FOUNDATIONAL LEAN TOOLS By Jon Kantola, project manager, RobbJack Corporation
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few simple Lean tools build a foundation for sustained Lean improvement. Surprisingly, Lean Manufacturing attempts fail an estimated 70% to 90% of the time, even when organizations have the best intentions when it is implemented. Companies that succeed with Lean realize that it requires a long-term effort at culture change, a new way of thinking that senior management champions daily. They drive a focus on increasing customer value rather than on internal cost reductions, understanding that providing what customers want, when they want it, for the right price will increase sales revenue. Daily Lean activity to improve processes that drive customer value will result in cost savings. Another key to success is in how Lean is introduced to the company. Consultants often are hired to train staff in key concepts and tools during a “Lean implementation,” but the goal should be an evolution of the “company Lean way” that morphs the consultant’s instructional content into a best fit culture for your organization. If you study Toyota methods, apply the concepts that click with your team, but do not try to become Toyota. Learn and use the right Lean tools for the moment and for your team, then put those that do not work back in the toolbox. There are some foundational tools that managers and staff will use every day that should be incorporated into your “company Lean way” from day one. These tools go after the low hanging fruit of improvement company-wide, from the office to the shop. GEMBA WALKS Senior managers are change agents, advocates, mentors and cheerleaders for the company’s Lean initiatives, regardless of how busy they are or their personal Lean skillset. GEMBA is a Japanese concept developed by Taichi Ohno that helps busy managers maintain Lean momentum “where work gets done.” It has three main principles: Go and see, ask why and respect people. Managers are challenged to walk through the shop and offices to observe work conditions, monitor improvement projects, check on key process metrics, and mentor and encourage staff. The team at RobbJack Corporation in Lincoln, California, has taken GEMBA a step further and incorporated internal audits with a “kamishibai” card system, which simply is a visual indicator that an assigned action has been completed. In this case, when the green side of the card is visible on the department huddle board, the department passed the audit. A red card means the employees have an issue to address.
Each GEMBA card has several questions and example answers related to Lean concepts, standard work, vision/mission/ strategy or one of the ISO 9000 elements. Five of these cards are placed in each work center and office, and managers are assigned a department and card via an automated system. They perform the GEMBA at their convenience, but within a scheduled timeline, and record their observations in SharePoint. The advantage of this system is that managers have a “script” of three simple questions, phrased so employees easily understand and learn what is required, and the GEMBA takes no more than 10 minutes to complete. With eight managers rotating through five cards in 10 departments every two weeks, employees continually are reinforced, the ISO 9000 audit record is extensive and managers frequently are observing how well these next Lean tools are being implemented.
Huddle boards are the home base of value stream activity
5S ORGANIZATION Parents understand the frustration of a teenager’s bedroom, watching their child search for a pair of shoes in various piles so as not to be late to school. The goal of 5S organization is to establish a clean, efficient and waste free foundation for Lean to happen, to expose improvement opportunities lost in clutter – like shoes in a teenager’s room. This Lean concept comes from five Japanese words that loosely translate to Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. Begin a 5S cycle by Sorting through equipment, tooling, fixtures, supplies, furniture, etc., within each work center to identify what can be removed. Everything retained then should be Set in Order with a controlled location. Shadow boards, drawer inserts with cutouts and floor outlines are page 34
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the american MOLD BUILDER | Issue 2 2021
