Are you interested in Lean manufacturing? If you’re not, you should get your hands on information regarding this concept as soon as possible. Lean Thinking and Lean manufacturing can turn a business into an effective process, capable of minimizing loss, waste, and costs, and delivering high value to customers. As you may know, this can indeed be a recipe toward reaching success is a very short time.
As time passed by, lean thinking proved to be a highly effective management method, suitable for businesses activating in all kinds of businesses. The best part about the lean method is that it is not complicated at all, which makes it easy to implement in the management strategy of various businesses.
Here’s a great video on lean manufacturing you can watch, produced by UpFlip. An interview they’ve done with an expert on all things lean, Paul Akers:
If you want to reduce waste, keep a low inventory, cut down costs, enjoy a smooth workflow, and get an increasing number of satisfied customers, then lean is the way. But, to implement Lean, there are 5 core principles that must be respected.
Your team should know all about the change that comes
Change cannot happen without previously preparing your team and employees for it. So, it’s not just about preparing a certain department but preparing the entire company to embrace the chance and implement Lean thinking and Lean manufacturing in the right manner.
How to prepare a team to be ready for the implementation of Lean processes? First of all, make sure you set goals that are clear and easy to understand by everyone. All your employees and team members should know what the company is aiming to obtain in the implementation of Lean.
How will this help the company and why is it such a good choice? It doesn’t matter what goal you want to achieve within the company, as long as it is communicated in a clear manner and is known by every member of your teams and staff.
Make sure the Lean Mindset is in place before you start the implementation process
It will be hard to make Lean a viable process in your company if the right mindset is not adopted by everybody. So, once all your team members understand why it is necessary to implement Lean, it is time to encourage each of them to embrace the proper mindset for the process. For this, you need to begin by explaining what Lean is and how it works. Make sure to go through all the benefits of the Lean process, by sharing your personal perspective as well, not just the perspective of the company.
Begin the change one step at a time
Implementing Lean won’t take place overnight. As in the case of any major change, the implementation process will take place in a gradual manner. In fact, it is even recommended to start taking one step at a time, rather than forcing the entire process onto the business at once.
By performing every step in a calculated manner, errors are less likely to appear. So, start with one team first, which will be the pilot team in your company and will serve, later on, as change agents for the entire company. Support them through the implementation process and supervise the transition.
As a piece of advice, you should select change agents to be those people that have the power to influence the rest of the team or department. So, go for those that have leadership skills and the ability to make others listen to them. This way, the transition and implementation of the process will take place smoother.
Now that everybody is familiar with the new strategy and changes that will come along, you will need to familiarize them with the core principles prior to the actual implementation. So, start with a team meeting that will show everyone the steps of implementing lean in the company. The 5 core principles and steps that will lead to proper implementation are:
1. Identify the value you need to pursue
The main purpose of Lean is to offer customers value for which they are willing to pay. This is why one of the most important steps of implementing Lean is to determine this value for your company. Take your customer niche into account.
What’s the value they are willing to pay for and how much are they willing to pay? You will find the right answer to this question after you get to know your customers well. So, invest time and effort into proper research that will help you underline the best value for your company’s Lean manufacturing processes.
2. Design a map for the value stream
So, you managed to outline the value you will pursue. The next step is to come up with a map that will get you there. This means that you will have to take into account all the actions that will make this possible. What does your company need to do to reach the set value? Out of the actions and measures, you will map some that will be unnecessary and will not bring any value to the process at all.
These will be considered as being pure waste and should be removed completely out of the process. However, you will have actions that are necessary, although they will not bring any value as well. These you will have to keep, as the process needs them in order to run smoothly. So, pay attention to removing waste from the process for Lean results.
3. Create a flow that will get you to the value
A Lean flow is one with minimum waste, loss, and resource consumption. This is why it is so useful to have a map of the value stream, as it will help you have a clearer view of the entire process. Lean thinking leads to a smooth workflow because it optimizes the consumption of resources, reduces costs, increases the effectiveness of every action, and generates value for the end customer.
4. Take care of the pull
The purpose of having a pull system is to keep the inventory to a minimum. In other words, you will produce goods or services based on demand, when this is required and only in adequate amounts. Thus, you will know how much you need to produce and how much resources you will need to make the production happen.
Therefore you won’t need a large inventory at the disposition of your company around the clock. And not having an inventory means significantly lowering waste generated by storing large amounts of materials for an indefinite period.
5. Look for improvements constantly and continuously
Lean thinking is also about constantly looking for improvements.
Although it may seem farfetched, Lean is about aiming toward perfection. So, once the Lean method is implemented, keep an eye on the process and see where improvements can be made. There’s always room for better and you will see where it can be possible, once you have the flow running.
