Lean Systems
for Continuous Process Improvement

Lean training for implementing lean process improvement
and kaizen training for continuous improvement
to get fast, dramatic, and simultaneous...
   a) Reduction of costs and lead times
   b) Improvements in quality and morale

Bookmark = PowerPoint

Lean PowerPoint: Introduction to Lean Training

Kaizen Lean ppt    100+ pages Free preview of the 100+ page Kaizen and Lean PowerPoint training presentation that you can own as part of the Kaizen bundle of templates. Copying any portion of this free preview would be a copyright violation, but when you own the PowerPoint template, you can cannibalize it to use as the starting point for your own in-house training. Using slides that are relevant to your upcoming training topic - and perhaps editing them, and adding your slides.

Bookmarks = LeanPrinciples, PDCA, scientificmethod

Lean Principles TPS House of Lean to identify, reduce, & eliminate waste Muda: Learning to see the 7 Deadly Types of Waste Lean Objectives - What is "ideal"? The Lean 4 Rules In Use People usually get introduced to lean concepts through lean tools, which will (hopefully) lead to the introduction of lean systems, and the ultimate "holy grail" is for every person in your organization to be so familiar with lean systems and tools that they are able to apply the underlying lean principles in new and creative ways that are ideal for YOUR unique challenges.

Bookmark = LeanSystems

Lean Systems

Lean systems are the essential link between lean tools and lean principles

Lean systems are the missing link Lean systems are the missing component in most failed lean initiatives Lean tools Tool Selection Matrix Most organizations get their first exposure to lean through a single lean tool that they find on the Internet or read about in a case study - that looks like it might help solve some pressing problem of the moment. If the tool (used in isolation) doesn't work as magically as expected - then a year later you might hear someone from that organization say, "oh yeah, we tried lean a year ago, and it didn't work here." Lean principles If the tool (used in isolation) works surprisingly well to solve that problem of the moment, then management might be compelled to learn more - and will often get their first exposure to the lean principles that are foundational to all lean tools and methods. Principles like: The 7 deadly wastes The 4 rules in use Lean Ideals & Objectives Lean systems Those lean principles all make sense, and sound great, and get everyone fired up, and then... when you get faced with your first real-world fire burning in your real-world workplace, your eyes glaze over, and you ask, "so what am I supposed to do now?" That's where a lean system comes in... A systematic approach for "what to do when something like this happens". Systems like: PDCA, DMAIC, 8D, A3, and the other problem-solving methods based on the scientific method Time Observation Hansei: to Think, Ponder, Reflect Kaizen, Daily Accountability Teams, and other systems for how to organize work teams Continuous Improvement 5S workplace organization, Leader Standard Work, and other systems for lean management Standard work to sustain gains Value stream mapping to optimize flow DMAIC Six Sigma and other systems for continuous process improvement Job Instructions, TWI, cross training, and other systems for lean people development Policy deployment, visual management, kaizen, and other systems for lean leadership All roads lead to Rome Back in the days of the Roman empire, a common saying was "all roads lead to Rome". Ideally, no matter where you start on your lean journey, all roads should lead to the lean principles that underlie all lean tools. Any lean tool could serve as your starting point. The lean principles are always the destination. Lean systems are the roads.

Bookmark = LeanMethods

Continuous Process Improvement

Steps to Reduce or Eliminate Waste

Bookmark = 5S

Step 1) Organize the Workplace

Organizing the workplace is what 5S is all about.

Most lean journeys start with 5S housekeeping.

Workplace organization isn't just about cleanliness and tidiness
(although those are nice benefits).

The number one most important payoff of 5S housekeeping is that problems are revealed;
problems that used to be hidden by sloppy messes.

Old-school organizations have a culture of hiding problems;
lean organizations create a culture of solving problems.

And before any problem can be solved,
the problem needs to be revealed,
honestly, completely, and with a focus on solving - not blaming.

Bookmark = Flow

Step 2) Arrange everything to "flow"

Value Stream Mapping

Most teams are introduced to value stream mapping as a tool for creating flow.

Flow of inventory or "the thing being processed,
and flow of the information needed to process it.

Every value stream can be divided into several value stream segments -

each with its own value stream map.

Each value stream map is primarily focused on the flow of the thing being processed.

As long as the thing doesn't stop flowing - the value stream map shows only a single Process Box.

Each Process Box can conceal surprisingly complex sub-processes.
(and might therefore contain links to drill down to more detailed flowcharts, standard work charts, spaghetti maps, standard procedures, job instructions, etc.)

It is only when the thing stops flowing that the value stream map will depict the break in the flow with a symbol for inventory, or some means of dealing with the interruption to flow - such as a supermarket, or a FIFO lane, or a kanban, etc.

For lots of free training for value stream mapping, refer to our free online value stream mapping training web page - and the Help worksheet within the Value Stream Mapping Power Tool - which you can receive as a free gift when you attend a free live webinar.

 

Some key enablers of lean flow

see Lean ppt for full list

Types of production environments that embrace Lean flow

Flow requires (& produces) higher quality than batch & queue

Dedicated Product Teams

What if our demand isn't level?

Bookmark = StandardWork

Step 3) Standardize Work

Standard Work is the single most important step of your entire lean journey

When lean newcomers start their first 5S initiatives, everyone gets real excited to see the quick and obvious results from the first 3 easy steps: Sort, Straighten, Sweep 'n Shine.

It's the 4th and 5th S's that determine whether your group will succeed with a true culture change,
or whether 5S will prove to be just another distant memory of yet another failed "flavor of the month" management initiative.

When you audit the people doing the actual work in real-time, real-world, real-life...

• Are they actually doing things the way that they were trained?
• Or are they backsliding into old habits, or inventing their own ways of doing things?

Standard work is the ONLY way to ratchet your gains -
rather than constantly backsliding.

The heart of Systems2win's product line consists of Word and Excel templates to standardize work, document it, train people to do it the new way, and then audit to ensure that they are actually doing it the way you think they are doing it.

Some of the lean templates for standard work

• Job Instructions
• Standard Work Combination Sheet
• Standard Operating Procedure template
• Cross Training Matrix
• Layout Diagram Spaghetti Map
• Swim Lane Cross Functional Flowchart (that does lean calculations)
• A3 Stick Figure Illustrator
• TWI Training Within Industry tools, including a Job Breakdown Sheet,
  and a full suite of lean training tools
• A full suite of lean tools, including Results Metrics Gap Analysis, 5S Checklist, Standard Work Audit, and more

Our philosophy is to provide you with a wide choice of standard work templates -

so that you can select the one (or ones) that you find easiest to document and improve the diverse types of processes that you are likely to encounter along the path of your lean journey.

You might start out documenting highly repetitive shop processes on your shop floor,
and then eventually find yourself documenting much more complex and lengthy processes that cross departmental boundaries - which require very different approaches to standard work.
(think sales order processing, hospital triage, engineering change orders, and any other complex process)

If you are aspiring to be a master journeyman lean practitioner,
then you are going to want your toolbox stocked with a full assortment of power tools
to make easy work of ANY process that you eventually need to standardize.

That's why Systems2win exists...
to continuously improve your tools for continuous improvement.

Bookmark = SmallBatches

Step 4) Make Small Batches

When it comes to making small batches, the first thing that comes to most people's minds is -

SMED - Single Minute Exchange of Dies

also known as Quick Change Over  (especially in industries that don't have dies)

But steps 4 and 5 on your lean journey are also when Six Sigma becomes interesting. Why?

Because...

• You can't make small batches unless you have high quality.
• You can't produce just in time only what the customer demands unless you have high quality.

Watch our Kaizen Lean Training PowerPoint -

and pay close attention to the alligators that appear when you drain the swamp of protective inventories.

That's what lean six sigma quality improvement is about... dealing with those alligators.

Bookmark = Pull

Step 5) Introduce pull systems

to make only what the customer demands

Despite what old-school accountants might tell you...

• Your goal is NOT to maximize output.
• Your goal is to maximize throughtput (goods purchased by a customer)
  

More than any other step on the lean journey, this is where you are most likely to hear the old cop-out refrain...

"But we're different."

This is where sincere practitioners of lean sciences are separated from third-grade science students.

There are many special techniques for leveling demand in many diverse low volume / high mix environments, including lean healthcare, and lean office environments,

and if after studying all of known field-proven methods for aggregating and leveling demand,
you find that your business truly is different,
that is when it is instructive to remember that none of those now-common methods existed
when Toyota began its lean journey.

They systematically applied the PDCA scientific method to come up with new and creative countermeasures for each unique puzzle that surfaced...

and so can you.

The road to lean maturity goes something like this...

1. Study how others have solved problems similar to the ones you are facing now
2. Select the most promising tools and methods, and use the PDCA scientific method to experiment with applying them to your situation
3. If you can't find a perfect fit from the palette of existing tools and methods -
   then personalize them.

   (This is another moment when you will find yourself truly grateful that you chose Word and Excel templates that are intentionally designed to be easy to personalize.)

Bookmark = ContinuousImprovement

Step 6) Never stop continuous improvement

By definition, continuous improvement is continuous.

A lean journey always has a next step and never has an end.

That's why a sincere practitioner of the lean six sigma scientific methods
appreciates a full suite of tools that he or she will never outgrow.

Free trial - Excel templates for continuous process improvement

Excel templates
for Kaizen and Lean Process Improvement

All of the lean training in this web site is best understood when using
the Systems2win fill-in-the-blanks templates for continuous process improvement

Bookmark = Reading

Suggested Reading and Resources for additional Learning

Throughout this web site, you will find many training videos, and many links to suggested readings and resources for additional learning. If you appreciate our free on-line training, you can support us by buying your books through these links to Amazon.com.

Here are links to videos and suggested readings for some of the most popular topics:

• Lean Leadership
• 5S Workplace Organization - Readings - Videos
• Value Stream Mapping - Readings - Videos
• Standard Work - Readings - Videos
• Kaizen - Readings - Videos
• Hoshin Kanri - Readings
• Six Sigma - Readings - Videos
• Full list of Videos