“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 reasons why implementations of lean manufacturing often fail to deliver their full potential or at all. The discipline of setting and maintaining work standards and […]

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 processes we use to create customer value. This is known as “Standardized Work.” (See Note 1 below) Here are a few definitions: “A standard is […]

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 long enough, we’d see that they don’t just HAVE standards; they FOLLOW them! A STANDARD is the BEST WE CURRENTLY KNOW about something. Standardizing means […]

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

“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 day-to-day basis. The second is to improve the business, or contribute to it, continuously.”  Creating a Lean Culture, 3rd Edition  by David Mann (CRC Press, […]

“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 fast enough to react quickly. Continuous improvement depends on a different [understanding] of the role of the human—all humans are problem detectors and problem correctors—thinking […]

“The Toyota Way can be briefly summarized through the two pillars that support it: ‘Continuous Improvement’ and ‘Respect for People.’ Continuous improvement, often called kaizen, defines Toyota’s basic approach to doing business. Challenge everything. More important than the actual improvements that individuals contribute, the true value of continuous improvement is in creating an atmosphere of […]

In some situations, waste (activity that DOESN’T add value) is the result of something going wrong. For example, when a defect occurs, it starts a chain of waste activities: Waste resulting from defects or other problems is usually obvious. If we solve the problem–especially at the root cause–it reduces waste and improves our productivity. This […]

“Unless all sources of waste are detected and crushed, success will always be just a dream.”  Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno (Productivity Press, 1978) p. 59. Note from Ray: Taiichi Ohno was the Toyota leader most responsible for developing the system of thinking and methods that we now call “Lean.” He […]

“[Lean] starts with the customer. Always ask, ‘What value are we adding from the customer’s perspective?’ Because the only thing that adds value in any type of process—be it a manufacturing, service, or development process—is the physical or information transformation of that product, service, or activity into something the customer wants.”  The Toyota Way 2nd […]