Lean Management is…

If someone tells you that “lean is this” and not something else, if someone puts it in a box and ties a bow around it and presents it in a neat package with four walls around it, then that someone knows not of what they speak. Why? Because it is in motion and not a framed picture hanging on the wall. It is a melody, a rhythm, and not a note.

Lean management is generally derived from the Toyota Production System as developed by Taiichi Ohno, Shigeo Shingo and others over a forty year period. It began with efforts to reduce die change time on the stamping press which then allowed for a reduction of in-process inventory and this became just-in-time inventory management. This resulted in the need for less warehouse space, fewer forklifts, unnecessary space, etc. Once the flow of work can be interruption free, free of materials sitting, standing, and redo-loops, waste is eliminated. Lean is the elimination of waste. But, more importantly, lean is continuous improvement in all work processes.

In order to improve the work of the die press and reduce waste Shingo did not instruct the workers. He asked the workers to think. He challenged them to innovate and find ways to speed the process by eliminating unnecessary activities. The workers who operated the press and changed dies worked as a team and together they solved problems and sought improvement. It was the front line workers, who were on-the-spot, and who were truly the world’s greatest experts in their work, who experimented, watched the data, and learned from the facts.

This model of improving the work process by those who do the work, by those who are on-the-spot, is the essence of lean management. The model of Shingo asking the work team to think, to experiment, and to learn from the data, is the model of lean management. It is management that is humble and not arrogant. It is management that observes, encourages, challenges, and learns. It is management that gathers the facts, encourages experimentation, and spreads best practices. It is management that practices what they preach to others.

This model was quickly copied by Honda and other Japanese companies and has now become the standard of world class manufacturing. And, it has become the standard for management in all types of work settings.

Social and Technical Improvement

There are two sides to lean: one is the improvement in the technical work flow. The second is the improvement in the culture or the social system of the organization. These two sides are complimentary, they constantly interact and are interdependent, and one will not succeed without the other.The graphic below is intended to illustrate some, but not necessarily all, of these complimentary components of lean management.

There are many aspects to the technical side of improving the work flow. These may include Kanbans, Poke-A-Yoke, continuous line flow, the arrangement of suppliers to customers, etc. This author is not the expert on the technical side of the work. Author/consultants such as Lonnie Wilson and Michel Baudin are good sources of guidance on the technical side of lean.

This author’s primary focus is on the culture and management practices that result in continuous improvement, whether in manufacturing, health care, or any other type of work.

What is Lean Culture?

Lean is not blindly copying what someone else has done. Lean is first understanding principles and examples from other companies, and then seeking to apply those principles to your own environment. Lean is innovating. Lean is continuous improvement.

 

Lean Culture is…

• The engagement of all members of the organization, from top-to-bottom in a consistent and organized process of continuous improvement in both processes and people.
• Leadership that understands, practices, models and reinforces the values and behavior of lean culture. Be the change!
• A culture in which the leaders both respect and encourage those who are on-the-spot and “the world’s greatest experts” in their work.
• The elimination of all forms of waste, non-value-adding things and activities, including wasteful management activity.
• The continuous effort to optimize quality of products, services and processes.

Lean management is, itself, in continuous improvement. Toyota is learning. Honda is learning. Everyone is learning. As I was once told by the Chairman of Intel, Andy Grove, “We have no competitive advantage in technology. Our only advantage is that we develop and get products to market faster than our competition.” It is speed of movement, speed of improvement, that wins the competition. This what Honda calls “The Racing Spirit” which is the core principle of Honda’s culture. The car or engine that wins this year will lose next year. The car that wins will win because of the improvements made by a well functioning team.

Within lean management are the lessons learned from generations of experimentation in management. The work of Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford are not dismissed, but incorporated and built upon. All of the work in industrial and organizational psychology are incorporated. The work of Dr. Deming, Shewhart and Juran are incorporated. The work of Fred Emery and Eric Trist who founded the school of socio-technical systems is integral to the nature of lean organization. Toyota alone, did not invent good management. Toyota and Honda simply did a superior job of learning and applying the lessons to which many others contributed.

Your job is to incorporate these lessons within your own management system and to seek improvement… continuously. My job is to help you.