but any lean project should start with the business purpose: Who is the
customer? What do they need? If the customer of the service operation is
some type of physical transformation process, first go see what that will
look like when it’s lean, so you can understand how to support it. When
Glenn Uminger was asked to set up the accounting system for the Toyota
Georgetown plant, he first spent a year doing TPS projects on the shop
floor, which dramatically changed the way he looked at and developed
the accounting system to support TPS. It was simpler, less cumbersome,
and leaner.
- There is a risk of turning lean into the latest “program.” Often, the best
lean consultants and experienced lean people are assigned to the manu-
facturing or core value-adding process in a service organization. Support
functions are left to largely fend for themselves based on a short training
program. The continuous improvement group does a superficial job, and
lean starts to look like the program of the month. Doing it right is more
important than doing it early.
- Trying to lean out suppliers before you’ve done it yourself is hypocritical
and dangerous. What right do you have to teach lean to your suppliers
if you’re not lean yourself? You need to earn that right. Also, since the lean
supply chain is a hierarchy of many different elements that must be in
place, if you start “developing” suppliers before you have mutual under-
standing and trust, suppliers will view the development as your excuse
to hold them up for price reductions.
What we’re preaching is patience. Think about the Buddhist monk teach-
ing a young disciple, or the karate teacher, or for that matter any good teacher
of a complex skill like a sport or musical instrument. You do not begin by play-
ing the sport or playing songs. There are tedious exercises necessary to prepare
yourself. You need basic muscle control and concentration. A top golf instruc-
tor taught by one of the world’s great golfers said he spent the first three
months learning golf without ever hitting a ball. Think of the Ohno circle.
Stand in the circle and look. This need for patience and discipline extends to
the problem-solving process. Do not race in and start implementing solutions.
Take the time to find the true point of cause and then ask the Five-Whys for the
root cause. Take the time to teach each employee step by step, using job instruc-
tion methods, before throwing them into the work routine. Take the time to
check and audit and develop countermeasures to learn and improve. Make
many little improvements, not just the big, visible ones. This patience takes
vision for what can be in the long term. It takes a philosophical understanding
of the purpose. It is the hardest part of lean. But in the long term, the payoff is
remarkable.
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