Here Is the List of the Most Common Lean Myths Commonly referred to as “Lean,” this form of management — without Six Sigma or with it — is sometimes a controversial subject. However, this process has continued to dominate the corporate world and improved the existing processes; but many manufacturers and corporate people think that this process comes with several shortcomings. That is why this post is devoted to debunk mostly all the myths associated to this manufacturing concept. Lean means cost cutting and layoffs As per a leading manufacturing consulting company, this is the most common myth to surround this particular school of management for quite some time. And part of the reason can be that this principle is often related to cutting expenses and even FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents). This concept makes Lean to be associated with pure “cost cutting.” At this point, let us approach the concepts of “cost cutting” and “layoffs.”
Cost cutting: Although the chief aim of Lean has been to identify and remove different form of wastes (or “muda”), the true meaning of “waste” is never explored or considered. Waste, as per Lean, is
an activity that never contributes — directly or indirectly — to value creation for customers and organizations. However, how can anyone define the thin line between wastes and values? Let us consider inventory to be an example of waste. As per Lean, the inventory must be as low as possible; but, again, this does not mean that management can easily eradicate any inventory. For example, critical spare parts are significant to all machine-manufacturing units; likewise, in a service organization, black ink toners rely on printed documents. Now, can anyone imagine what the consequences will be if a manufacturing unit lacks spare parts or a service organization does not have printed docs? It will be completely disastrous. And this concept can be at odds with the concept of interrupting value-adding activities with other nonvalue adding activities. That is, all the primary processes must never be interrupted because if interruption happens, then it will affect the overall workflow. Layoffs: Further, organizations applying Lean properly make employees (who get lower workloads — thanks to waste elimination) more productive. And when employees become more productive, they become more motivated. Lean should be deployed to raise the job satisfaction levels of employees because they are executing more and more valuable tasks; this sense of evaluation may even lead to personal growth and development. Lean is meant for manufacturing companies only Lean’s origins come from Manufacturing sector only — it was even called “Lean Manufacturing” in the past; the Toyota Production System gave this principle. However, since this principle was born in the manufacturing sector, it does not mean that it cannot be implemented in any other sector. These Lean principles, such as ISO quality management, Theory of Constraints and Six Sigma, are applied for different industries, including healthcare, not-for-profit and governmental organizations. Every true Lean-minded organization is generally advised from a leading manufacturing consulting company and does not restrict its Lean efforts to operational activities only. All the true Lean organizations will need a systemic, holistic approach because then only it will be called a pure Lean enterprise. A complete Lean philosophy will have two processes: •Supporting processes (Lean Accounting, for example) •Management processes (Policy deployment and strategic planning)
In short, a pure Lean company will implement this philosophy beyond its walls. Lean is only one of the tools and methods Lean is truly a set of tools and methods, but not every organization is adept at using this set properly. Organizations tend to use this set of tools, called Lean, blindly without considering its impacts. And after doing so, Lean will be implemented vaguely throughout the organization. The solution is that this philosophy must be implemented within the business models and cultural foundations of the organizations. That is because if an organization does not include Lean in its DNA, it will never be able to use this philosophy completely. It is a well-known fact that Toyota always encourages its competitors to visit its manufacturing unit, and many have done that as well. However, how many of its competitors have truly implemented this philosophy successfully? The answer is only a handful. So here are the top three Lean myths that must be understood quickly if a company wants to implement this philosophy on a large scale. Different leading manufacturing and distribution consultants know these myths, so if an organization is looking forward to implementing this philosophy by the book, then it should consider hiring a true consultant that differentiates between Lean’s myths and its realities.