Lean isn’t lean if it doesn’t involve everyone.
- by John Shook
The past year of 2020 has been a long nightmare for us, especially for our industries. In this pandemic stricken world, businesses faced major challenges including productivity loss, market volatility, supply chain disruption, etc. In these trying times, holding on to lean management and methodologies have been difficult for us, and even impossible for some, apparently. However, it also reminded us how important it is for us to practice and adopt lean methods in order to survive unexpected business disruptions.
Lean is an ideology which caters to the concept of value over quantity. Lean management promotes shared leadership, continuous improvements, just-in-time supply chain, value-based structuration, constant brainstorming to overcome challenges, and preparedness to survive unexpected disruptions. Lean methodologies are applicable everywhere, from manufacturing industry to our everyday life. Lean manufacturing was first identified and incorporated by Toyota Productions in the 1940s. Since then, it has been proven to be one of the most efficient methodologies not only in terms of manufacturing but management, human resource development, and many other aspects of the industry. Lean can be used as a productivity tool even in our daily lives.
Wastes in Lean Management are all those activities/entities which can be removed from the workflow stream without impacting its productivity negatively. Identifying and eliminating Lean wastes goes a long way in terms of business productivity, surviving market volatility, etc. The concept of ‘values in Lean’ comes in from project management methodology and is understood as, “everything the customer is willing to pay for to achieve satisfaction”. Lean management is heavily focused on easy and efficient process flow, and customer satisfaction. It takes into account many kinds of waste, including the waste of excessive human motion, and aims to integrate each step of production into a holistic, efficient process that reduces cost and improves overall revenue.
Most dangerous kind of the the waste is the waste we do not recognise
- by Shigeo Shingo
The primary wastes of Lean, categorized into 8 kinds, are popularly referred to as DOWNTIME:
Over the course, we would explore these 8 wastes of Lean, and talk about how to minimise them to add more value and efficiency to your process.
Defects are mistakes that require additional time, resources, and money to fix. In an industry or small businesses, there can be manufacturing, operational and human defects. Most manufacturing defects are caused due to inefficient quality control, or repair functionality, inefficient design, misaligned processes, lack of standards, etc. Whereas operational or human defects are mostly caused due to lack of set standards, proper documentation, thorough understanding of customer needs, and dysfunctional inventory control. Now, lean management is a highly sustainable practice that promotes just-in-time methodology. But after suffering through the trying times of the coronavirus outbreak, in a devastated post-lockdown economic condition, it will be very difficult to maintain lean methodology. Establishing business stability will result in devastated environmental conditions and vice versa. For this reason, we have to morph our priorities into a delicate balance of just-in-case and just-in-time.
The traditional solutions to minimise defects in lean methodology include setting and maintaining standards, strict quality control and thorough understanding of customer needs. But none of these will be easily achievable in the pandemic stricken condition of the industries. So, instead of expecting strict quality control from a partial-capacity workforce, introduction of a thorough M&V system and setting lucid work-plans would bring about operational success. Proper training of the workforce will also set you ahead in the current scenario. Standardization will be equally necessary but the standards should be set responsibly, considering the various aspects surrounding the process including the post-pandemic market scenario. Understanding customer needs will be very crucial in this state, hence diversified market research and safe mode of action should be prioritised for establishing fundamental business stability. As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”. And now is the time we need to keep that in mind more than ever.
Overproduction is a very prevalent type of waste which hinders the smooth flow in manufacturing and puts unnecessary burden onto the concerned company. But it is times like that of the coronavirus pandemic, that raises questions about if just-in-time or lean methods are really the solution or a liability. To answer that question, let us take a look at how overproduction is caused first. Overproduction is the result of producing more of a product than required by customer demand. This happens when the customer needs are unclear due to poor market research or unpredictable elements failing the forecast. Generally just-in-case methodology or a few technical incompetencies like long set-up times, poorly applied automation, or sudden engineering changes give rise to overproduction in a business. Hence some recommended solutions to minimise overproduction are establishing clear and reasonable workflow with emphasis on value for customers, choosing efficient producers for every process and providing quality training to back up the employee-base, introducing new convenient processes to reorganize the workflow in case of bottlenecks, etc.
But in case of unpredictable emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, an average lean production industry fails to keep up with the market, creating drastic fall in market supply. And here comes the concern, should lean management be considered obsolete then? And the answer is a big no. The heartbreakingly devastated market supply today is not caused by lean management, rather it is years of ignorance causing poor and rigid infrastructure that cannot respond to a sudden element of shock. At this point, what we need more than ever is lean management. We often perceive lean thinking as optimising the present situation at hand without any regards to the increased business interruption risk that follows. But lean thinking actually is about engaging every member in an organisation everyday in handling interruptions thus learning to react better.
In 1997, one of the supplier plants of Toyota, producing a very critical component, was burnt to the ground by the Aisin fire. But when the world was skeptical of their recovery due to low inventory, they restarted production in record time. And studies have shown that the astonishing recovery was achieved by the independent cooperation of 6 main suppliers and about 150 independent firms. Surprisingly enough, there was no central command, only deep independent cooperation based on relationship and problem solving habits. This is a fine example of how lean thinking could save you from the loss due to the ongoing pandemic as well. Lean practices help developing value among the workforce and encourages each and every member of the organisation to decide their own responsibility through understanding the value chain of the workflow and contribute to it in their own accord. Lean thinking promotes solving smaller crises on a daily basis, so that in the times of unpredictable disruptions, the members are experienced to think in terms of “How can we reroute activities?, Who do we ask for help?, How do we coordinate initiatives?” etc. After all, lean teaches us “safety first, value flow second, cost third’'.
Waiting is the third type of waste in the lean dictionary. It is the act of sitting idle or working slowly whilst waiting for confirmation or the completion of the previous task in the workflow. The waste of waiting has increased more than ever due to the lockdown ordeal worldwide. But it is the times like this when we need focus on the causes and cures of this waste.
This pandemic has got all the industries purplexed. Many of us are yet to come up with a counter-plan, constantly prying on the news status trying to fathom the market scenario. Before every step taken there is continual hesitation contributing to the hike of waiting time. What better time than this to identify the sources and analyse the reasons behind it and trying to figure out the solution?
Each company has their own sources and reasons behind their waiting waste. But there are a few general causes which mostly resonate through all the industries. Inefficient communication among different processes and the staff is one of the main causes that result in longer waiting time. It gives rise to poor process quality, unplanned downtime, unbalanced workloads, long set-up times, or even inefficient staffing. And all these negative elements in turn contribute to the increased waiting time.
So how do we counter that? You’d be correct if lean management was your answer. Lean thinking teaches us how to identify value in the workflow and resonate that value through personal contribution. Instead of waiting a whole day for the superior officer to give a new task, lean thinking tells us to identify the value we can contribute to the process and create solutions by ourselves. Not only that reduces waiting time, that also hones our problem solving skills and reflex critical thinking actions.
A few steps to minimise the waste of waiting are adequate staffing, continuous and efficient staff-training, establishing transparent and organised workflow, lean and efficient inventory management, etc. Smooth coordination among staff and processes is one of the biggest criteria for a business to flourish. We all know mutual communication is the key to a healthy relationship. And industries and workplaces are no different to that norm.
Non-utilizing talent is one of the eight wastes under lean management that is 100% preventable. It is very closely related to the waste of waiting. When staff are under-utilized relative to their skills or knowledge sets, and wait for higher officials to provide them with tasks that don’t fully utilize their capabilities that becomes a waste of non-utilizing talent.
In a world devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, it is hard to imagine a company will prioritize talent management whilst battling severe losses, or worst case scenario, business disruption. But if you think about it, this COVID-19 pandemic slowdown is possibly the best time to re-analyze talent management and reorganize process demographics. Before continuing further on the prospect of talent management, let us take a look at the various causes behind non-utilizing talent.
The root of the waste ties back to the same old problem of poor communication and management. Our sad excuse for a HR system totally misses the point of talent management while aiming for cost and risk reduction. The current management systems of the majority of the businesses treat employees like order-taking drones instead of critical thinking beings. Not much time spent learning about an employee and their interests inevitably leads to assigning wrong tasks to staff that do not utilize their talent. The training is equally inadequate and misaligned. Poor communication results in a sound lack of mutual coordination and teamwork while skilled workers are burdened with valueless admin tasks.
Yet, in all that negativity, this market slowdown has provided us with the scope of introspection, and the best time to take internal actions in terms of effective talent management. The first thing to start off with, would be to stop micromanaging. Instead, taking this time to improve staff-management communication and thus understanding and empowering employees would be the right step forward. Training must be objective to ensure effectiveness. If we fail to seize this opportunity to self reflect, then there’s no scope of improvement for our industries. It is now or never, let us keep this in mind.
The fifth type of waste under lean management is the waste of transport. The unnecessary movement of parts, double handling of materials, shuffling of inventory to get access to the right components are termed as transportation waste. The lockdown has restricted transportation of any kind to a great extent. Amid this chaotic ordeal, we have been forced to limit any necessary transportation to minimum and rethink our transportation needs altogether. That includes the industrial transportation aspect. This is our opportunity to analyze all the sources of needs for transportation and reorganize process layouts to limit it to the absolute minimum. Because now we know how much we can get done without even having to move.
Few root causes behind transportation waste are inefficient plant or office layout, unnecessary or excessive steps burdening a process, misaligned process flow, poorly designed systems, etc. Inefficient plant/office layout originates from lack of vision from the management or lack of communication between the visionary and the architect. Whereas other causes mainly reflect solely the lack of vision and thorough knowledge/understanding of the business process from the management. Simply put, not much can be done about this type of waste unless the entire management hierarchy is aware of the shortcomings and has a clear understanding of the organizational objectives and visionary.
So is there no way we can improve on this? Surely, if you are eager enough to bring about a change. The solution lies in the core of a problem solving, lean mindset. The first thing to be strived for must be simplification and transparency. Simplifying processes and clearly communicating the objective and the value of a process to the concerned members is an irreplaceable feature to battle this waste. And this mindset should automatically lead to making distances between multiple steps of a process or interconnected processes as short as possible. Handling products less often, thus creating an effective workflow is also a part of this mindset. Finally, the good old option of repairing the physical layouts or constructing them with proper vision in mind is always there to be considered. This is the digital age of getting everything done in a single finger-tap. It is about time we consider applying that in our traditional management ways.
Inventory excess is the sixth type of waste in DOWNTIME and is closely related to the waste of overproduction. Also, just like overproduction, this method has been heavily criticised in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But we fail to realize missing the whole point of lean management and then going ahead to apply it without fully understanding it’s objectives and values only to complain about it’s effectiveness after failing miserably, is not quite the right way to prove a philosophy wrong. Let us take a look at the causes behind this waste before discussing it’s effectiveness and scope of improvement.
A few reasons behind the waste of inventory excess include overproduction and buffer, ineffective monitoring and verification (M&V) systems, mismatched production speed, unreliable suppliers, long set-up times, misunderstood customer needs etc. It is nothing new that overproduction and inventory excess are interrelated and one results into the other. But the root causes behind these are basic deficits like poor communication, lack of understanding, lack of distributed responsibilities for critical thinking, and last but not the least, lack of a wise visionary. Because if these features were not lacking, industries will know that lean methods are not just about keeping all expenses to minimum, rather it is about creating and propagating value with least unnecessary effort, promoting critical thinking among the entire organisational demographic and empowering employees to help them build coordination skills and tramplay, and all things valuable. If value propagation was done right, there wouldn’t be the problem of unreliable suppliers. If coordination done right, there wouldn’t be mismatched production speed or long set-up times. If employee empowerment and critical thinking propagation done right, the employees would each be a problem solver and coordinated efforts would smoothly bring out the counter plans and alternative routes to fight this COVID-19 crisis. It is easy to sit back and watch the business getting disrupted complaining about ‘what-if’s and doing nothing. But what ultimately helps rising above any crisis is a bunch of people who know how to try.
The seventh waste of DOWNTIME is the waste of motion. Unlike transportation waste, motion waste deals with the unnecessary movement of the human elements of the process instead of products or materials. Motion waste refers to unnecessary movements within the warehouse. It can be as noticeable as walking across the entire warehouse unnecessarily, or as subtle as rotating a tool for use after plucking it from a box. Sorting things out of a messy inventory or struggling to find the right tool from a disorganised asset-storage, all of it falls under the category of motion waste.
The outbreak of coronavirus has forced upon us a few poems like avoiding physical contact or moving around more than necessary. Plants and facilities where motion waste control was strictly put into action, have higher chances of surviving from the safety hazards and coping with the COVID-19 crisis. The root causes behind this waste inefficient process design and control, inefficient workstation/shop layout, inadequate quantity of tools and machines leading to sharing, congested workplace due to poor layout or irresponsible stuffing, isolated and soiled operations, last but not the least lack of standards
The traditional solutions to motion waste are effective enough to keep both wasteful practices and the health and safety hazards of coronavirus outbreak at bay. Not to mention, controlled motion waste also helps to reduce waiting waste in turn. Rearranging layouts to decrease distance between stations or aligning with the relevant process flow helps minimise unnecessary movement by the workers to keep the process running. Effective tool organisation aligned with changing process - requirements makes it easier to reach tools without the hassle of sorting through a pile of irrelevant things. Organised life is a simpler and easier life, be it at home or at work.
The last type of waste categorised under DOWNTIME in lean management is the waste of excess processing. Excess processing refers to the act of providing more value than required by the customer. It can be painting areas of components that are not visible to the customer all preparing a 50- slide presentation for information that could be explained in a single chart. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of the employees are working from home, and business operations and workflow have become more disorganised than ever. In this state, excess processing is very prevalent and makes unignorable damages to the already disrupted workflow. This should remind us how important it is to reduce excess processing and improve inter-staff communication to hone their coordination skills hence the process flow.
The main reasons behind excess processing are lack of standards, poor communication, misunderstanding customer needs and human errors. The lack of standards and poor communication in turn gives rise to overdesigned equipment, excessive reports, multiple signature requirements, we entering or duplicating data, etc. Even though human error is kind of inevitable, misunderstanding customer needs stems from poor communication, inaccurate market research, lack of understanding and lack of standards.
The solutions to this type of waste include first and foremost proper organisation mapping and process analysis from the management end. If the understanding is clear, then it is easier to apply and propagate value among the employees. It is easier to set a process standard and empower employees once the understanding is clear, thus the communication is of improved quality. Empowering employees will in turn reduce or eliminate unnecessary documentation or sign off processes and meetings. As they say, it is not only hard work neither it is the easy way to the top, what works best is smart working your way up to success.
Everything can be improved.