lean manufacturing

Seven Tips For Being An Effective Lean Leader

Posted on by Adam Payne

Lean Leadership

Lean is about creating a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone—from the CEO to the cleaner—is working together to eliminate waste, cut costs, and improve quality.

Lean is based on a number principles that can be applied at every level. These principles include:

  • Eliminate waste through value stream mapping, one-piece flow and standardised work
  • Reduce cycle time by visualising how things are currently done
  • Standardize everything possible, from processes to parts and equipment used
  • Create pull systems to avoid overproduction (Make-to-Stock vs Make-to-Order)
  • Build Quality In by eliminating defects through prevention instead of inspection (Poka Yoke)
  • Sustain Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)

Focusing on value is your first priority.

The Kaizen Mindset

A kaizen mindset is the basis for lean leadership and practice, which doesn’t always mean continuous improvement.

The idea of continuous improvement is a common misconception. Continuous improvement means that you are constantly trying to improve your processes and products, but it doesn’t mean that you are always making an improvement.

Some people think that they need to be perfect before they can consider themselves “lean” or “continuous improvement leaders.” In reality, lean leadership is about being better than yesterday—and that requires a kaizen mindset.

When you have a kaizen mindset, you’re constantly scanning what’s going on around you, looking for ways to improve: “What can I do right now? What can I do better tomorrow?” It’s not just about coming up with new ideas or projects; it’s also about recognising when something isn’t working as well as it could be and taking steps to get to the root cause and fix it, not just putting a plaster over it!

Leading From The Front, Not The Rear

The traditional command-and-control method of management does not fit within the lean philosophy, but some leaders still struggle to let go of traditional power structures and control mechanisms that don’t serve their people or the organisation very well in today’s working environment.

Some leaders are so accustomed to being the only ones who have access to all the information, they find it difficult to accept that there are times when they need to consult others.

Other leaders are not used to being challenged, so when someone does challenge them, they feel threatened and react poorly, which creates conflict instead of innovation.

Lean leaders know that the only way to truly achieve what they want is by empowering their employees—and by extension, their customers. This also means that you have to empower yourself so that you can lead others effectively.

Identifying Customer Needs For Improved Lean Leadership

Identifying who your customers are and what they value is necessary when you engage in lean and continuous improvement activities.

A good place to start is with a customer-value analysis or voice-of-the-customer. This will help you identify the features and functions that customers truly value, as well as the characteristics that differentiate your product from competitors. In addition to evaluating the needs of current customers, identify potential new customer segments by identifying needs not currently being met by competitors.

Once you have identified certain key features of your product or service, list them in priority order for each of these segments. Then prioritize these features across all segments and compare results—this will allow you to identify potential opportunities for improvement and make sure nothing is left out of your plan.

If possible, involve others from different departments in this process so they can also provide input on how they would rank these factors.

Critical Thinking: Learn To Eliminate Your Problems Forever

It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind, and it’s tempting to just focus on what’s right in front of you—especially when there are so many other pressing matters that need attention.

The biggest difference between lean leadership and traditional management is that lean leadership is focused on long-term solutions, while traditional management is focused on short-term results. This means that lean leaders don’t just focus on solving a problem temporarily, but rather they seek out ways to prevent the problem from ever coming up again. This is done by finding the root causes of problems and eliminating them permanently.

It may sound simple, but truly engaging in kaizen requires critical thinking and effort to see past the obvious problems, and focus on the root causes to find long-term solutions that eliminate waste forever.

Kaizen is about eliminating waste wherever it exists, not only in physical processes but also in organisational culture and structure. This means that leaders need to create an environment where employees feel safe expressing themselves freely without fear of reprisal or judgment from management (even if those judgments are well-intentioned).

How The Kaizen Mindset Helps With Business Collaboration

The kaizen mindset is centred on solving problems collaboratively as needed, so no single individual or team plays a more prominent role than others do in generating ideas for improvements.

The Lean Leadership approach is based on the principle that everyone has the ability to improve their own work processes and contribute to business success. This means that leaders at all levels need to be ready to take responsibility for their roles in improving business performance while also encouraging employees to take ownership of their own areas of focus.

Leaders need to realise that by creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing ideas, everyone shares in the responsibility of being able to improve business performance. A key component of this process is creating a culture where employees feel safe sharing their thoughts and ideas without fear of reprisal or negative consequences.

The kaizen mindset is centred on solving problems collaboratively as needed, so no single individual or team plays a more prominent role than others do in generating ideas for improvements that are then implemented for better performance.

How Self-Aware Lean Leaders Succeed

The most effective lean leaders are those who understand themselves exceptionally well. They know their strengths, weaknesses and passions, and they use that knowledge to their advantage.

When you’re a leader, it’s important to be able to balance your own personal needs with the needs of your team. The best lean leaders do this by taking time to reflect on how they personally feel about a particular issue before acting on it.

In addition, they work hard to understand each individual member of their team so they can provide them with an environment that is conducive to success.

Additionally, check out our sister company New Way Growth and their ‘Helping Managers to Lead and Succeed‘ programme.

How To Cut Waste And Increase Productivity By Implementing Lean Manufacturing

Posted on by Adam Payne

Lean Manufacturing is a culture and a strategy. It’s a way of doing things that helps companies improve efficiency, quality, and flexibility. It’s not just about tools and processes—it’s about people, too.

Lean Manufacturing is all about making things more efficient. It focuses on eliminating waste and finding ways to streamline workflows so that the company can produce more with less time and money.

Create a Lean Manufacturing culture

A Lean Manufacturing culture is an environment where people are taking responsibility for their own improvement, the improvement of processes and products, and the overall improvement of the company. It’s a culture built on trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.

In order to create this culture, it’s important to give employees the freedom to make decisions about how they do their job and then hold them accountable for those decisions. This can be tricky if you’re not sure what your employees’ strengths are or how they work best. But one way to develop this understanding is by asking questions like: “What’s been most helpful in improving your efficiency?” or “What practices have helped you achieve your goals?”

Once you’ve identified some of these practices, try them out on other employees! Make sure they’re working before adopting them as official company policy though—you don’t want anyone feeling like they’re being punished just because they weren’t included in testing new ideas before implementation!

Have the Upper Management Lead by Example

Lean is a powerful strategy, but it’s not something that can be implemented overnight. In order to make the most of your Lean efforts and get the most out of your employees, it’s important to have upper management lead by example.

Upper management should be actively engaged in the process of implementing Lean, from the beginning to end. They should also be involved in training new employees on Lean’s principles and ensuring that everyone is working together toward common goals. This will help employees understand how important their role is in helping you achieve those goals, which will increase their sense of ownership over their work.

Upper management should also be willing to let go of their preconceived notions about how things should be done in favour of allowing employees more freedom when it comes time to make decisions about how tasks should be completed.

Train your Team on Lean Basics

One of the best ways to get your team on board with Lean is to train them on the basics.

The Lean principles are not complicated, but they can be difficult to understand if you’re new to the concept. You should prepare your team by giving them a solid understanding of what Lean is and why it’s important before you start putting it into practice.

If your team doesn’t have a clear understanding of the principles, they will have trouble implementing them into their day-to-day work. If, for example, if you try to reduce waste without first explaining what waste is and why it needs to be reduced, then you’ll find that the effort isn’t effective or sustainable.

This is especially true when it comes to engaging your employees in Lean initiatives: if they don’t understand why they should participate in these efforts and how they’ll benefit from doing so, then they won’t be motivated enough to participate fully or consistently.

Value Stream Map – Study the Current Process

The first step in implementing Lean is to study the current process. This will help you identify areas of improvement and determine whether or not you are ready for the changes that will be necessary to make this happen. You can do this by performing a value stream map, which is a visual representation of your workflow.

The process should be broken down into steps. You want to look at each step and ask yourself what can be done to improve it, and how this change might affect other parts of the process as well. It is important to consider how each step impacts other steps, so you can look at all aspects of your operations and make sure that they are working together effectively.

Look for Waste and Remove It (Muda – Waste, Mura – Unevenness, Muri – Overburden)

You can define waste as anything that detracts from the value of a product or service you’re producing from your customers’ point of view. Waste can take many forms, such as overproduction, unnecessary resources, and more. These things need to be eliminated so that organisations aren’t creating products or services that don’t add value.

Muda is any kind of wasted motion, such as unnecessary steps in a process or unnecessary travel between locations. Mura refers to unevenness in the production line—it means one part of the process might be operating at peak efficiency while another part is idle or struggling just to keep up. Muri refers to overburdening people with too much work—this is often seen when you have an employee working alone on a task that should be split between two or more people to match customer demand (TAKT).

Map out the Main Bottlenecks

The main bottlenecks in a process are the aspects of the system that are limiting its throughput.

In order to identify these, you’ll need to first look at or build your Value Stream Map or Process Map and identify where there are bottlenecks. Then, you can work on fixing them by identifying what’s causing the bottleneck and finding ways to remove it. This may involve making changes like adjusting how people work together, reducing change-over times, increasing the Overall Equipment Effectiveness or changing how tasks are assigned (e.g., having workers perform different parts of a task).

Once you’ve identified where your bottlenecks are, you can start working on removing them.

Standardise Everything

This means that you need to define what “standard” means, and then make sure all employees are aware of it and trained to it. Standardising your processes gives consistency in how your team members perform their tasks. 

For example, if you’re a software company and you’re trying to improve efficiency by standardising on coding practices, then every employee should know which practices are allowed and which are not allowed.

You should also standardise your equipment and tools. If multiple employees use the same equipment or tool, everyone should use it in the same way every time.

If your company has multiple locations, then standardising everything is even more important because it helps create consistency between locations. If everyone knows what standards they need to meet at each location, then they’ll be able to work together better across locations knowing the desired quality will always be met.

Develop a Continuous Improvement Mentality

Implementing lean means shifting your focus from your business’s outputs to its inputs. But if you’re going to do that, you need to first develop a continuous improvement mentality.

To do this, you have to be willing to adopt an attitude of continuous improvement and continuous learning. You need to be constantly looking for ways that you can improve how things are done in your office or factory and how they contribute to the overall success of your business.

You also need to be willing to consider new ideas, because one of the main tenets of lean is that there are no bad ideas—only challenges in implementation. If someone suggests something new or comes up with a way of doing something differently, try it out! Even if it doesn’t work right away, you may learn something valuable about how something works or doesn’t work within your organisation.

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Continuous Improvement: The Simple Philosophy That Can Help Your Business Thrive

Posted on by Adam Payne

Continuous Improvement, The 1% rule, or Marginal Gains, whatever terminology you want to call it, they are all similar in philosophy and application. It is the idea of focusing on small incremental improvements to grow your business easily. The most successful businesses are always striving to improve to stay ahead of their competition.

In this blog I’ll explain how the philosophy of small incremental improvements can improve your business. This is a technique that many successful companies use in addition to Lean Thinking – a company’s philosophy of eliminating waste. It has been used for decades and can be found in micro businesses right through to corporate business models across industry and service sectors.

I’ve been a lean Sensei for 25+ years and implemented these small incremental changes in Hairdressers to Big Corporate Manufacturers. By implementing these marginal gains, it’s possible to make a huge impact on the performance of your company in a relatively short period of time. It’s Simple! and the data has proven time and time again that this method works!

You CAN NOT ignore the role of Continuous Improvement in business – and here’s why.

What is Continuous Improvement?

“Be Better Today Than You Were Yesterday, Plan To Be Better Tomorrow Than You Are Today” is a quote I have lived by for 25+ years of my working career.

The 1% Rule is a relatively new contender but has now become a business management philosophy that states that you should focus on improving your product or service by at least 1% every day. It was developed by Sir Dave Brailsford, former performance director of British Cycling, and used as a means to achieve micro improvement in the British Cycling Team. The concept behind the 1% rule is simple: if you focus on small improvements, you can achieve significant results over time.

The concept of the 1% rule in my opinion is based on Kaizen, which is Japanese for “continuous improvement.” Kaizen was first introduced to the Western World in the 1970s by Toyota, who taught that companies should embrace a culture of continuous improvement rather than trying to maximise efficiency one big hit at a time. Kaizen aims to reduce inefficiency in its 3 major forms. These are muda (waste), muri (overburdening work), and mura (inconsistency of work).

When we look at these strategies, we can see how the power of tiny gains really makes a difference.

1% Improvement Every Day 1.01365 = 37.78%

1% Decline Every Day 0.99365 = 0.03%

How does the Continuous Improvement work in business?

The PDCA Cycle, also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle, is a model for continuous improvement that uses four phases to drive process changes through the organisation. This linked to the 3 forms of in-efficiency, muda (waste), muri (overburdening work), and mura (inconsistency of work) gives a superb structure and focus for all employees.

The PDCA Cycle Explained:

Plan: In this phase, you identify a problem or opportunity for improvement. You also create a plan for how to solve the problem or capitalise on the opportunity.

Do: In this phase, you carry out your plan and implement your solution.

Check: In this phase, you review your work to see if it was successful in achieving its objectives and if there are any unintended consequences of your actions.

Act: In this phase, you make adjustments based on what you learned in the check phase and continue with another iteration of the cycle to drive continuous improvement.

By continuously improving your processes, your organisation can achieve higher levels of performance at lower cost. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also helps an organisation achieve its goals faster.

The key to this and building on the marginal gains is to empower everyone to make these short, sharp improvement cycles small enough to be managed at a local level. This will enable them to use their creativity and judgment to find the most effective solution for their teams and customers.

The second aspect of this is that the improvements have to be visible and celebrated. This is not just about being proud of what you have achieved, but also about helping others see what you have done. This creates an environment where people are constantly looking for new ways to improve, which in turn leads to innovation.

The third aspect is that it has to be built into every process in a business. You cannot expect people just to do it because you asked them to – they need processes that encourage continuous improvement across everything they do from how they order stock through the distribution system all the way through customer support.

Why use the Continuous Improvement?

Continuous improvement is a process that can be used in every business setting of all sizes and all sectors, from small businesses to large corporations.

It’s Good for Business

The benefits of continuous improvement can be seen throughout the business world. By using this approach, companies are able to stay competitive while providing better quality products and services at lower prices. This helps them grow their customer base while increasing their profit margin through increased sales volume.

It’s Good for Employees

Continuous improvement is also good for employees because it provides them with job security. If you have implemented a continuous improvement program in your company, then you have created an environment where everyone is constantly making improvements which makes your company more competitive in the marketplace and less likely to be outsourced in favour of cheaper labour costs elsewhere.

  • People feel empowered because they have more opportunities for growth and development.
  • Employees feel more engaged because they feel like their work matters and makes a difference.
  • The company attracts better talent because employees want to work for companies that are doing great things for their customers.

Does Continuous Improvement really work?

Yes! Continuous Improvement absolutely works!

I’ve implemented and completed Lean Thinking and Continuous Improvement Projects in 100+ businesses over my career and have no doubt on the impact it can make.

On my very first project back in the 1990’s we took a machine change over from 480 mins to sub 20 mins, saving a £250K capital expenditure. As Senior Exec I’ve saved £10m+ year on year through the implementation of Continuous Improvement. I’ve seen every employee within a business take pride in completing numerous small incremental changes that compound in delivering a huge result.

In order to achieve these results, you need to be prepared to put in the work. It’s not an overnight process—it takes patience as well as an unwavering commitment to creating positive change at every level of your organisation. But once you’ve seen the first results, you’ll find it’s worth every minute invested!

You’ve only got to read some of our Case Studies to realise the potential.

Takeaway: Challenging yourself and your employees to make small improvements every day can have a dramatic effect on your overall business growth.

Manufacturing and The Internet of Things

Posted on by Adam Payne

The Internet of Things – IoT (Wikipedia) is the network of physical objects or “things” embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data.

The IoT has created a lot of conversations, some stating it’s all hype, some questioning it’s benefits more of something for the future and obviously the ones in support.

Now let’s not pretend here, the IoT is already here, we have smart houses, apps for lights, heating, music, etc. Recently, my neighbours installed a security system which allowed them to view, check, and switch their alarm on and off accessed from internet, this also alerted him to security issues around the property (the most important aspect). So we can’t say it’s not here already.

Now put this into the manufacturing environment.

Some renowned manufacturers have already started investing in hardware, software, and networking systems. Build the IoT infrastructure now to capitalise on its benefits.

I read in an article recently that GE anticipates $19 trillion in profits and cost savings projected over the next decade.

One major area I can see the benefit is Energy Efficiency. To be able to track all facilities, machines energy consumption on a granular level, this visibility will give feedback on a machines abnormal to normal status, something that we can action, countermeasure, control. It will highlight our waste, our areas for improvement, and better understanding of our costs and how to control them. And as stated this has to be a major benefit for manufacturing, something I certainly wanted as an Exec.

The ability to benchmark similar machines/resources, predict maintenance issues with surges in unusual energy consumption, highlighting the out of hours energy waste and being able to control and manage this. All of these will have a direct impact on the bottom line and this is just scratching the service.

The connectivity within production processes is another example, let’s say a machine is not running at optimal performance, this machine would send an alarm highlighting it’s situation to the production team, it could then slow itself down (as not to self-destruct) communicate with its upstream and downstream processes and slow them down limiting the amount of lost production and or downtime and controlling the standard in process stock.

Bosch’s Stefan Ferber stated “The Internet of Things allows for a new way of organising industry production: by connecting machines, warehousing systems and goods, we can create smart production systems that basically control each other without requiring any manual intervention.”

I will always remember the saying “ the Data will set you free” by allowing you to make “Informed Decisions”, can’t get much better than real time data, and that’s the possibility with IoT.

The Internet of Things global economic impact is massive. Approx. 25% of Global Manufacturers are already using IoT technology, this is expected to grow to 80% by 2025. In reading different articles/surveys most cannot put a definitive figure on the potential impact but the range is between $1.9 to $14.4 trillion dollars on the global economy.

Digital Manufacturing Stats from ASQ:

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) surveyed manufacturing companies that have digitised their processes and found astounding results:

  • 82% increased efficiency
  • 49% experienced fewer product defects
  • 45% increased customer satisfaction

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Why you should do this when looking at Business Performance

Posted on by Adam Payne

Raising Performance is always a challenge (many a sleepless night) but it’s not just about getting it right in your manufacturing processes, it’s about looking at your business as a whole.

Recently, we were asked to support a £40m turnover company with an objective to reduce costs.

Now, although Reducing Costs (and in particular eliminating waste) is an excellent focus, you can sometime lose sight of what other advantages/opportunities there may be, new market opportunities, sales optimisation, finance, etc.

During our detailed business diagnostic, it became apparent that there were some fantastic opportunities to be realised with particular projects on Increasing Growth and Efficiency Savings.

With TCMUK’s Business Practitioners coaching and mentoring our customers internal team, a total of £700K+ efficiency savings, £1M in cash flow improvement and a 17% growth opportunity have been realised so far within the business, with further projects being highlighted for implementation over the next 2/3 years.

So remember, step back and look at the whole business not just the usual suspects (this goes for any size organisation) and you’ll be confident (and hopefully sleeping) knowing you are focused on the right things.

And don’t forget, if getting results like this is on your agenda and you’re looking for some sector expertise, call on 0330 311 2820

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Re-Thinking Being Lean?????

Posted on by Adam Payne

I’ve recently read articles on Lean Manufacturing and in particular how certain businesses have been re-thinking the implementation of Lean.

Now for a bit of background on the articles. All of the business Leaders that started the implementation had been replaced and within 6 months of them being replaced the new Leader had decided to drop the programme. Now most of the stakeholder’s state that their objective is to address the challenges to delivering high-value to the customer, mmmmmm I wonder? By agreeing to drop a programme of business improvement?

Yes, lean takes time, yes lean utilises the front-line workers, yes you have to manage it and believe in it, but Lean is a long term strategy, a set of principles on how you do business, your business DNA. I wonder sometimes with the drive for instant results in a short space of time, particularly from stakeholders, the impatience for money, dividends, investors ultimately see the Leader that introduced the programme removed. This leads me to believe that stakeholders/leaders are either, ignorant, arrogant, none the wiser or have their own interest at heart, on what long term strategy and Implementation actually and physically means. I have been told about the removal of 11 Operations Managers over a 18 month period due to perceived lack of results, you cannot be that wrong in your recruitment process (or perhaps you can but that’s a separate discussion), so leads me to believe it’s the level above that’s the issue.

Now don’t get me wrong, if your haemorrhaging money within operations due to scrap or process variation don’t go and implement a 5S programme. Instead stop the haemorrhaging by attacking the root causes for variation and scrap, get controllable and predictable outputs. 5S may be part of the implementation but it’s not the saviour.

I worked in a number of businesses in my career and still see the same issues regarding short term results oriented thinking that has cost millions (and yes I mean millions in some cases). When I actually know that had the Lean Initiative programme, Operational Excellence, etc. been executed and maintained when it started, those losses wouldn’t have appeared and would have been quite the opposite.

Cost cutting is often a major reason for ditching the latest programme, and Leaders think that through the force of their personality or financial acumen that they are going to be able to fix the business without the aid of every employee in the business, how foolish are they??????

Any Improvement Programme is not going to be easy, but the benefits are massive for everyone, it takes time but ‘time’ is not a reason not to try.

What did make me smile was one of the businesses new Leaders justified the termination of the programme due to that fact that the frontline workers were involved, but in involving them had potentially reduced turnover times by 6.5 mins which equated into £410000/year of increased revenue.

Lean Manufacturing, business Improvement, whatever you call it, is not a short term strategy, but that’s not a reason not to pursue it.

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The Productivity Puzzle and Lean

Posted on by Adam Payne

I’ve never been one to shout about Lean, Six Sigma or Theory of Constraints, to individuals to solve a solution. I personally have though, applied the tools and techniques to resolve a situation or gain an opportunity I have faced. Granted, it’s not just about the application of tools and techniques, it’s equally important to focus on People, Culture and Managing Change within today’s organisations and society. Every single person has touched or been a part of a Lean process, within our everyday life from grocery shopping to our work we will have been in contact with lean in motion.

The interesting thing I have noticed recently are the articles beginning to appear regarding “is Lean at a crossroads?” and “How Lean is perceived today” particularly in the UK (but perhaps globally). An article by Morpheus Group stated “Businesses are taking a much more pragmatic approach, using a blend of tools….with very few businesses labeling their Corporate Programmes as Lean”.

It does seem that Lean and other Japanese terms associated with it are perceived a risk to alienating the workforce. I wonder why? Are we that uncomfortable with something that is not invented by us?? Are we hiding behind the terms as an excuse not to change??? (There is no doubting it is hard to implement and sustain, but that should never be an excuse). When I personally think about these questions it’s never been about the wording (don’t get me wrong I do cringe with some of them) but it’s about the application, execution/implementation that is key and the right behaviours that drive it so that we can benefit from it.

Businesses are placing a lot of importance on Strategic Cost Saving and Quality. This is absolutely fundamental in “Change” for any business. Strategy and Performance Management, Policy Deployment, Hoshin Kanri, whatever you choose to call it, is the back bone of your business, it is how you do business.

I believe Business Improvement is more important today than it ever has been with the globalisation of markets. What is it that gives us the competitive edge? In particular UK Productivity remains below pre-recession levels. I have been in discussion groups where an estimated 40% of productivity is lost through non value added activities, an estimated £3 Billion cost. Something Lean, Six Sigma, TOC can certainly impact.

This debate will carry on and involves so much from skills, impact on society, etc., etc.

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Manage Time as a Resource

Posted on by Adam Payne

If your managing time in all sectors of the business, from Sales, Product Development and Production it will result in shorter planning and development cycles, as well as less process time in manufacturing.

Whether you’re a manufacturer making computer components, tin cans, widgets or an individual working in a purchasing department producing orders, reports, or budgets you are still producing an output, an output that someone wants.

We all have our processes (inputs) and transform them into something someone wants (outputs).

Time is the key element to control within our processes, for this we use standard work.

The establishment of time based standardised processes is the greatest key to creating consistent performance. Only when the process is stable you can begin the creative process of improvement.

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Improving Performance – Engineering Company Case Study

Posted on by Adam Payne

Increased Delivery, Increased Sales

**No images or Business Name as Customer NDA in place**

Opportunity

This Private Equity owned business was under performing against budget. Particular attention was required within the operational areas with Productivity and On Time Delivery drifting.

The Managing Director required a system to: communicate the strategy, allocate resources, focus and align actions, and control business drift. He wanted to ensure that all key improvement activities had ownership, responsibility, accountability and the relevant training and practitioner support required to increase overall company performance.

Improvement

Working with the Managing Director & Executive Team the decision of implementing Strategy Deployment and A3 Problem Solving was agreed along with hands-on project execution support.

Training was given to all Management and Leaders in what Policy Deployment and A3 Problem Solving is, what benefits and how the process should be structured to enable execution of the business objectives. Key fundamentals were as follows:

  • Identify the few, long term breakthrough objectives that are critical to long term success of the company.
  • Link these objectives with specific action plans throughout the organisation.
  • Focus and align the company’s internal organisations to achieve these long-term objectives.
  • Turn the strategic plan into a year – over – year action plan.
  • Coaches and Mentors others

Workshops were held to ascertain the critical improvement activities to be focused on within the business. Training and Coaching was given to the owners of each A3 Plan on how to manage and communicate through the A3 process. Guidance and training to understand background, current state, problem definition, analysis, actions and follow up.

Management Control Rooms were introduced with regular performance reviews held with all owners and stakeholders present. Ongoing coaching and mentoring in Management Behaviour for the process along with business improvement training and our Lean Coaching Programme to ensure execution and sustainability. Operational Excellence and Process Optimisation workshops/projects were completed covering Sales, Purchasing & Logistics, Operations and Planning.

The company significantly impacted it’s financial position over a 9 month period,

  • Increasing Sales by 20%
  • Delivery by 33%
  • Efficiency by 28%.

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The 7 Wastes: Unseen Thieves in Your Business

Posted on by Adam Payne

In the world of lean manufacturing, ‘The 7 Wastes’ are infamous for their stealthy operations, silently chipping away at profits and productivity. These wastes fly under the radar, often going unnoticed by even the most astute professionals. Yet, if left unchecked, they can cripple an organisation’s ability to remain competitive and responsive to customer demands.

The Infamous Seven: TIMWOOD

Meet the hidden culprits named TIMWOOD, an acronym that represents the seven wastes in manufacturing:

7 Wastes Infographic

Transport (Unnecessary Movement of Materials)

The unnecessary movement of materials from one place to another is often the result of poor shop layout or a disjointed process flow. This waste can lead to an increase in handling which may cause damage or loss of materials, delays, and added labour costs. Eliminating this waste requires a streamlined approach to layout design and process flow optimisation.

Inventory (Excess Products and Materials)

Excess inventory is a common issue where production outpaces demand, leading to tied-up capital, storage costs, potential obsolescence, and increased risk of damage or loss. Inventory levels should be scrutinised, and techniques such as Just-in-Time (JIT) production and demand-driven planning should be considered for improvement.

Motion (Unnecessary Movement by People)

Similar to Transport, Motion refers to any movement by employees that does not add value to the product. This can range from reaching for tools to walking between workstations. Reducing unnecessary motion is integral to improving ergonomic conditions and efficiency. This reduction can be achieved by redesigning workspaces to minimise reach and travel distance and by standardising work procedures.

Waiting (Idle Time)

When employees or machines are idly waiting for the next step in production, this represents a significant waste of time and resources. This can be due to poor workflow, machine breakdowns, or bottlenecks. Tackling this waste involves a thorough analysis of processes to synchronise work steps and to ensure a continuous flow.

Overproduction (Producing More Than Needed)

Manufacturing items before they are actually required or in quantities exceeding customer demand results in overproduction – the root of many other wastes. This can lead to excessive inventory and increased holding costs. To nip overproduction in the bud, implement pull systems based on real customer demand.

Over-Processing (More Work Than Required)

Over-processing is seen when more work is done on a product than what is valued by the customer. This waste occurs due to unclear customer specifications or internal miscommunication. Reducing over-processing demands a clear understanding of what the customer values and aligning the production process to those standards.

Defects (Production that Requires Rework)

Defects and the need for rework can be the most apparent and costly form of waste. They lead to wasted materials, labour, and time, not to mention the potential to harm a business’s reputation. A culture focused on quality—like adopting Six Sigma or Total Quality Management (TQM)—can significantly curtail the occurrence of defects.

Identification and Elimination Strategy

Recognising ‘The 7 Wastes’ is the first step to effective lean management. It’s essential to develop a keen eye for these wastes and instil this perspective across all levels of the organisation. This is not a “once in a blue moon” activity but a regular practice that should be embedded into the daily routine. Regular audits, employee training, and a culture that promotes continuous improvement are key factors for success.

To embed this practice, create a system of visible metrics and feedback loops. This promotes responsibility and awareness amongst teams. Engage employees in problem-solving and encourage them to take ownership of their workspaces, suggest changes, and implement improvements.

7 Wastes within a process

Continuous Improvement: The Lean Way

To enter into a sustainable cycle of continuous improvement, adopt the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology. Regularly plan improvements, do them in controlled conditions, check the outcomes, and act to standardise and stabilise the improvements.

Key Takeaways

Employing strategies to eliminate the wastes identified by TIMWOOD ensures a company’s ability to thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, providing employee education, and implementing systems that promote efficiency, companies can not only identify waste but turn it into opportunity – for growth, for innovation, and for delivering value to customers that rivals cannot match.

If you need help applying these principles and taking practical steps towards eliminating waste, our team at TCMUK Limited is equipped to guide you through the process. The impact of addressing ‘The 7 Wastes’ can be profound. Call us at 0330 311 2820 or email info@tcmuklimited.co.uk to unlock the full potential of lean in your operation.

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