Lean and HRM work perfectly together!

Lean and HRM (Human Resource Management) work perfectly together when implementing Lean. A good and effective HRM-department can support a successful implementation of Lean in many ways.

Examples are:

• When implementing Lean it is necessary to appoint some change agents. These change agents can be found internally or hired. In both situations a good HRM-dept can help finding the right persons.
• The implementation of Lean is a huge change for the whole organization. To handle the change a good HRM-dept can be the key player. Both as advisors for the change agents and as coaches to the management and employees.
• During a Lean process a lot of training is being conducted. A good HRM-dept can support making a good training plan. I.e. ensure that the training is conducted at the right time and in the right way. Also a HRM-dept can help evaluating these training sessions.
• The HRM-dept should also be used to make the best and most effective project teams to be used in the Lean process.
• When implementing Lean one of the objectives is to find best practise. E.g. when implementing 5S at a work place used for several shifts or when making SOP (standard operation procedures). When looking for best practise conflicts may occur. Here HRM can help.
• If the goal with Lean is to reduce costs (oppesite a growth strategy) HRM can help to ensure a good process when asking employees to leave the company. A good HRM-dept can make the difference between a good and a bad implementation of Lean in such a company.

A good HRM-department can make a huge difference when implementing Lean!

Do you have comments or more examples - please white a comment!

By Mikkel Smith
Flexkom – Download Lean tools online >
Website on Scandinavian Lean Courses >

5S - it sounds so easy - but is very difficult to implement

When you hear about 5S the first time, you might think that it sounds easy to implement. But soon you will realize that 5S is difficult to implement - and even more difficult to maintain and improve!

5S stands for

1. Sort: Sort work place in ”in use” and ”not in use”.
2. Set in order: Put items in system.
3. Shine: Procedure for cleanliness.
4. Standardize: Procedure for how to leave the workplace.
5. Sustain: Ingraining into culture.

Possible results implementing 5S

• Improves ergonomics.
• Improves safety – no disorder.
• Improves quality – right tools for the right parts and processes.
• Gives pride to the work place.
• Easier to take over a work place from a colleague.
• Reduces changeover times.
• Gives a visible overview of work place – tools, parts, fixtures etc.
• Time spent on searching is reduced.
• Reduces demand for space.
• Improves productivity.

Challenges when implementing 5S

Some of the challenges are:

• The cultural change. It many companies it is widely "accepted" to borrow tools etc. from each other work tables - without returning them. It is also accepted to spend a lot of time searching for the same tools when they are needed. In these companies it is a huge cultural change to implement 5S.
• In many companies it is normal to have "personal tools". Meaning that tools are personal and that they employees are responsible for the tools. With 5S tools are no longer personal but belong to work stations.
• It is a great challenge to maintain a high 5S level. At good way is to appoint a 5S patrol consisting of employees from different departments. They should then audit each department e.g. monthly.

REMEMBER that 5S is a good test of the capability in the organization to implement Lean. If an organization is not able to maintain a high 5S level the same organization can not run Kanban, measure OEE etc.

By Mikkel Smith
Flexkom - download Lean tools online >
Flexkom Lean Academy - Scandinavian Lean Course Website >

When is a company Lean?

When can a company be considered Lean?

“Is my company Lean?” Many companies ask themselves whether their company is Lean or not. Actually it is my experience, that many of the companies that think they are about to be Lean - have a long way to go! Lean can give excellent results, but they do not show within the first year! Experience shows that it takes up to 3-4 years to “become Lean”. Remember - you never become Lean! Lean is not a static condition and you will never be able to say “now we are Lean”. Lean is a culture - a way to work and do things. Lean can therefore not be something you are - but a way you work!

“Lean is a company culture”

Even though Lean is a way to work, I will try to give 5 questions that can indicate whether you are on the right track!
The questions are for manufacturing companies:

• Does the top management have focus on Lean in words and actions? Do they talk about Lean on every meeting and do they constantly show in the production and recognize results?
• Is the production organized as a 5S workplace with a high level of order and systematism? And is the 5S level constantly improved?
• Is the “total process time” divided by the “total throughput time incl. all stocks” improved? The process times divided by the total throughput time should not be more than 0.1%. The stock turn should be more than 12.
• Is the planning horizon reduced? It should be reduced to at least day-to-day planning. A condition to reach this goal is reduced turn-over times and small batches - with a high OEE on bottlenecks.
• Are boards used for planning and problem solving?

Lean can give significant results

Using Lean production companies can achive the following results:

• Shorter lead time to customers
• Improved delivery service
• Increased capacity
• Improved product quality
• Reduced stocks
• Improved flexibility
• Higher productivity
• Improved safety level
• Improved ergonomics
• Visible management
• Improved job satisfaction
• Key performance indicators at all key points
• Continuous improvements
  

By Mikkel Smith
Flexkom – Download Lean tools online >
Website on Scandinavian Lean Courses >

Results using preventive maintenance

Results using preventive maintenance:

• Productivity improvement - up to 30%
• Reduction of scrap and repair time
• Stabile processes
• Reduced maintenance cost
• Reduction of general waste (waiting time)
• Reduced time for re-planning - when maschine breakdown
• Reduced stocks because of reduced uncertainty
• Improved customer service

Remember change management - the technical part is not enough

The technical part of Lean
To many companies Lean is all about the tools - 5S, OEE, Kanban, Kaizen etc. The tools themselves are very effective and can give significant results in a production. But many companies tend to forget, that to make the tools become a part of the company-culture, then the organisation have to have training and more training in using these tools. Too many internal/external consultants run the process using the tools when they are on the shop floor - and forget to train the foremen, planners, production technicians and operators - those who should use the tools when the consultants have moved on. On the other hand it is difficult to blame the consultants, as they are under pressure from the company management.

Short term Lean will only work for a while
When companies implement Lean as mentioned above it only works for a while - the time the consultants are on the shop floor. After the consultants have left the organisation might still use the tools, but only because Lean-audits force them to do so.

Many are disappointed with Lean
Questionnaires show that many companies are disappointed with the effect of Lean. They are told that they can gain 30% increase in productivity, reduce stocks with 30% etc. Actually some “Lean-projects” reach very good results after a short time, but after the consultants have left the organisation gets back to normal. Maybe the productivity has increased - but not a 2-digit number.

Allow time enough for Lean - or accept short term results
When companies choose to boost a Lean-implementation the overall result for the company might be negative. The long term effect on productivity, capacity, stocks etc. is moderate but visible. Some workflows are changed, some change over times are reduced etc. But at the same time employees might be stressed and irritated with the quick change. They have properly not be involved in the decision process at all and only feel that something has been change “for the sake of the company”. Yes maybe there are some results for the company, but if the consultants have had the time to involve the operators, they might also have changed to the better for the operators.A more long term objective and more involvement will for sure give a better understanding for the organisation. Take a machine (bottleneck) where OEE was continuously measured when the consultants where present. After they have left the operators do not see “why” - and soon the OEE-measure has stopped. If the operators where trained in etc. OEE the measure would have continued and the results would have been long term!

“Allow time enough for Lean - and remember change management!”

By Mikkel Smith
Flexkom – Download Lean tools online >
Website on Scandinavian Lean Courses >

Lean flow minimizes waste

How does flow minimize waste in production?

Flow minimizes waste in the following ways:

• Waste: Over-production. Flow improved the leadtime and thereby the need for forecasting is removed (maybe still necessary at a higher level). With short leadtime over production is not necessary - production is “make to order”.
• Waste: Transportation. By creating flow the need for transporting goods to/from shelves/stocks and transporting goods between processes is removed.
• Waste: Waiting. Because processes are stabile (a condition for flow) and in time-balance, neither processes nor persons should wait for other processes.
• Waste: Excess processing. Flow can not remove this waste. It is a management job to identify the customer needs and only meet this demand.
• Waste: Inventory. Flow removes all need for inventory.
• Waste: Rework or correction. Flow will not remove rework or correction, but the stabilization process before flow was created, demands that time spend on rework and correction is minimized.
• Waste: Motion. A lot of unnecessary motion is cause by a lack of flow. With flow parts are automatically moved to the process.

Remember to adjust Lean to culture

Many tend to forget, that Lean was developed in Japan. Japan has a culture of its own like any other country or region. Therefore it is important to remember, that Lean has to be implemented with respect to the culture where it is implemented.

More later…

The goal is a Lean Culture

The ultimate goal when implementing Lean is a Lean Culture. A culture where the top management focuses on Lean in all decisions, where the top management is visible in the production every day, where foremen spend 95% of their time on the shop floor, where production technicians and other supporters really work proactivity with the production as a team, where the operators have real influence and participate in daily production planning and problem solving…etc.

More later

High utilization of your machines before you invest

It is a “must” to know your OEE on the existing machines (bottlenecks) before you invest in extra capacity. Many companies invest in extra capacity, even though the have a very low OEE on the existing equipment. They could have saved a lot of money by using some simple tools like SMED, 5S and Lean tools to reduce the change over time and increase the up time.

More later

Example of change to one-piece flow

Example of a change from batch production to one-piece flow
Last week I observed a change from batch production to one-piece flow in a local factory. I will write more about this later…

Remember: One-piece flow is not always in one piece!

It is important to notice, that the phrase “one-piece” is not necessarely referring to the fact that products are moving piece by piece. Often it does make sence to accept a small buffer between processes. This often depends on the value of the products.

Make one-piece flow that addapts to real life

Just remember to use common sense when implementering flow and one-piece.
Think of things like

• Time for operators to have a short brake - e.g. toilet
• Is the quality of the product unknown or known - if you know that the Q is good buffer is more accepted