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Lean Thinking is a
management philosophy that arose out of the development of the Toyota
Production System. In many ways this philosophy is counter-intuitive
to the way managers have traditionally administered work design. The
traditional methods are based on mass production ideas and techniques
- push as many people or products through the process as fast as you
can.
However, process thinking
at Toyota is a bit different.
“Brilliant process
management is our strategy. We get brilliant results from average
people managing brilliant processes.
We observe that our
competitors often get average (or worse) results from brilliant
people managing broken processes.”
This is often overlooked,
as people seize on the more tangible aspects. Engineers may latch on
to tools and philosophies like KANBAN, Heijunka, and Jidoka, and
think they have captured its essence. But the core principle is that
people are the most important asset. For that reason management must
continually support those who add value in order to secure long-term
productivity and financial improvement and enduring culture change.
Organisational Issues that
reduce value include:
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Purpose not clearly defined in terms of solving the customer’s
problems.
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Processes not clearly specified.
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People not engaged in optimising the whole value stream rather
than the point at which they work.
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Managers tending to think vertically to optimise their area,
department or function rather than improving the value chain as a
whole. (Unilaterally improving part of a system can make the
performance of the whole worse).
-
The horizontal flow of value to the customer easily getting
lost.
Lean organisations seek to
maximise the flow of materials, information and cash. Smooth flow
necessitates partnering with customers and suppliers, achieving set
up reductions, and introducing pull systems for supplies movement.
The goal is Zero Waste, Zero Lost Information, Zero Rework.
By working on real
problems that add wealth to the business and mentoring staff in the
use of continuous improvement tools Farthing West trains busy
managers to be more effective, develops future managers and
accelerates achievement of a Lean Six Sigma culture.
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