Lean Thinking

What is the starting point of becoming lean?

The starting point is to acquire a completely new perception of what is value, and what is waste. I don't like the word waste because it is not horrible enough. I use the Japanese word muda. Muda sounds awful. You don't want muda. You need to acquire a new set of glasses-I call them muda glasses-that allows you to see all the way.


Daniel T. Jones, Author of the book, Lean Thinking,1996

In an interview published in Business Today (India), December 7-21, 1997, p.98.

Partial correction of Taylorist separation of roles in the factory

Modifications are made to standard operations and the 'Work standard sheet' and such modifications are mostly made within the organization of the shopfloor. The routine process for modifying the 'Work standard sheet' at shopfloor level in Japanese companies is the submission of a kaizen proposal by members of the shopfloor work-group, followed by revision of the formal document on the basis of that proposal. Taking this process into account, Fujimoto maintains that kaizen in Japan involves the development of industrial engineering techniques in a bottom-up manner, with the participation of all of the company's employees, and he therefore terms the techniques used in Japanese companies 'whole-company industrial engineering' (Fujimoto, 2001: 149-152).

Fujimoto, T. (2001) Seisan Manegimento Nyumon I (Production Management I), Tokyo: Nihonkeizai Shinbunsha.



Japanese Production Management and Improvements in Standard Operations: Taylorism, Corrected Taylorism, or Otherwise?
Yutaka Tamura. Asian Business & Management. Houndmills: Dec 2006. Vol. 5, Iss. 4; pg. 507

Yutaka Tamura : School of Business Administration, Tohogakuen University, 3-11, Heiwagaoka, Meito-Ku, Nagoya 465-8515, Japan. E-mail: tamura@nagoya-toho.ac.jp


I have to mention at this point that Taylor in his Shop Management has clearly written that worker'suggestions have to be considered during the standard process development as well as afterwards. I shall give the reference for this statement.

KVSSNRAO

Case Study HBR October 2006

What Serves the Customer Best?
By: Nunes, Paul F., Driggs, Woodruff W., Harman, David, Rayport, Jeffrey F., Dull, Stephen, Scafido, Joe,
Harvard Business Review,
October 2006, Vol. 84, Issue 10

Glenmeadie is investing heavily in the front end of its business, enhancing its interactions with customers. But that's drawing resources away from the product innovation that might keep them happy in the long run

Operations - HBR 2006

Operations
Breaking the Trade-Off Between Efficiency and Service
Frances X. Frei
November
Reprint R0611E ♦ OnPoint 1498;
OnPoint collection "Serve Your
Customers-Efficiently and
Profitably" 1500

HBR Case Study: Eliminate the Middleman?
Ming-Hui Huang
With commentary by Bruce K. Riggs,
Barry C. Lynn, Wang Dongsheng, and
Paul Gaffney
March
Reprint R0603A, Reprint Case
only R0603X, Reprint
Commentary only R0603Z

Smarter Offshoring
Diana Farrell
June
Reprint R0606E

Winning in the Aftermarket
Morris A. Cohen, Narendra
Agrawal, and Vipul Agrawal
May
Reprint R0605H ♦ OnPoint 4311

Process and Enterprise Maturity Model

The Process Audit.
By: Hammer, Michael,
Harvard Business Review,
Apr 2007, Vol. 85, Issue 4


Redesigning work as business processes that run from end to end across an enterprise leads to radical improvements in performance, but it is terribly tough to manage.

A new framework, based on extensive research and tested by a consortium of large companies, helps executives plan process-based transformations, track their progress, and identify roadblocks.

The framework, called the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM), centers on five characteristics that enable any process to perform well on a sustained basis and four enterprise capabilities that allow processes to take root in organizations.

Michael Hammer (michael_hammer@hammerandco.com) is the founder of Hammer and Company, a management research and education firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

What is Five S?

The Five S program focuses on having visual order, organization, cleanliness and standardization.

The results you can expect from a Five S program are: improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

The principles underlying a Five S program at first appear to be simple, obvious common sense. And they are. But until the advent of Five S programs many businesses ignored these basic principles.



What types of businesses benefit from a Five S program?
Everyone and all types of business benefit from having a Five S program.

Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the business that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant -- from hospitals to television stations -- all types of businesses, and all areas within a business, will realize benefits from implementing a Five S program.



What are the Five S's?


Sort - the first step in making things cleaned up and organized

Set In Order - organize, identify and arrange everything in a work area

Shine - regular cleaning and maintenance

Standardize - make it easy to maintain - simplify and standardize

Sustain -maintaining what has been accomplished


Steve Hudgik
http://www.graphicproducts.com/tutorials/five-s/index.php