Gemba Tales   ™

Lean stories, lessons and reflections

Posts Tagged daily kaizen

The Best or Nothing

Aug 10

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | No Comments

I just contributed a guest post of the same title to Christian Paulsen’s Lean Leadership blog. Please visit his site to read my full post and to take in some of Chris’ excellent lean content. Chris shared some of his insight with us a while back in his Gemba Tales guest post, 5 Reasons You Need to Do a DMAIC.

______________________________________

Recently, Mercedes Benz introduced a new brand claim. You may have seen it on TV or in print. It uses a direct quote from founding father Gottlieb Daimler, “The best or nothing.”

It sounds cool. Not that I’m ready to shell out a boat-load of money for a sexy new car. But, it clearly gets across that the Mercedes guys are uncompromising.

As a top executive from Mercedes Benz put it, “For us, [it] means we want to deliver the very best in all areas – be that in research and development, production, sales, service and aftermarket business or in purchasing.”

I have a hard time arguing with that. I know what they mean. It’s a powerful and noble principle.

And yet, the words grate on my (hopefully) lean thinking mind.

 

…The figure below summarizes much of my thinking on this subject, while my full post can be found here.

 

click to enlarge

 

Other Hamel guest posts: “Do” Only Gets You Half the Way There, or…“No Pie for You!” (on Mark Graban’s Lean Blog), Subsidiarity: A (Medieval) Lean Principle (on Ron Pereira’s LSS Academy Blog)

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

Line of Sight, Employee Engagement, and Daily Kaizen

Jun 24

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | 3 Comments

Lean culture is largely defined by, or at least manifested in, engaged and empowered employees practicing voluntary kaizen. Engagement can be measured in a number of ways, but perhaps one of the most telling is the number of implemented suggestions per employee per year.

A while back, I developed an outline of Autoliv Brigham’s daily kaizen journey (see figure below) based upon information within the book, How to Do Kaizen. Autoliv’s story is extremely compelling.

Often engagement evolves as employee line of sight evolves. Line of sight is my euphemism for the scope of the employee’s ability AND desire to see, to understand, and to care beyond the self. Successful organizations are clearly much more than a loose confederation of individuals.

Start Somewhere

Lean transformations have to start somewhere. Many times it starts with an average employee line of sight that extends about as far as “self.” If that’s the case, then the lean leaders need to engage right there.

What does that mean?

Well, if the employee cares little beyond the self, then train and involve them in creature comfort kaizen for themselves (as finder and fixers of the problems). Recognize their improvements and their creativity and share it with others. The four-fold goal of kaizen is easier, better, faster, and cheaper…in that order. Start with easier and build from there.

This develops the employee’s kaizen capability and, if done effectively, their appetite and eyes for kaizen. But don’t stop there. Expand the context for kaizen. Extend the line of sight beyond just the self.

Expand the Line of Sight

Most employees work within some sort of natural work team – folks who typically work together on a daily basis towards some common purpose. (Admittedly, sometimes the team in which they are a member is less than “natural” and formed for management convenience and economics, not the flow of value. Not optimal, but often it’s still manageable.) There are a number of things that the lean leader can do to facilitate greater engagement, including:

  1. Deploy a daily accountability process. Effective lean management systems include the use of tiered meetings to review team performance versus targets, plan for the next 24 hours, and identify issues, barriers and countermeasures. It drives shared understanding of process performance, foments dialogue, and “pulls” suggestions.
  2. Provide more lean and team effectiveness training and time to use it. The more actionable knowledge about lean and how to better perform as a team, the better. While a lot of daily kaizen can happen in the margins (breaks, before shift and after shift), collaborative efforts are most likely to happen if some time is provided on a periodic basis during working hours.
  3. Leverage performance management. It’s a game-changer when the criteria on how people are evaluated and compensated includes team and company outputs as well as desired lean behaviors.
  4. Involve employees in organized kaizen. Kaizen events and facilitated kaizen circle activities will further develop the organization’s problem-solving muscle and expand awareness and ownership.
  5. Leaders transition to teachers and facilitators. Perhaps the toughest transformational challenge is flipping the organizational pyramid “upside down” so that the leaders become enablers, not bottlenecks.
  6. Apply lean tools and systems that drive employee involvement. For example: 5S is an supremely intuitive and engaging tool…and it can provide near instant gratification. Visual controls, among other things, share information with virtually every stakeholder. Talk about line of sight! TPM, specifically autonomous maintenance, by its very nature requires direct involvement and ownership.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

What do you do to expand the line of sight and engagement within your organization? How does that drive daily kaizen?

Related posts: Book Review: How to Do Kaizen, Lean Management Systems and Mysterious Performance Metrics, Easier, Better, Faster, Cheaper…in that Order

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

Bridging to Daily Kaizen – 15 (or so) Questions

Jan 20

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | 5 Comments

My teenage education was (maybe) enhanced by substantial doses of Monty Python. Occasionally, I discover a lean metaphor somewhere within their body of work. One of my absolute favorite scenes is from the  movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The three minute scene goes by two names: 1) the Bridge of Death, or 2) the Three Questions.

Now would be a good time to watch the scene if you’re not familiar with it. Of course, if you’re like me, even though you’ve seen it before, you’ll watch it again…and laugh.

So, back the lean metaphor. Most folks are stuck on one side of the gorge (that would be the “Gorge of Eternal Peril”) practicing system-driven kaizen – organized kaizen, mostly directed by value stream improvement plans. While this particular side isn’t terrible, it’s only a stepping stone to real lean. You should be crossing the bridge to the other side, the side of principal driven kaizen – system-driven kaizen, plus daily (mostly voluntary) kaizen. Only then will the enterprise and the culture be truly transformed!

Stop! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.

In the Holy Grail movie, the only way to cross the Bridge of Death is to successfully answer the three questions. For this kaizen bridge, you’ve got to answer at least 15 questions. Don’t worry, unlike the Monty Python version, if you don’t answer any of the questions incorrectly (or at least not affirmatively), you will not be, “…cast in the Gorge of Eternal Peril.”

In no particular order:

  1. Have all of your employees been trained in basic problem-solving methods and are they coached how and encouraged to use them?
  2. Is the environment one of problem-solving or problem-hiding?
  3. Has the organization developed good PDCA rigor through the proper application of kaizen events and has virtually everyone participated in multiple events?
  4. Do you have an effective lean management system that employs: a) leader standard work, b) visual controls, and c) cascading tiered performance metrics?
  5. Have you implemented a pragmatic suggestion system that emphasizes quick implementation of true incremental improvement (kaizen teian), typically by the person who suggests the improvement?
  6. Do you broadly and virally share improvement ideas?
  7. Do you apply the 5 why’s or the 5 who’s?
  8. Do the lean leaders promote A3 thinking?
  9. Has the organization sufficiently resourced the kaizen promotion office (a.k.a. lean function) to help teach, coach and facilitate improvement activities?
  10. Is the focus of improvement such that the order of importance is a) easier, b) better, c) faster, and d) cheaper?
  11. Are folks fearful of failure or do they, and leadership, see it as a necessary means of learning and improving?
  12. Are you internally capable (or at least getting there) or are you suffering from consultant dependency?
  13. Do folks know what “True North” is and how they can do their part to get there?
  14. Is the culture one of humility and respect for the individual?
  15. Is lean applied within the context of a holistic lean business system?

I know there are a bunch more. What are your additions to the list?

Related posts: Book Review: How to Do Kaizen, Developing Leader Standard Work – Five Important Steps, Want a Kaizen Culture? Take Your Vitamin C!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags:

Want a Kaizen Culture? Take Your Vitamin C!

Dec 5

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | 5 Comments

Among other things, vitamin C boosts one’s immune system. That’s pretty important, especially around the cold and flu season. But there is another type of vitamin C. One that is critical to the formation of an effective kaizen culture.

The Toyota Way, as defined here by Toyota, is founded upon two main pillars: 1) continuous improvement , and 2) respect for people. The following “three building blocks” shape their “commitment to continuous improvement:

  1. Challenge – we form a long term vision, meeting challenges with courage and creativity to realize our dreams;
  2. Kaizen – we improve our business operations continuously, always driving for innovation and evolution
  3. Genchi Genbutsu – we go to the source to find the facts to make correct decisions, build consensus and achieve goals.”

The first building block contains vitamin C in a threefold dose:

  • Challenge. Constantly be ready and willing to question the status quo and look for better ways. The challenge can be fomented by the envisioned ideal state and/or a specific target condition. It’s about closing the gaps. Challenge should provide the “pull” dynamic for improvements.
  • Courage. Be ever willing to test improvement ideas and learn from trial and error. This is foundational to PDCA (they don’t call it “PDC”).  Lean leaders must actively nurture an environment within which people fearlessly (not recklessly) apply scientific thinking and trystorming.
  • Creativity. Trystorming without creativity is a sterile exercise. We must think and act differently – “Keep on doing what you’re doing, keep on getting what you’re getting.” Unleash the inner MacGyver!

So, take copious amounts of vitamin C and, as an effective leader, ensure that your folks do the same. Boost that organizational immune system and foster a kaizen culture.

Related posts: Telling “How” Removes Responsibility, Kaizen Principle: Be like MacGyver, use creativity before capital!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

Book Review: How to Do Kaizen

Nov 15

Posted by markrhamel in Book Review | 3 Comments

Many months ago, Norman Bodek sent  me a copy of the book, How to Do Kaizen: A New Path to Innovation (its sub, sub-title is Empowering Everyone to Be a Problem Solver).  Norman, the indisputable lean literature pioneer from the west,  co-authored the book with Bunji Tozawa, a prolific kaizen author in his own right. Norman is also the editor and publisher (PCS Inc.) of the book. The work was published in January of 2010.

My humble take is that How to Do Kaizen is a very important book about voluntary kaizen!

At 425 pages, the book is long. It’s probably longer than it has to be and sometimes it could be more cogent.  (Of course, I am certainly not the most economical writer!) That said, it is clearly written from the heart from the perspective of the authors’ passion about the subject matter and the undeniable sentiment of respect for the worker. Indeed, much of daily kaizen is about first making work more human/easier.

How to Do Kaizen imparts a tremendous amount of practical know-how and know-why around daily kaizen, within what the authors’ call kaizen systems and the application of quick and easy kaizen. The book contains a ton of real-life examples.

Here are some of the many “nuggets” within the book:

  • The average U.S. worker comes up with one new idea every seven years…and only 32% of  those suggestions are implemented. A pretty pitiful underutilization of human creativity! Autoliv, Brigham City, a two-time Shingo Prize winner, is profiled within the book. In 2009, they had implemented 63 suggestions/person. Autoliv’s 2010 goal is 96. When training companies in quick and easy kaizen, the authors target 2 implemented suggestions/person/month.
  • Daily, voluntary kaizen’s “juice” comes from implemented suggestions, no matter how simple the improvement may be. Doing, followed by documenting and sharing via simple “kaizen memos” help capture the improvements while facilitating recognition and propagating the spirit and content of the kaizen. Several months ago, I wrote a post on Kaizen in the Laundry Room…and My Domestic Shortcomings. See the picture, below for my version of that improvement as documented in a type of simple kaizen memo. Click to enlarge.
  • Norman’s interview with Tom Hartman, Senior Director Lean Consulting, Autoliv Americas provides some outstanding insight into Autoliv’s daily kaizen journey. The Brigham City facility went from less than 0.5 implemented suggestions/employee/year in 1999 to 63 in 2009. Hartman details how the plant ventured from “creature comfort kaizen” to daily kaizen that was also well-aligned with enterprise’s value objectives (quality, productivity, machine reliability, etc.). He further shares how this transformation was facilitated by things like plant-wide TPS training and quality workshops, TPM events, jidoka application, leaders evolving into coaches, transition of the suggestion system from individual focused to team focused, improved visual management, and institution of leader standard work.
  • Good daily kaizen coaches (team leaders, supervisors, managers et al), use the following types of keywords:
    • Observation keywords. Help people notice problems – “duplicated effort,” “complicated,” “tedious,” ” tiring,” etc.
    • Ideation keywords. Help people come up with countermeasures – “eliminate,” ” combine,” rearrange,” “simplify,” etc.
    • Implementation keywords. Encourage implementation ASAP – “for the time being,” “start with part of the problem,” “if it doesn’t work, try something different,” etc.

This book exudes engagement and empowerment and reinforces how simple, fundamental stuff can literally change a culture and leverage the creative talents of each and every person. If you want to transition from system-driven kaizen to principle-driven kaizen, this is an extremely helpful book.

Related posts: Kaizen in the Laundry Room…and My Domestic Shortcomings, Book Review: Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

Easier, Better, Faster, Cheaper…in that Order

Oct 22

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | 5 Comments

Lean is deep. It’s multi-faceted. Heck, even the “simple” stuff is profound.

These characteristics, along with (or should I say, in spite of) my own denseness, are why my lean learning never plateaus. Here’s a very recent example of two experiences that refined my kaizen appreciation.

Experience 1. This week I attended and spoke at the Sixth Annual Northeast Shingo Prize conference. It was a wonderful experience. (See below for a picture of the “four bloggers.”) The conference title was, “Easier, Better, Faster, Cheaper.” Great title and great theme right? Like motherhood and apple pie. Who could ever argue with it?

Well, as many of us know, the title was derived from a Shigeo Shingo quote:

There are four purposes of improvement: easier, better, faster and cheaper.

Cool, right? Except, there’s another sentence that immediately follows – a sentence that should alter the mindset of most American allegedly “lean thinkers.”

These four goals appear in the order of priority.

Do you think that most executives would agree with that priority? I sincerely doubt it.

If we surveyed senior leaders, I would be quite confident that the order would be reversed. Unfortunately, such a hierarchy (no pun intended) does little to gain buy-in from the workforce and it is often inconsistent with the notion of respect for people. Which leads to my next recent experience.

Experience 2. (Actually this experience happened BEFORE the conference, but it works better explaining it in this order.) I was reading through the paper, “Transforming Kaizen at Toyota,” written by Koichi Shimizu from Okoyama University. This 29 page paper is undated, but I would guess it’s circa 2000. Shimizu presents a lot of information and analysis around volunteer and organized kaizen activities at Toyota.

Some take-aways:

  • Workers drive about 10% of the realized improvement and team leaders, production supervisors, engineers, etc. drive 90%. Here “realized improvement” is ostensibly around cost reduction through productivity and quality gains.
  • Workers principally engage in “voluntary kaizen” – kaizen circle activities and suggestions.
  • The purpose and effects of the voluntary kaizen, especially within Toyota’s US and European plants, are mainly around:
    • developing the (worker’s) kaizen mind and problem solving ability,
    • paying attention to quality and productivity,
    • perceiving the work-place as one’s own, and
    • developing self for promotion.

Occasionally, the worker generates a great idea around quality or working process improvement. But, the primary focus for the worker is typically around the “humanization of work.“ In other words, it starts with making the work EASIER. Just like Mr. Shingo said!

_________________________________________________________

Here’s a picture of the four bloggers at the NE Shingo Prize conference. From left to right, yours truly (the old guy in the group), Tim MacMahon of A Lean Journey, Dave Kasprzak of My Flexible Pencil, and Mike Wroblewski of Got Boondoggle? It was great meeting these very talented folks!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

How to Avoid Kaizen Event Malpractice

Sep 15

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | No Comments

I recently conducted a free one hour webinar on the subject of kaizen event malpractice, its causes, effects and how to avoid them. More positively, the topic was largely on how to side-step the snares of tool-driven kaizen, how to securely apply, grow into and sustain system-driven kaizen and ultimately set the foundation for principle-driven kaizen.

The webinar was graciously hosted by Society of Manufacturing Engineer’s Chapter 7 from Hartford, CT with the assistance of SME National. The SME webinar library link is right HERE if you would like to view the slides and listen to the audio.

By the way, my less than clinical definition of kaizen event malpractice is the “dereliction of duty due to negligence or incompetence by a leader, practitioner or organization.” Malpractice has a number of effects, including the following:

  • poor linkage to strategic and value stream imperatives
  • little or no measurable business impact
  • unsustainable results
  • unfavorable employee experience
  • limited organizational learning and growth, and an
  • insufficient foundation for daily kaizen.

I hope the webinar adds value for those who access the library.

In conjunction with SME National, I’ll be conducting a three-part webinar series on kaizen in October. Please refer to SME Webinar Central under the October 19 and 21 offerings.

Related posts: The Post-Value Stream Analysis Hangover, There Is No Kaizen Bus Stop!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , ,

The War Room – More than an Interior Decorating Statement

Jul 14

Posted by markrhamel in Lean Transformation Leadership | 1 Comment

Several weeks ago, a client mentioned that they were planning on establishing a “war room,” but did not especially like that name. I suggested “transformation room.” It’s a little less militaristic (not necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps a little over the top within healthcare) and more descriptive relative to its purpose.

Here are a few things to think about when contemplating a war room.

Purpose. In a nutshell, the war room’s primary purpose is to establish and sustain effective organizational focus on the stuff that’s required to transform its performance and culture.  The focus must be intense, specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time-bounded. By definition, it must encompass both PDCA and SDCA, meaning breakthrough improvement, daily kaizen and sustainability.

Audience. The notion of “room” infers that its users are small in number…maybe elite. Well, the war room should be worn out by the executives, but it shouldn’t necessarily be an exclusive place (unless a war room is dedicated to working out some especially sensitive issues, like organizational design decisions). In fact, if at all pragmatic, the room should be in a high traffic area. Hence, the “room” for some lean companies has become a “glass wall” – a physical, transparent wall, which sports the information for all to see and demonstrates leadership’s competent and credible commitment to the lean transformation.

Contents. What’s in the war room? Charts, graphs and solemn statements that drive/share:

  • clarity in the enterprise’s vision, mission and purpose,
  • the identification and recognition of the current condition,
  • articulation of the desired future state and the gaps between current and future state,
  • the execution (and the adjustment, as required) of detailed gap closure plan(s),
  • safety, quality, delivery, cost, innovation, and morale performance,
  • countermeasures, their ownership and status, and
  • recognition of victories, large and small

We’re talking about strategy deployment matrices, bowling charts, A3 reports, current and future state value stream maps, value stream improvement plans, top tier performance metrics, posted top leader standard work, task accountability boards, etc.

Context. The war room, by itself, is just a room with lots of paper on the wall. Its value is derived by the structured engagement of the lean leaders in and around that room – the focus, application, execution, learning, and adjustment within frequent strategy deployment checkpoint meetings, daily tiered meetings and the like. The war room represents the top tier within a multi-tiered lean management system.

The war room is clearly more than an interior decorating statement. What’s your take on the room?

Related posts: The Post-Value Stream Analysis Hangover, Why Bowling Charts? Trajectory Matters!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , ,

Kaizen in the Laundry Room…and My Domestic Shortcomings

May 9

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen | 8 Comments

Kaizen opportunities are often best identified (and done) by those who do the work. This is critical if you’re trying to create and sustain a kaizen culture. That said, I usually try to avoid much in the way of lean implementation within my house and amongst my family. Not that I really enjoy all of the typical familial chaos and related muda, but, as Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry once said, “a man’s got to know his limitations.”

Now, my wife is the predominant laundry person in our house. Yes, I know what you’re thinking and I could lie and say it’s not like that. Sometimes I’ll do some loads, sometimes my three kids…but, that’s an abnormal condition! And, I really don’t want to talk about folding laundry. Really guilty there.

Today, Mother’s Day, my wife mentioned that having the dryer door hung on the left side of the dryer was a pain in the neck. I looked at it, with newly opened eyes, and could instantly understand the waste of motion that the door’s orientation induced. You have to remove the wet laundry from the washing machine and then lift it OVER the dryer door and THEN place it inside the dryer. Meanwhile wet socks are hitting the deck and accumulating dog hair and horse hair (no, there’s no horse inside the house). Wonderful!

I’ve had to endure that same waste, but I just turned my brain off and assumed that doing laundry was a pain the neck, because it was …a pain in the neck. If I was in lean coach or sensei mode, this would have been so obvious! Pretty lame on my part. I’ve become a domestic “concrete head.”

So, I quickly took my wife’s suggestion (no formal suggestion board here) and switched the door. Daily kaizen (at least the first one) in the laundry room! Less than 10 minutes to make it happen. Glad she’s the brains in (and heart and soul of) the family.

Now that I have shared this little story with you, I can’t help but thinking that I may be considered the new Bruce Hamilton of laundry. During Bruce’s hugely popular Toast Kaizen video, specifically the pre-kaizen condition, he’s waiting for the toast to toast, while the dirty dishes just sit there in the sink. The video observers (especially the females) often voice their displeasure with such a blatant display of sloth. Of course, Bruce gets his act together in the post-kaizen condition (here we won’t discuss the hygiene opportunities). I just want you to know – I’m a good dish guy! But, I definitely need to carry more of the load (no pun intended) on the laundry front.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags:

Standard Work Is a Verb

Apr 24

Posted by markrhamel in Kaizen, Lean Principles | No Comments

Standard work is not a once and done proposition. That would be lean anathema. In fact, the Shingo Prize Model reflects a lean principle (one of ten) called “integration of improvement with work.” We don’t stop working, why would we stop improving?

This dynamic is consistent with the evolution from system-driven kaizen to principle-driven kaizen. System-driven kaizen is represented mostly by kaizen events as pulled by value stream improvement plans. Really good stuff, but it can and should get better.

Principle-driven kaizen is system-driven PLUS the integration of daily kaizen. Daily kaizen, as defined in my Kaizen Event Fieldbook is, “small, process- or point-focused, continuous improvement that is conducted by engaged and enabled employees in their everyday work… Daily kaizen opportunities (problems) are readily identified by workers using simple robust lean management systems and by a pragmatic comparison of the current state with the envisioned ideal state. By applying common sense and learning developed in kaizen events, training classes and direct application, employees, as individuals and within teams, engage in PDCA through the use/execution of actionable, low bureaucracy suggestion systems, mini-kaizen events, kaizen circle activities, ‘just-do-its’ and the like.” OK, it’s a really long-winded definition!

While standard work is often initially developed within the context of a kaizen event, it can’t stop there. As employees adopt PDCA thinking and learn to become experimentalists, they will/should continuously improve the standard work. Truly, when the culture becomes principle-driven, people feel happily compelled to improve their processes and thus the standard work.

So, think of standard work more as a verb and less as a noun. Next time when you’re at the gemba, take note of the revision date of the standard work sheets and standard work combination sheets. If they haven’t been updated and improved over the last quarter or two, then you might have an issue. There’s a good chance that you’ve never left the land of system-driven kaizen.

Related post: There Is No Kaizen Bus Stop!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , ,