Will Standards Turn Us Into Robots?
Here’s a question that might come to mind when we consider standardizing work procedures. “Will standards turn us into un-thinking robots?” This is a reasonable concern, and it HAS happened…
Sustainable Competitive Advantage
It's easy to think that standards REDUCE creativity. One of the big surprises in Lean is the exact opposite: when used rightly, standards INCREASE creativity and flexibility. They do so…
Getting to the Next Improvement
"Standard work is the platform upon which the next improvement is built. Without standard work each individual develops their own way of doing things sometimes narrowly and sometimes widely. The…
The Greatest Key to Consistent Performance
"The establishment of standardized processes and procedures is the greatest key to creating consistent performance. It is only when the process is stable that you can begin the creative progression…
One Reason Lean Implementations Fail
"Standards are, in my opinion, the most important foundation of Lean and one which is often underrated and given less attention by manufacturing professionals. This is one of the main…
Definition of “Standardized Work”
As I mentioned in the previous post, there are many things to "standardize" in business. In the Lean Business Culture, perhaps the most important thing to standardize is the work…
Standards: The Solid Foundation of Lean
If we visit a company that is serious about the Lean Business Culture and watch carefully, we would see this: They have STANDARDS for nearly everything! If we would watch…
What Happens When You Keep Improving?
When you keep improving the same process over and over, it keeps getting better. Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation (2nd Ed.) by George Koenigsaecker (CRC Press, 2013) pp. 48-53
Everyone Has Two Responsibilities
"In a Lean environment, the expectation is that everyone has two responsibilities. The first is to run your part of the business--even if that is only a single workstation--on a…
What is “Continuous Improvement?”
"Continuous improvement means getting better every day and is the driver for building a sustainable enterprise. Only those at the gemba [where the work is done] can understand the problems…