Question

Imagine a hypothetical paper helicopter manufacturing factory producing and flying thousands of helicopters every day. Address how you would implement the following lean tools and techniques: Flow, pull, and standard work. Address the "how" and "why." For example, "how" would you deploy flow and "why" is flow important to deploy?  

Answer 1

Originally developed as a methodology to make production processes highly efficient, lean techniques have been adopted by more than 72 per cent of machine shops across the country. For many of these, the techniques have helped them to dramatically increase their competitive edge while continuing to remove wasteful practices and contribute to the bottom line.

Lean is a strategy developed for production improvement. It originated in the mass production setting of the automobile industry, specifically the Toyota Production System. It is primarily focussed on the minimisation of waste of any form. When wasteful action is eliminated the result is that less effort, space, and capital are required and lead time is reduced whilst quality increases and the cost of quality decreases From its manufacturing roots, lean has subsequently expanded to business practice generally. Lean management is becoming the standard for systematic productivity improvement

Lean techniques are not limited to machine shops, productions plants, or manufacturing companies. They can help any business motivated to produce products and deliver services using as few resources as possible while eliminating as much waste as possible. No matter the type of business, whether a restaurant, bakery, small offices, or large processing plants all follow the same five Principles of Lean from the Toyota Production System. These principles are:

1. Understand value from the customer perspective
2. Understand the Value Stream
3. Make the Value Stream Flow
4. Create Pull
5. Continuously Improve

A typical lean implementation involves an initial value stream mapping (VSM) which defines the journey of improvement. Next, there is the organising of the house. This might involve flexible work systems and (especially) 5S (sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining). Thereafter other specific tools are implemented as relevant. These include standard work, single minute exchange of dies (SMED), total productive maintenance (TPM), and mistake proofing (Jidoka). Further advancements might involve supply and demand, through just in time (JIT) pull systems and Heijunka (level scheduling) [17]. Also relevant is the integration between lean and production planning and control systems such as materials resource planning (MRP). This is not always easy due to the lean emphasis on the pull, whereas the reality is that many manufacturers benefit from hybrid production flow control [18]. Systems are being developed to operationalise this [19], though a detailed explanation is beyond the present scope.

Therefore weaknesses in a typical lean approach can be in the fixation on tools as an end in themselves. This promotes isolated improvement rather than optimisation of the entire production system and an incomplete appreciation of the role of leadership for organisational development.

In the context of organisational change we look for methods that will support sustainability, that is, obtaining enduring benefits. The decision to implement lean is typically a decision of senior management, that is, a top-down change initiative. he sustainability depends on organisational culture and the collective response to the change. Furthermore, many of the lean tools are sophisticated in their requirement for a particular type of culture, including strong intrinsic motivation at the shop-floor level for the processes (e.g., kaizen, 5S, quality circles, work cells, and six sigma). Thus implementing lean requires a change management process that fosters the outcomes, hence change leadership through coaching as opposed to merely directive top-down change. In a lean system, the respect for humans principle is equally important as the elimination of waste. Implementation of lean is, therefore, an organisational strategy regarding the changing of culture over time, by the selective and progressive implementation of lean tools that are situational relevant for that organisation at that time, followed by further implementation later when the culture has caught up. Practitioners typically describe this deliberate temporal progression as the lean journey.

All ventures that an organisation undertakes have a risk, that is, uncertain opportunity and threat. The risk management (RM) methods encourage a deliberate and integrated consideration of both these outcomes. Various standards have defined risk in the sense of both negative and positive aspects. Thus the analysis task reduces to determining first the magnitude of the outcome, which may be positive or negative, corresponding to opportunity or threat, respectively, and then the likelihood of that outcome. The magnitude of the outcome may be represented quantitatively or qualitatively. Likewise, the likelihood may be quantified in a probability or expressed as a subject qualitative statement

The risk management method is particularly effective for quantitative variables and has therefore found widespread adoption in engineering, finance (particularly insurance), and project management situations. Although the method as whole claims to be applicable to strategic decision making even at the highest level of the organisation and examples of this are available this is not a particularly well-developed capability of RM.

In a lean implementation, we are particularly focused on what is desirable in terms of lean success and sustainability and undesirable in terms of the failure of the implementation.

For practitioners, that is, those managers in organisations that are considering what parts of lean to implement, the primary implication is that they should not only focus on the high impact lean methods but also consider a staged approach. We recommend they deliberately select lean methods that will build lean culture through small wins and staff engagement, before progressing to more overly lean methods. Lean implementation involves a transformation of the organisation, and initially, the journey (i.e., the human dimension of the change process) is as important as the destination.

In making the decisions about lean, our suggestion is that managers consider applying the method given here, by evaluating the impact of each of the lean principles and tools and the difficulty of implementing them in that specific organisational context. We suggest that the organisational context is very important and that the analysis is best done by someone who has a deep understanding of how the organisation operates. At the same time, it is also important that the analyst understands the capabilities of the various lean principles and tools. However, we recommend practitioners gain the necessary lean knowledge by consulting one of the many excellent texts or employing an expert.

Another implication for practitioners is that the method we propose here is closely aligned to the risk management method. Consequently, there should be no impediment to including the lean risk assessment alongside other risk management practices. Alternatively, if the risk management framework is not already part of the organisation’s practices, then we would suggest that consideration should be given to exploring that too since it is not much more effort than to do so. The management approaches are complementary and mutually supportive having synonymous principles, framework, and process.

Understanding Flow

Flow is how work progresses through a system. When a system is working well, or having “good” flow, it tends to move steadily and predictably, whereas, “bad” flow means the work starts and stops. Every time there is a breakdown in the flow, chances of accumulating waste increase. One goal is to Strive for a consistent flow which generates more reliable delivery, and greater value to customers, teams, and stakeholders.

Barriers of Flow

If you want to improve flow, first remove all barriers.

Examples of Physical Barriers to Flow:

1. Distance: Rather than transporting individual items, they are collected and shipped as a group
2. Long Setup Times: When changing over tooling takes a long time, larger batches are run
3. Batch-Oriented Machines: Some machines are designed to be most efficient with large runs.
4. Poor Maintenance: Machines that break down frequently disrupt the flow.

Examples of Intangible Barriers to Flow:

1. Unreliable Deliveries: When there is no trust that parts will arrive on time, extras are kept on hand
2. Unreliable Quality: If people think that many parts will be unsuitable or will require rework, extras will be kept on hand
3. Approval Processes: The approver is seldom standing by, so work is piled up until the next opportunity to get the go-ahead
4. Lack of Faith: Some people just don’t believe flow is possible, so don’t even try
5. Resistance to Change: Some people think flow might work, but like things to stay the same.

Once companies identify and prioritize all of the barriers to flow, they are ready to implement the changes designed to improve the overall process of flow.

Improving Flow

1. Map the process
2. Identify and log all problems process owners experience
3. Identify all waste in the current process
4. Map an ideal state – the perfect process achieved in the absence of all constraints
5. Develop an action plan
6. Actively monitor the new processes put into place by creating performance measures

A final point to make about improving flow is the necessity of training and educating employees. All employees must understand, and appreciate, how essential it is to keep a good flow going! Odds are that once changes are made to enhance the flow, employees will recognize these changes and begin to see that their jobs may have become physically and/or psychologically a bit easier to do