by “standing in the circle,” the exercise used
60 THETOYOTAWAYFIELDBOOK
Table 4-1. Strategies and Tools Used in the Stability Phase
Strategies Primary Lean Tools Secondary Lean
Tools- Eliminate “big” waste
- Consolidate multiple waste
activities to make it visible
and provide focus - Improve operational
availability (OA) - Eliminate or reduce
variability- Standing in the circle
- Standardized work (as an
analysis tool)
•5S - Workplace organization
- Quick changeover
- Preventative maintenance
- Problem solving
- Basic heijunka (level to
daily customer
requirement)- Data collection
and
measurements - Story boards
(dashboard, glass
wall, etc.)
- Data collection