Manufacture Unlimited Success
Lean Systems and Processes
Embedding Lean Systems
We help companies solve productivity issues with Lean Continuous Improvement.
Lean is a system of working that gives managers and teams the tools to improve performance, reduce waste, increase efficiency, and improve work-flow by identifying problems and finding solutions.
Introducing Lean thinking into an organisation improves the productivity and focus of a department (what gets measured gets done). Implementing Lean tools can impact the whole company can have the greatest impact on company value.
Lean Systems
Lean Academy
Lean Tool Box
SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES
Why is this important?
Understanding your organisation’s component processes and parts, how they all work together as a system and the impact of these interconnected parts on production, requires a process of synthesis, measuring outcomes, feedback loops and causality (cause and effect). It might sound strategic, which it is. But it is also at the most basic level of stores, handling goods, quality control and client engagement. And each element impacts sales and profitability. If everyone in the organisation understands the systems, processes and desired outcomes then the ‘boat’ will move in the right direction. With the right tools in place (eg. Problem Solving with Root Cause Analysis) to identify causality of a certain process in relation to the whole system, and then identify where improvements could be made, this empowers your team to understand more fully the interconnected elements and impact of changes through a system of Lean Thinking, and this constant review will help that ‘boat’ start facing in the right direction too.
Changing one element in a system to make things better nearly always leads to a ripple effect somewhere else. Understanding the root cause and effect of a problem prior to making fixes, and considering it in the context of the broader system is helpful.
In complex systems such as factories, where each element or process is separated out, it is extremely helpful to understand how the constituent parts interrelate and work within the context of the larger system, and how the processes and components are interrelated when looking for improvements and solutions to problems.
Companies embarking upon a journey towards operational excellence can use the tools of continuous improvement to help improve their system.
For further details or a free review, email [email protected] today
LEAN SYSTEMS
Lean systems will put the customer at the centre of the company’s processes and maps value, from a customer perspective, and uses data collection methods to research and drill-down, uncompromising, until the areas for improvement can be identified. Data analysis tools that support this include 5 Why, Problem Solving, PDCA, 5S, etc.
Do you want to have a highly trained workforce who understands Continuous Improvement and know HOW to apply Lean to their area of control?
If you would like to benefit from World-class Lean Green Belt and Black Belt training our Lean Academy delivers significant impact that will make a difference.
Case Study
See BBI case study where they have invested in our Lean Academy and an annual cycle of Continuous Improvement through staff development because of the RETURN ON INVESTMENT that can already be seen across the business through adopting our methods.
LEAN ACADEMY
Do you want to become world-class in terms of how you work?
Can you demonstrate world-class performance?
We offer expertise around people, processes, and digitalisation that will allow your department and your business to benefit from our leading-edge training, coaching, and mentoring approach to provide sustainability to a Lean Continuous Improvement journey and delivery qualifying impacts.
If you would like to move from best-in-class working to world-class you need to have Lean Continuous Improvement systems in places across the organisation. We support organisations on their Lean journey with training, mentoring and the opportunity for digitalisation of processes.
THE PURPOSE OF THE LEAN ACADEMY IS TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:
Achieve significantly better business results
Gain Continuous Improvement (CI) expertise and/or Lean Certification up to Lean Green and Black Belt levels
Embed Continuous Improvement and Culture Change by underpinning the right daily habits in business
Help leadership understand the power of CI systems on driving effective habits and culture change.
Teaching how to create a line of sight from the business strategy and targets to operational level planning and create local KPIs to achieve.
Show how to build resilience and empower your teams to embrace Lean concepts and tools to sustain the organisation in the future.
Gain internationally recognised Lean qualifications
Gain a skill set that will help your organisation become world-class
Show the link between Lean Systems, Lean training and Lean Digitalisation and how to achieve and sustain significant results
LEAN TOOLS
PATHWAY TO OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Productivity Connected is a Lean Management System that focuses on improving business performance through People, Systems and Processes to go from best in class to world class.
Through zero tolerance for waste in systems, stabilising the production environment so the highest quality product can be manufactured, and through the utilisation of a customer pull/Just-in-Time (JIT) system to optimize the use of resources, an organisational culture of continuous improvement to create value for customers can be created. To then underpin this with Industry 4.0 digital technologies and effective employee engagement and talent development is a proven roadmap to achieving the cultural change and operational excellence ambitions of the leadership.
LEAN TOOLS
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Kaizen is continuous improvement reflected by ongoing, incremental, small-scale changes that have a positive impact. Kaizen events involve employees in daily improvements in their work areas and they follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) process. This tool is used to understand the problem and targets, establish facts/set target, Execute the plan, Check results; standardise.
Standardised work is the baseline for all kaizen activities. It shows the current situation, identifies needed improvements, and how to implement those improvements. It is usual for standardised work processes to be captured on SOPs or work instructions.
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The focus on 5S is workplace organisation and tidiness. 5S allows us to easily identify waste and to see what is going on. The cleaner a workplace is the safer it is. Each S represents a progress of implementation:
1S Sort, Separate and Scrap. If an item going to be needed or used today then keep in area. If not STORE it nearby or dump.
2S Straighten. Once sorted where does it belong? Label everything
3S Scrub Clean entire work area.
4S Standardise and spread – what is the standard approach to 5S. Set the standard and repeat across all areas of control.
5S Systemise – put a system in place (procedures/work instructions/standards/roles/responsibilities). Reward performance.
Good Visual Management eg traffic lights, make problems easy to see and are used to control and simplify work processes. Red Tag Process to implement another layer of 5S
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VMS shows the follow of information and materials as a product moves its way through the value stream. It helps to visualise more than just the single-process level in production, you can see the flow.
- Information Flow / Process Flow
- Map Future State after Current State
- Takt time
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Problem Solving in this sense is a structured approach using a standard methodology that can be modelled on a simple Fishbone Diagram (Root Cause Analysis – 5 Why – cause and effect) or on the 8D problem solving approach.
It is important that teams are used to solve problems and to consider Active Listening, Brainstorming, and making ideas visible.
Another methodology to find solutions to problems is the DMAIC process of Six Sigma and statistics.
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The seven kinds of waste are:
Over-production
Inventory
Transportation
Waiting
Motion
Overprocessing (doing more to the product than the customer requested)
Correction
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Process flow analysis allows a team to identify the actual flow or sequence of events in a process that any product or service follows. Process Flow Diagrams are used to define a set of interrelated activities for a process which transform inputs into a desired end or output (product or service).
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TPM has two simple beliefs:
- Zero defects
- Zero breakdowns
TPM is aimed at reducing the 3 big losses of: Speed (lost time from a machine not at full speed); Defects are any errors introduced by the machine; and Downtime from equipment failures, power outages or setups.
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In a Kanban or pull system, process steps are controlled by downstream customer pull. Kanban cards or signals, or similar mechanisms, are used to communicate process demand upstream. Kanban is how many manufacturers control production. This is because when parts are only built when the customer orders them, overproduction, inventory and transportation waste are greatly reduced or eliminated. Key rules are that defective parts do not get sent to the next process and replenish only what is withdrawn.
These are all useful tools and techniques. But to become a Lean Enterprise requires a culture change that is reflected in changes in behaviour and habits. Leadership has to embrace Lean systems-thinking and plan for change. Just as when an organisation embraces Total Quality Management (TQM) systems to focus on building a right-first-time culture, then Lean needs to be built into strategic plans and business objectives that reflect Lean goals in planning. Will there be a ‘Lean Transition plan”? What are the operational targets for the business? What are the production goals? What are the overall efficiency goals and quality goals (OEE)? What is the ‘Voice of the Customer (VOC)? World-class OEE is 89%.
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When managing Lean projects and solving problems, Black Belts and CI teams often implement DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analysis, Improve, Control) as a project framework. DMAIC is a tool used to improve speed, quality and cost (QCD) and helps people find permanent solutions to difficult business problems. To use full DMAIC can be time consuming and expensive though. The full framework is best used if the project is complex and the solution is high risk. Some phases could be skipped if there is an obvious solution to an identified problem with data to confirm that it is of minimal risk.
There are a combination of productivity improvement pathways to become a Lean Enterprise.
Click here to request further information about our range of Lean Operational Excellence training and support.
There are a combination of productivity improvement pathways to become a Lean Enterprise.
Click here to request further information about our range of Lean Operational Excellence training and support.