It's been a while since I've posted in this blog. Every once in a while, a colleague contacts me with a great story. That happened today (Thanks Ed !) so I thought I'd share it here. Its the heart of what Lean is all about.
A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time.
Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem.
Six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution - on time and on budget. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.
A while later, the CEO decided to have a look at the project. No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place...very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. "That's some money well spent!" he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
It turned out the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should've been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. After some investigation, the engineers came back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren't picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO traveled down to the factory, and walked up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.
"Oh, that," said one of the workers - "one of the guys put it there 'cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang".
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Lean Works
Its not new that companies fail to show bottom line improvement numbers immediately with a lean initiative. It is a large undertaking to change a mindset and to introduce a phylosophy where the people doing the work are accountable to not only perform the work, but to improve the work as well. Most companies are looking for experts or silver bullets to introduce that change.
In most companies I work with, it takes about a year before the management with the accounting people step forward to say "we hear things are better, we see improvements in flow and a reduction in WIP (work in process) but we don't see the savings in the bottom line".
If you are a lean leader in your company, you should do some research on lean accounting. Sooner or later you will be asked the question. Its best to get the accounting and financial group on board at the start. Traditional accounting does not support lean. The truth is that if you are using traditional accounting methods, it will appear as though your unit cost is increasing in the short term with lean.
If your lean consultant cannot explain this to you - get a new consultant. Otherwise, within a year this will kill your lean initiative - regardless of the improvements that your production folks claim they are seeing.
Norm
www.leanjourney.ca
Friday, March 18, 2011
How to Achieve Greatness Through Gratitude
In the business arena, especially today, two simple words – thank you – have given companies and individuals a serious edge in the marketplace. A simple heartfelt thank you message can create a huge competitive advantage.
Think about it - when was the last time you got a personal greeting card in the mailbox? When was the last time you had a handwritten card on your windshield, on your door, or even on your pillow? A little better than an email, eh?
Consider the example of Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mark Kay Cosmetics. She build a $1.2 billion cosmetics empire because she understood the importance of gratitude. Her personal philosophy, which she taught to her sales reps , was to send out three hand-written thank you notes every night before bed. This practice not only expressed her gratitude to the people she met and did business with, but also allowed her to maintain a positive attitude all day long as she sought out people to whom she’d send these thank you notes. Today Mary Kay Cosmetics has 1.5 million sales people in 32 countries. She knew how to harness the power of thank you.
Clearly sending notes and cards isn’t the only way to say thank you. But it just might be the best way.
A phone call is nice, an email does the trick, but it’s the actual note or card that sets you apart - big time. Think about it. You hang up the phone. You delete the email. But what do you do with the card? How many old greeting cards do you have around that you’ve saved – for whatever reason? There’s something about a heartfelt note or greeting card that makes a person feel special.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
When is it too late to say thank you? The answer is: Never
"The challenge these days seems to be in finding the time". Right - that's a poor excuse for inaction. Fortunately, I found a service that makes sending out cards quick, easy and painless. Jump on the website, choose a greeting card, personalize it and hit the send button. No running to the store, buying stamps and licking envelopes. The card is sent for you - for less than than you'd pay if you did it all yourself.
Check out their website and see for yourself. (And yes, this link is an affiliate link to my partner site)
Think about it - when was the last time you got a personal greeting card in the mailbox? When was the last time you had a handwritten card on your windshield, on your door, or even on your pillow? A little better than an email, eh?
Consider the example of Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mark Kay Cosmetics. She build a $1.2 billion cosmetics empire because she understood the importance of gratitude. Her personal philosophy, which she taught to her sales reps , was to send out three hand-written thank you notes every night before bed. This practice not only expressed her gratitude to the people she met and did business with, but also allowed her to maintain a positive attitude all day long as she sought out people to whom she’d send these thank you notes. Today Mary Kay Cosmetics has 1.5 million sales people in 32 countries. She knew how to harness the power of thank you.
Clearly sending notes and cards isn’t the only way to say thank you. But it just might be the best way.
A phone call is nice, an email does the trick, but it’s the actual note or card that sets you apart - big time. Think about it. You hang up the phone. You delete the email. But what do you do with the card? How many old greeting cards do you have around that you’ve saved – for whatever reason? There’s something about a heartfelt note or greeting card that makes a person feel special.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
When is it too late to say thank you? The answer is: Never
"The challenge these days seems to be in finding the time". Right - that's a poor excuse for inaction. Fortunately, I found a service that makes sending out cards quick, easy and painless. Jump on the website, choose a greeting card, personalize it and hit the send button. No running to the store, buying stamps and licking envelopes. The card is sent for you - for less than than you'd pay if you did it all yourself.
Check out their website and see for yourself. (And yes, this link is an affiliate link to my partner site)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Cruise toward Lean
NBI is offering a strictly limited number of seats to learn about Lean on a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea!
Check it out by Clicking Here
Norm www.normanbain.com
Check it out by Clicking Here
Norm www.normanbain.com
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Hansei and Paradigms
I enjoyed another interesting week as I introduced several new companies to the concepts of lean thinking. When I present these concepts, I like to begin by introducing paradigms. If time permits, I’ll introduce Joel Barkers film “The Business of Paradigms” … its such a powerful presentation. Paradigms are rules that we enforce upon ourselves that often block our ability to see alternative ways forward. I have caught myself doing this on many occasions – as recently as this past week!
I like to end these sessions by conducting a hansei. Hansei is a new concept to North Americans. Reflecting on events and giving group feedback to improve is uncomfortable and foreign. North Americans are more comfortable giving anonymous feedback using feedback forms and surveys. Inevitably, someone comments about the introduction of Japanese words, like hansei – “ why don’t you just say what you mean and use English words”. Jon Miller talks about that on his blog. Because this is such a foreign and uncomfortable concept, there is no simple English translation that does hansei justice. As uncomfortable as it is when started, the results of the hansei are powerful and immediate if acted upon. This single concept is perhaps the most fundamental and powerful in lean – reflecting and learning on what we did, saw, or heard. It is the Check in the PDCA cycle. I encourage my clients to adopt this concept at the end of every “formal” meeting. It can quickly transform the time together to become more effective and it teaches participants the art of reflection and providing feedback.
My presentations never contain a sales pitch (unless, of course, the presentation itself in its entirety is a sales pitch). Outside of one slide introducing who we are and what we do, I like to keep the content focussed on the subject matter. If participants need help with implementation, we can connect as a followup to the session. In one session, during the hansai, a participant commented that they liked the introduction to lean but got lost when I started talking about what I would do for the company as a consultant. The presentation included a segment on Hoshin Kanri – Strategy Deployment, and how this lean tool builds on the company values, mission and vision to become a powerful execution tool. Its interesting how narrow a view there is of lean. The concept of lean enterprise is in its infancy. Applying lean outside the shop floor (lean manufacturing), the office (lean office) or the design studio (lean product development) is not widely accepted. Using Hoshin Kanri, office Kaizen and a Lean Management System for leaders is still quite foreign. It goes beyond the current paradigm.
I’m now thinking about how I can adjust the presentation for better flow to transition from the basic fundamentals of lean thinking to more advanced concepts (like Hoshin Kanri and a Lean Daily Management System). Perhaps this is beyond a lean introduction. Perhaps I have not reflected enough on ways to make this improvement.
In either case, the hansei, reflection and continuous improvement is firmly engrained in my process.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
I like to end these sessions by conducting a hansei. Hansei is a new concept to North Americans. Reflecting on events and giving group feedback to improve is uncomfortable and foreign. North Americans are more comfortable giving anonymous feedback using feedback forms and surveys. Inevitably, someone comments about the introduction of Japanese words, like hansei – “ why don’t you just say what you mean and use English words”. Jon Miller talks about that on his blog. Because this is such a foreign and uncomfortable concept, there is no simple English translation that does hansei justice. As uncomfortable as it is when started, the results of the hansei are powerful and immediate if acted upon. This single concept is perhaps the most fundamental and powerful in lean – reflecting and learning on what we did, saw, or heard. It is the Check in the PDCA cycle. I encourage my clients to adopt this concept at the end of every “formal” meeting. It can quickly transform the time together to become more effective and it teaches participants the art of reflection and providing feedback.
My presentations never contain a sales pitch (unless, of course, the presentation itself in its entirety is a sales pitch). Outside of one slide introducing who we are and what we do, I like to keep the content focussed on the subject matter. If participants need help with implementation, we can connect as a followup to the session. In one session, during the hansai, a participant commented that they liked the introduction to lean but got lost when I started talking about what I would do for the company as a consultant. The presentation included a segment on Hoshin Kanri – Strategy Deployment, and how this lean tool builds on the company values, mission and vision to become a powerful execution tool. Its interesting how narrow a view there is of lean. The concept of lean enterprise is in its infancy. Applying lean outside the shop floor (lean manufacturing), the office (lean office) or the design studio (lean product development) is not widely accepted. Using Hoshin Kanri, office Kaizen and a Lean Management System for leaders is still quite foreign. It goes beyond the current paradigm.
I’m now thinking about how I can adjust the presentation for better flow to transition from the basic fundamentals of lean thinking to more advanced concepts (like Hoshin Kanri and a Lean Daily Management System). Perhaps this is beyond a lean introduction. Perhaps I have not reflected enough on ways to make this improvement.
In either case, the hansei, reflection and continuous improvement is firmly engrained in my process.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Monday, January 11, 2010
Lean Tools Crossword
Looking for a diversion? Need some training tools?
Try our Lean Tools Crossword.
Just print it out and have some fun!
http://leanjourney.ca/LeanCrosswordPuzzle.htm
For those who get frustrated, we've provided a link to the solution.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Try our Lean Tools Crossword.
Just print it out and have some fun!
http://leanjourney.ca/LeanCrosswordPuzzle.htm
For those who get frustrated, we've provided a link to the solution.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Friday, January 8, 2010
Find a systems thinker for your organization
In most industries, leaders put up barriers when they see someone from outside their industry looking in. Whether hiring workers, consultants, trainers, managers or engineers, they put the blinders on and look for someone who has done that particular job before.
When thinking lean, we explore how we do the work. We break tasks out to discover what skills are required, what equipment is required, what tools are required, what material is required, what information is required. We look at how all of this fits together to create flow. Where we can’t flow, we introduce pull. We level out the work and install visual queues to see where the problems are. We engage people in fixing the system.
In doing all of this, it does not matter if he are building cars, treating patients, making ice cream, digging coal, making paper, designing spaceships, building skyscrapers or making vaccine.
Every task in any business can be broken down into a system. Lean thinking is applied to the system. We work on how we do the work and eliminate waste in the process. Lean is all about continuously improving the system to deliver customer value.
More companies should realize that while they are “unique” in what they do, they are simply using systems and processes to create value for the customer. Hiring someone who has a systems background and understands lean thinking can be a huge asset to any organization. Put these people to work!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
When thinking lean, we explore how we do the work. We break tasks out to discover what skills are required, what equipment is required, what tools are required, what material is required, what information is required. We look at how all of this fits together to create flow. Where we can’t flow, we introduce pull. We level out the work and install visual queues to see where the problems are. We engage people in fixing the system.
In doing all of this, it does not matter if he are building cars, treating patients, making ice cream, digging coal, making paper, designing spaceships, building skyscrapers or making vaccine.
Every task in any business can be broken down into a system. Lean thinking is applied to the system. We work on how we do the work and eliminate waste in the process. Lean is all about continuously improving the system to deliver customer value.
More companies should realize that while they are “unique” in what they do, they are simply using systems and processes to create value for the customer. Hiring someone who has a systems background and understands lean thinking can be a huge asset to any organization. Put these people to work!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
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