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TableofContents
DEALINGWITHLINKS ................................................................................................................................... 4 ABOUTTHISEBOOK...................................................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 6 ABOUTLSSACADEMY .................................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER1:WHATISLEANMANUFACTURING? ......................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER2:FINANCE101BYTAIICHI ........................................................................................................ 11 CHAPTER3:THEFORGOTTENMS ............................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER4:WAITING ................................................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER5:NOSTANDARDS,NOKAIZEN ................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER6:STANDARDWORK .................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER7:WHYFLOWCOUNTERCLOCKWISE? ...................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER8:JIDOKATHEFORGOTTENPILLAR ......................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER9:HEIJUNKAINTHEFRONTOFFICE ........................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER10:WHYHEIJUNKA?PART1 ................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER11:WHYHEIJUNKA?PART2 ................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER12:SINGLEMINUTEEXCHANGEOFDIES(SMED) ...................................................................... 32 CHAPTER13:OEENOTJUSTFORTPMPROGRAMS! .............................................................................. 35 CHAPTER14:VALUESTREAMMAPPINGOVERVIEW ................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER15:HOWTOCREATEAPQPRMATRIX....................................................................................... 39

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CHAPTER16:CURRENTSTATEVALUESTREAMMAPPING ....................................................................... 41 CHAPTER17:FUTURESTATEVALUESTREAMMAPPING .......................................................................... 50 CHAPTER18:INTRODUCINGTHEKAIZENNEWSPAPER ............................................................................ 56 CHAPTER19:TWOTYPESOFKAIZEN......................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER20:KAIZENRULES:1&2 .............................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER21:KAIZENRULES:3&4 .............................................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER22:KAIZENRULES:5&6 .............................................................................................................. 63 CHAPTER23:KAIZENRULES:7&8 .............................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER24:KAIZENRULES:9&10 ............................................................................................................ 65 CHAPTER25:REPENT,IMEANHANSEI! .................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER26:ISLAYINGPEOPLEOFFREALLYANTILEAN?........................................................................ 67 CHAPTER27:SHADOWSORREALITY ........................................................................................................ 69 FINALWORDS ............................................................................................................................................. 72 RECOMMENDEDREADING ......................................................................................................................... 73

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DealingwithLinks
ThroughoutthiseBookweveinsertedhyperlinkstovariousarticlesandwebsites.Depending ontheconfigurationofyourAdobeproductyoumayneedtoholddowntheShiftbuttonon yourPC(orMacequivalent)inordertoopenthelinkinyourbrowser. The easiest way to determine whether this is needed this is to hover your cursor over the hyperlink. Ifyouseea+signnexttothefingeryouwillneedtoholddowntheShiftkeybefore pressingthehyperlink. IfyouseeaWsignnexttothefingeryoucansimplyclickonthehyperlinkasitwill openinawebbrowserautomatically. InsomeAdobeproductsyoucanforceittoalwaysopeninawebbrowserbyfollowingthese guidelines. 1. ClickEdit 2. ClickPreferences 3. ClickWebCapture 4. SelectInWebBrowserintheOpenWeblinksmenu Ifyouhaveanyproblemspleasefeelfreetocontactus.

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AboutthiseBook
WelcometotheLSSAcademyGuidetoLeanManufacturing. ThisbookisacompilationofthoughtsrelatedtoleanmanufacturingthatIhaveaccumulated overthepast13yearsinbothmanufacturingandtransactionalenvironments.Itismyhumble hopeyouwillbenefit,eveninasmallway,fromtheseexperiences. Since the content of this eBook is made of individual articles, it wont read like a traditional book.However,IhavetriedtomakethetopicsflowasbestIcould. Please feel free to share this eBook with colleagues, friends, and acquaintances. However, if youwishtocopyorusethecontentforanypurpose,pleasecontactRonPereirafirst. Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorcomments,pleaseemailusorleaveacommentonourwebsite. TostayuptodatewiththelatesthappeningsatLSSAcademy,pleasesubscribetoourwebsite. Youcanalsosubscribeviaemailbyvisitinghttp://lssacademy.com.

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Acknowledgements
I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions of the following individuals during this project. These same people continue to inspire me withtheir wisdom andkindness. JonMiller,GembaResearch MarkGraban,LeanBlog KevinMeyer,EvolvingExcellence Andspecialthankstomywonderfulmotherinlaw,JaneZilligen,fortheproofreading!

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Dedicatedtomywife,children,andmentors.

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AboutLSSAcademy
MynameisRonPereiraandIbelieveleanmanufacturingandsix sigmacanandshouldworktogetherinharmony. I also believe we should all learn as much as we canabout both lean manufacturing and six sigma, using them as needed and whenneeded.That,inasentence,isthemissionofLSSAcademy. Professionally, I have held the following job titles throughout my 15 year career: Process Engineer, Process Engineering Supervisor, Managerof SCM Development & Integration, Black Belt, Corporate Master Black Belt, and finally Director of Manufacturing and CIP (continuous improvementprocess). I also co-founded Gemba Academy LLC with the sole mission of improving the way online training is done. Iammarriedtomybestfriend,Genni,andhavebeenblessedwith4amazingkiddos.Weare very involved with our church and enjoy spending time with our family and friends here in Keller,Texas. Lastly,sinceIgrewupinthegreatstateofOhioIamcompletelyobsessedwithTheOhioState Universityfootballprogram.AsmyMomsays,YoucantaketheboyoutofOhio,butyoucant takeOhiooutoftheboy.GoBucks!

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Chapter1:WhatisLeanManufacturing?
Depending on the book or consultant you are talking to, lean manufacturing has many definitions. At LSS Academy, we believe lean is all about respecting people while eliminating the 3 Ms which are muri (overburdening), mura (unevenness), and muda (non value added activity). Sadly, respecting people is often left out which turns lean manufacturing into mean manufacturing. Modeled after the Toyota Production System (TPS), the term lean manufacturing was first coinedbyagroupofMITresearchersinthe1980s,leadbyDr.JamesWomackastheyprepared towritethebookTheMachinethatChangedtheWorld. TheHousethatToyotaBuilt A house is often used to describe the Toyota Production System. One pillar of the house representsJIT(justintime).Herewelookathowto make things flow (one piece at a time preferably) usingprinciplesliketakttime. Wealsofocusonthecustomerandonlyproducewhattheyaskforandwhentheyaskforit.In other words, weallowthecustomer to pull valueinstead of us attempting to push things ontothem. Finally,weneveroverproducewhichisoneofthesevendeadlywastes. Theotherpillar,Jidoka,isallaboutensuringwemakeaqualityproductandeliminate,asmuch aspossible,anyopportunitytoproducedefects.Contrarytowhatsomepeoplefalselyassume, leanisveryconcernedwithprocesscapabilityandeliminatingdefects.

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At the base of the TPS house we find heijunka, or leveling. Here we work to smooth out productioninsuchawaythatallowsustobetterutilizeourresources. Lastly, the staples of standard work and kaizen are absolutely essential for any organization wantingtopracticeleanmanufacturing. Readonasalloftheseconceptsarediscussedatlength.

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Chapter2:Finance101byTaiichi
InChapterSixofTaiichiOhnosWorkplaceManagementwereadabouttheprofitformulas. Whenwethinkabouthowacompanycanturnaprofittherearethreewaystoexpressit. 1. PriceCost=Profit 2. Profit=PriceCost 3. Price=Cost+Profit Forthemathgurusoutthereyoumaybescratchingyourheadas algebraically these formulas are the same. But Mr. Ohno begs to differ. Formula3 Lets start with the third formula (Price = Cost + Profit). Mr. Ohno explains that this may be likened to the government approach to setting a price. If, for example, a profit of $100 is wantedandthecosttoproducetheproductis$200thepriceis$300. Formula2 This is the trickiest formula (Profit = Price Cost) and is where I was a bit mistaken myself. Ohno likens this formula to a company that produces luxury goods since they cannot reduce costs.IamremindedofarecentarticleIreadaboutMotorolawhoistargetingtherichwith theirnewestRazrlikecellphone.

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Formula1 Lastlywecometotheleanformula(PriceCost=Profit).Thisformulaisarrangedinsucha wayastosaythatcostsexisttobereduced,nottobecalculated.Thethinkinghereisthatthe marketsetsthepriceandtheonlysurewaywecanincreaseprofitsisbyreducingcosts. So,thekeythingwemustrememberisthereisonlyonethingwealwayshaveinourcontrol. Thatonethingisthecostsideoftheformula. Now, depending on your product or service, you may argue you have some control over the price.But,intheendtheonlythingyoualwayshavecontroloverishowmuchitcostsyouto producethegoods.

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Chapter3:TheForgottenMs
Thosefamiliarwithleanmanufacturinghavelikelyheard thewordmudamanytimes. MudaistheJapanesewordforwasteandistheenemy ofusallwhetherweknowitornot. Strangelyenoughmudaisnottheonlyenemyofalean system. There are two more, less popular (at least in Western companies), Ms we must also be aware of namelymuraandmuri. Mura Murainitssimplestformmeansunevenness.Forexample,muraresultswhenyouroperators aretoldtoworklikecrazyearlyinthemorningonlytostandaroundanddonothinglateinthe day. Heijunka may be the answer to this problem but let us save that discussion for another chapter. Muri Muri means to overburden equipment or operators. For example, if your entertainment centerisonlymeanttohold200poundsandyouplaceyournew425poundsuperduperHD ReadyTVonitwehavemuri.Wealsohaveotherissueslikeaveryrealsafetyconcern! LeadstoMuda Sothenexttimesomeonedropsthewordmudaintheirattempttoshowyouhowmuchthey know about lean you may be able to educate them on the other two Ms that are just as important as the infamous muda. Of course you should be humble and polite during this educationprocess.

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Chapter4:Waiting
If you pick up any book about lean or attend a training course, you will likely hear how overproduction is the mother of all wastes. OK, in the truest sense it is especially for those that manufacture any type of product. But as I sit on this lovely airplane hoping to eventually takeoff,Imustadmitwaitingseemsliketheworstofall wastes.Infact,atthismomentintime,Icouldcareless aboutoverproduction! Letshaveaquickreviewofthe7deadlywastesforthosenotfamiliarwithwhatIamtalking about.IamsureseveralconsultingfirmswillsaytheycameupwiththeacronymIamaboutto shareandbeforetheleanpolicecomeformeIwilladmitthisisnotmyowninvention. Hereistheeasiestwaytorememberthe7deadlywastesidentifiedmanymoonsagoinJapan. Withoutfurtherwaiting,letmeintroduceMr.TimWood. Transportation Inventory Motion Waiting Overproduction Overprocessing Defects

IfyouwanttogetreallytrickyyoucanaddthewasteofSkills(meaningwhenyoudonttake advantageofeveryonesabilities)whichwillmakeitTIMWOODS.

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It is my opinion that the muda of waiting is the number one enemy for service related companies.Thinkaboutitnothingisworsethanwaitinginlinetoseeamovie,waitingtosee thedoctor,waitingtoclearcustomsaftera12hourflighttoBrazil,waitingforyourfoodata crowdedrestaurantwhenyourkidsarehungryandcranky,etc. Soifyouareinthebusinessofservingpeopleinanyway,pleasetakesmyadviceandfocuson howyoucaneliminatewaitingyourcustomerswillappreciateitespeciallyifyouworkinthe airlineindustry.

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Chapter5:NoStandards,NoKaizen
Wherethereisnostandard,therecanbenokaizen. TaiichiOhno Whatdoesthismean? Atitssimplestlevel,Ibelieveitmeansifyoudontknowhowyouaredoingsomething,orifyou dontdosomethinginaconsistentmanner,howcanyoueverexpecttomakeitbetter? ThenicepeopleatMcDonaldsaremastersatthis.Ifyoueverwatchoneoftheirassemblers workyouwillnoticetheymakeaBigMacinaveryspecificmanner.Iamnot100%sureabout thisbutIwouldimaginethereisastandardwayforanyperson,nomatterwheretheyare,to makeaBigMac. So after 5S I cannot imagine how anyone can really do kaizen without standard work. In the nextchapterwewilldiscussstandardworkinmoredetailbutbeforethenletmeofferthese tipstoyoutohelpyougetstarted. 1. If you have a task or a job you do on even a semiconsistent basic (e.g. assemble a product, take care of patients, call customers, etc.) start off by writing down the way yougenerallydothesesteps. 2. Onceyouhavethestepsdocumented,asksomeonewhodoesthesameorsimilarjobto review the steps to see if they agree with them. If they dont, and many times they wont,discussitwiththemandseeifyoucanmutuallyagreeonthebestwaytodothis task. 3. Onceyouandyourpalhavetheagreedstepsdocumentedworktogetherandtimeeach other doing these steps. You dont need an industrial engineering degree to time something.Youdontevenneedfancystopwatches!Startwiththesecondshandonthe clockonyourwallifyouhaveto.

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4. Onceyouhavethestepsandthetimesdocumented,seeifyoucancomeupwithsome standard work procedures. There are some standard lean templates you can use if youwant.Butdontgetbotheredwithtryingtobeperfect.Justgetsomethingonpaper andinplace. 5. Onceyouhavetheprocessdocumented,shareitwithothersandgetthemtofollowthe steps for awhile exactly as shown in the document or documents depending on how detailedyougo. Now, when someone figures out how to do it better, and they will, change the procedures accordingly.This,mygoodfriends,iswhatkaizenisallabout.

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Chapter6:StandardWork
SincethemissionofLSSAcademyistoofferideasforhowtoalignthestrengthsofbothlean manufacturing and six sigma I wanted to discuss a topic I firmly believe all continuous improvement practitioners should practice. This topicisstandardwork. Therearethreecomponentsofstandardwork: 1)TaktTime 2)WorkSequence 3)StandardWorkinProcess(SWIP) TaktTime Formallydefined,takttimeistherateatwhichyourcustomerbuysaproduct.Itisoftencalled theheartbeatofproduction,sinceoncetakttimeiscalculatedallprocessesshouldoperateat, orpreferablyabitbelow,takttime. AcommonmistakeIhaveseeniswhenpeoplethinktheycanmeasuretakttimewithastop watch.Thisisincorrectastakttimemustbecalculatedasfollows: TaktTime=NetAvailableTimeperDay/CustomerDemandperDay Americanfootballhelpsmerememberthisformula.ByrememberingTDfortouchdownIgetT (time)/D(demand).Typically,wenotetakttimeinsecondsperpiece. TaktTimeisthelawofthelandandonceitisunderstoodallprocessesmustworktothispace. Toyota,forexample,operatesatatakttimeofaround50~60seconds.Howamazingisthat?

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WorkSequence Next up is Work Sequence which is simply the order in which an operator performs manual operations(includingwalkingandwaiting).Itisextremelyimportanttodeterminethebestand mostefficientwayforoperatorstoperformtheirwork.Ithelpsensureyourprocessmaintains consistency and stability. Whenever possible our aim should be to limit wasted motion, reaching,oranyothernonvalueaddedaction. StandardWIP Finally,wemustdiscussStandardWorkinProcess(SWIP).SWIPiscalculatedasfollows: StandardWIP=(ManualTime+AutoTime)/TaktTime Whenaprocessisoperatingat,orslightlylessthan,takttime,SWIPwillusuallybe1piece.An exceptiontothisrulewouldbeiftwosequentialprocessessummedcycletimewaslessthan takt time. In this case, you may only have one piece of SWIP for these two processes. If a processhasacycletimegreaterthantakttime,SWIPwillbeatleast2pieces,possiblymore, dependingonhowtheformulaworksout. TolearnmoreaboutStandardWIPcheckthispostoutbyJonMiller. Summary We have only discussed the basics of standard work in this chapter. There is much more to standard work including things such as the cycle time / takt time bar chart and the standard workcombinationsheet. But if you understand the basics outlined in this chapter, you will be well on your way to a betterandmoreefficientprocessnomatterifyourtitleisblackbeltorleanspecialist.

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Chapter7:WhyFlowCounterClockwise?
When designing a ushaped cell it is often recommended that material flows in a counter clockwisedirection.Whyisthis? Itsabouttherighthand Researchshowsthatmostpeoplearerighthanded.Ihaveheardthatasmanyas85%to90% arerighthanded.Whydoesthismatter,youmightwonder? Well,whenyouthinkaboutwhathappensinacell,weknowthatfirstwepicktheproductup. Sincewehavetoaimsotospeaktopickitupwetendtowanttouseourdominatehand. Then, once we have added value to the product,we are ready to pass it on to the downstream process. There is not much aiming involved with simply placingsomething down. So,withthisknown,wecanseewhyhavingthingsflowcounterclockwiseorlefthandinside makes sense when most people are right handed. We pick up with our right hand (when we needtoaim)thenputitdownwithourleft(whennoaimisneeded). Itsaboutthehorses Whiletherighthanddominateaspectmaybethemost commonreasonforflowingcounterclockwise,thereis anotherreasonthatisquiteinteresting. Haveyoueverseenahorseraceheldwherethehorses ranclockwise?Probablynot.IneveryhorseraceIhave seenthehorsesruncounterclockwise.Thesamething appliesfortrackathletesandracecars.Theyalsomovearoundthetrackinacounterclockwise manner.

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You may not have ever given this much thought but there is actually quite a bit of brain sciencebehindthis.Imustgivecredittomyfriendandmentor,JonMiller,forfirstexplaining thistome.Well,heexplainedittoalotofpeopleinthispostsometimeago.Hewrote: One of the strongest reasons given for the innate left hand inside preference for humanmotioncomesfrombrainscience.AccordingtoaProfessorMatsumoto,sincethe rightbrainprocessesspatialrecognitionhumanperceptionofspaceisstrongerthrough theleftsideofvision(thehemispheresofthebraincontroloppositesidesofthebody). Whenyouarerunninglefthandinsideorcounterclockwise,youhavebettervisibilityof spaceontheleftsideandyouareabletorunmorecomfortably,confidently,andquickly. Hereisalittletestforyou.Ifyoudontbelievethisbrainsciencestuff,headtotheclosesttrack and run a lap headed clockwise and time yourself. Then, take a rest and run another lap counterclockwise and time yourself. Chances are very good that your counter clockwise time willbeseveralsecondsfasterthanyourclockwisetime. Ofcourseyoushoulddothisafewtimestomakesure.Inadditiontolearningaboutlean,you will be doing some great exercising which is lean as well I guess. Yeah, I know, that was a reallybadjoke. MycellflowsclockwiseamIevil? Sowhattodoifyourcellorcellsflowclockwise?Doesthismeanyouarenotlean?Ofcourse not. In fact, I recently talked to some folks who initially designed a cell to flow counter clockwise but after piloting it, the operators complained and offered some reasons why they preferredtoflowclockwisewhichtheengineerstookintoconsiderationandmadethechanges. So,takethischapterwithagrainofsaltandbesuretotestwhateversolutionyouimplement. Intheend,thefolksworkingonthelineneedtobecomfortablewithwhateveryoucomeup with.

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Chapter8:JidokaTheForgottenPillar
In the Toyota Production System house there are two pillars. TheonepillarmostofthebooksarewrittenaboutisJIT. You know all the fun stuff about takt time, one piece flow,andpull. But there is an entire other pillar that, in my opinion, doesnotgetenoughrespect.Thatotherpillarisjidoka. Toyotaswebsitedefinesjidokaasfollows: The term jidoka used in the TPS can be defined as automation with a human touch. The word jidoka traces its roots to the automatic loom invented by Sakichi Toyoda, Founder of the Toyota Group. The automatic loom is a machine that spins thread for clothandweavestextilesautomatically. Therearefourmainstepstojidoka.Theyare: 1) Detecttheabnormalityordefect 2) Stopdoingwhatyouaredoingsomethingiswrong! 3) Fixtheissue 4) Investigatetherootcauseandensureitdoesnthappenagain PokaYoke,orerrorproofing,isanexcellenttooltoensurejidokaisinplace.Onceyouidentifya failuremode,thebestcontrolofallisaPokaYokedevice.Somecallthismistakeproofingwhile otherscallitidiotproofing.Bothwork,Isuppose,butmistakeproofingsoundsmorerespectful (rememberakeytenettoleanisrespectingpeople). IfyouhavenevervisitedToyotasTPSwebsite,Ihighlyrecommendit.

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Chapter9:HeijunkaintheFrontOffice
In the house of Toyota, heijunkabelongs in the foundation. Sadly, manypeopledismiss this critical lean concept explaining how it isnt relevantfortheirbusiness. Heijunka which is properly pronounced (hey junekah)andnot(heyjunkah)isdefinedinthe LeanLexiconThirdEditionas: Leveling the type and quantity of production over a fixed period of time. This enables productiontoefficientlymeetcustomerdemandswhileavoidingbatchingandresultsin minimum inventories, capital costs, manpower, and production lead time through the wholevaluestream. We normally hear about heijunkain the manufacturing environment. Assuminga factory can change overtheir machinesin an expedient manner, (a prerequisitefor heijunka) a leveled productionsystemmaylooksomethinglikethis.Notethat(c)standsforchangeover.

AAA(c)BB(c)C(c)AAA(c)BB(c)C(c)AAA(c)BB(c)C

Comparethistothewayamassproducerwouldlikelyapproachthissamedemandstructure keeping in mind their changeover time is likely muchgreater when compared to the lean producer.

AAAAAAAAA(c)BBBBBB(c)CCC

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Whataboutthefrontoffice? Canweapplythesame,orsimilar,ideainthelandof cubicles?Definitely.Letsseehow. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by using a heijunkawheelasshowninthepicturetotheright.Inthe wheel we can place the work, normally in folders, to be doneintheslotsinaleveledandbalancedmanner. Forworkthatneedstobedonedaily,thelabelsalongthe top(thepitch)maybenoted,forexample,inhoursor30minuteintervals.Forworkthatneeds tobedoneweeklywemaynotetheparticularday(Monday,Tuesday,etc.)onthelabel. Anotherpowerfulapproachistoplaceallthefoldersinprocessinanuprightposition.Then, oncetheworkhasbeencompleted,laythefolderonitsback.Thisisapowerfulvisualcontrol thatletsanyoneandeveryonethatwalksbytheheijunkawheelseehowthingsaregoing. Wecanalsostore,withintheheijunkawheel,standardworkinstructions,trainingrecords,and otherdocumentation. Thebenefitsofusingaheijunkawheelaremany.Someofthemost obviousarethatpeople knowwhattheyaretodoandwhentodoit.Thereisnomoreguessingorwonderingwhatto workonnext.Andifanindividualfallsbehind,theywillknowitimmediatelyandcanaskfor helpbeforeseverelyimpactingtheentiresystem.

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Chapter10:WhyHeijunka?Part1
B.D.asked,YouretalkingaboutHOWtodoheijunka,butImnotseeingWHY. Great comment B.D. I will attempt to answer the why here this evening. Lets dig into the manufacturingsideofthingstonightandtomorrownightIwillwriteaboutheijunkainthefront office. TaiichisTakeonHeijunka First,letsstartwithsomewordsofwisdomfromamanofimmensewisdom. Theslowerbutconsistenttortoisecauseslesswasteandismuchmoredesirablethan the speedy hare that races ahead and then stops occasionally to doze. The Toyota ProductionSystemcanberealizedonlywhenalltheworkersbecometortoises. TaiichiOhno HeijunkaReview Last night we introduced the basic concepts of heijunka. Lets assume a company generally sellsequalamountsoftwoparticularproductsAandB. AmassproducerwouldlikelytoolupandrunagiantpileofAs,switchoverandrunanother giantpileofBs.TheseevilpeopleOK,theyarenoteviljustmisguided,normallylivebythe mantrabuilditandtheorderswillcome.Funnythingthoseorderswhenwewantthemto come,theyrarelydo.Andwhenwearenotquiteready,theyfloodin. In this same situation, a lean producer would likely attack this demand as follows: ABABABABABABABAB.Ifyouarenewtolean,thisisperhapsthemostcounterintuitivething you have ever seen. I will grant you this I really struggled with heijunka myself. But by keepinganopenmindandactuallyseeingitwork,Icametobelieve.

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SoWhyHeijunka? There are many reasons for implementing heijunka. I will touch on a few that helped me understandthisconcept. First,buildinginhugebatchesisnotoptimalformanyreasons.Onethatimpactedmegreatly atmypreviouscompany(amobilephonemanufacturer)wasthatcustomerschangetheirmind alot. Forexample,ifIthoughtIneeded100redtoasters,50bluetoasters,and25greentoastersthis monthbasedonhardordersandaforecast,Imaysetoffandbuildall 100redtoastersfirst, thenalltheblue,andlastbutnotleastthoseshinygreentoasters. This is all well and good until the worst thing that could ever happen to a mass producer happens. Lets say we are on red toaster number 98 and our friend Sal, from sales, calls and explains, Hey buddy, great news! I just got our customer to commit to 200 blue toasters! Isnt this great?Imeanwearemakingakillingonthebluetoasters.Oh,yeah,andRon(Isheepishly answeryes)theyonlywant25redtoastersnowsocanyoujusttweakthatlittleMRPsystemof yoursandmakeithappen?Thanksbuddy.Yourethebest. WhilethismaybegreatnewsforSal,Iamnowstuckwithabunchofredtoasters.Granted,we maysellthemnextmonth.Butnowweenterthatdangerousgameofdemandgamblingand thegoodguysrarelywinthisbet. Now, had we leveled production as previously discussed, we may have only produced a few red,blue,andgreentoastersenablingustobemuchmoreflexibleandnotbestuckwithallthe red toasters. Truth be told, even lean producers get nailed with demand changes but thesesituationsarefewandfarbetweenascomparedtowhatmassproducersdealwith.

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AdditionalBenefits Therearemanymoreadvantagestoheijunka. Thebullwhipeffectiscommoninmassproductioncircles.Theslighttwistofthewrist(i.e. demand) can create a massive strike at the end of the bull whip. This means even small demandvariationscanwreakhavocthroughoutourplantandespeciallywithoursuppliers. When we level production, the entire value stream, including our suppliers, can cope much better. Heijunkaalsoallowsustoscheduleresources(equipment,employees,etc.)inamorebalanced manner. Instead of having employees stand around in January or February, when demand is lower,andthenwatchingthemrunaroundlikemaniacsandpayingmandatoryovertimein OctoberandNovemberduringthepeakseason,wecanlevelthedemandproducingthesame orsimilaramountsthroughouttheyear. Insomecasesthismaymeanoverproducingandcarryingasmallamountofinventoryduring theslowseasonsasweprepareforthepeakseason.Whilenottheperfectsituationthisisfar betterthanthealternative. TherearemanymoreadvantagesIamnotdiscussing.Thereareentirebookswrittenonthe topic.Buttheseareafewofthebiggiesthathelpedmegetovertheheijunkahump. ChallengestoHeijunka Whataboutthechallengestoheijunka?Dr.JeffreyLikerexplainsthatimplementingheijunkais aselfinflictedchoice.Soundspainful,eh? WhatDr.Likermeansisthatwhenweimplementheijunka,andonepieceflowforthatmatter, wecannolongerallowthingslikelongchangeoverstoexist,ortoproducedefectafterdefect, ortobasicallyhidebehindthepilesofinventorymassproducersdo.Thesecrutchesaregone.

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Butevenwiththesechallenges,heijunkayieldsfarmoreadvantagesoncethesystemisworking asasmoothmachine.Now,letsdiscussheijunkainthefrontoffice.

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Chapter11:WhyHeijunka?Part2
In chapter 10 we discussed why we would use heijunka in a manufacturing environment in responsetoareadersquestion.Now,letusfocusinonwhywewouldwanttouseheijunka, orleveling,inanofficeenvironment. This could bea very short chapter as I could say we use heijunka in the office for the same reasons we use it in manufacturing. But as you probably guessed,I willnotbe taking that approachinthischapter. LevelinginaRestaurant Oneplacewecanseetheimportanceoflevelinginanon manufacturingenvironmentisatsitdownrestaurants. Normallywhenyouwalkintoyourfavoritesteakhouse,(I preferSaltgrass)thereisapersonstandingtherestudying adiagram/layoutoftherestaurant.Sincethereareafinite numbers of waiters and waitresses (and tables for that matter)eachcustomermustbecarefullyseated. Ifcareisnottaken,aparticularwaitermaybestressedtothemaxwhileanotherwaitressmay be standing around complaining as she is not making any tips. Also, customers may grow frustratedastheyseetheirwaiterrunningaroundandtakingalongtimetofilluptheirdrink whilethewaitressisofftalkingwithhermates. Thus,normallycustomersareseatedinabalanced/levelmanner.Eventually,onbusynights,all tablesmaybecomeoccupiedinwhichcaselevelingfliesoutthedoor.Nowweenterintothe worldofqueuingtheory.

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LevelingOfficeWork Ontheshopfloor,weproducewidgetsofsometype.Inanofficewealsocreatewidgets.Only these widgets are thingssuch asinvoices, quotes, BOMs, drawings, etc. In some industries thesefrontofficetasksmayevenbeaconstraint.Sounderstandinghowtobelevelorsmooth workinthefrontofficeareaisequally,andinsomecases,moreimportantthantheshopfloor. AccountsPayableExample Letsseehowlevelingcouldhelpanaccountspayabledepartment.Inthissituationthewidgets beingproducedareinvoices.TheAPclerkscouldjustflybytheseatoftheirpantsandallwork onwhatevertheywantexpeditingthehottestitemwhensomeoneyellsloudenough. Orthesesameclerkscoulddeterminehowmanyinvoicestheygenerallyprocessinaweekor month.Fromthis,theycouldcalculatethetakttime(availabletime/demand)andpitch(takt timexpackoutquantityorinthiscasereasonableamountofinvoicesneededatanyonetime). Armed with this information, they could use a heijunka box or heijunka wheel to level the amountofworkeachAPemployeeisexpectedtodo. Bob,forexample,wouldnowbeabletolookattheheijunkawheelandknowexactlywhathe wastodoandwhentodoit.Thiswillhelphimpacehisworkandalsoaskforhelpifhefalls behind. This would be similar to a Toyota employee stopping the line when a problem is noticed. BalancingAct Manytimes,peoplelikeBobhaveothertaskstodoinadditiontoprocessinginvoices.Allthese otheritemscanandshouldbetakenintoconsiderationwhendetermininghowtolevelloadhis responsibilities.Nothingismorefrustratingtoanemployeethanbeingaskedtodo12hoursof workinan8hourday. Inthissense,thewaitressandAPclerkaremorealikethanmanypeoplerealize.

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AdditionalResources Tobesure,heijunkaisoneofthemoreadvancedleanconcepts.Youwouldnotnormallybegin yourleanjourneybyimplementingheijunka. Instead,focusingonvaluestreammapping,standardwork,flow,pull,anddefectreductionfirst is wise. With this said, when you are ready to look at heijunka let me offer the following articles/booksasexcellentresources.

CreatingLevelPull SMEHeijunkaArticle WikipediaExplanation SuperfactoryonHeijunka

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Chapter12:SingleMinuteExchangeofDies(SMED)
One of the core principles to making a lean system work is Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED). You may also hear it referred to as Quick Changeover especially in western companies. CommonMisconceptions Contrarytowhatsomethink,SMEDisnotjustforthefolksontheshopfloor.Ionceheardan individualstate,WedontusediesheresoSMEDisnotrelevant.SMEDisaconceptandisjust asrelevantinthefrontoffice.Andnohugediesarenotrequired! Anothercommonmisunderstandingstemsaroundthetermsingleminute.Sometakethisto meanthatachangeovermusthappenin60secondsorless.Thisisnot,andneverwas,theidea aroundSMED. Instead,ouraimistoreducethetimeittakestoswitchfromthelastgoodpartofproductA tothenextgoodpartofproductBinlessthan10minutes(generally). 7stepstoSMED Dependingonwhichbookyoureadorexpertyoutalkto,therearegenerallyaround7steps followedwhenimprovingchangeovers. 1. Observe the current process. An extremely valuable tool to help with this step is the videocamera!Becarefulthoughasinsomecountriesvideocamerascangetyouinto hotwaterwithworkerunions,etc.Sobesuretocheckallthelocalregulations.Also,be suretoaskthepeopleyouplantovideotapefortheirblessing.Youcanmakefriends andenemiesatthisstageofthegameIrecommendyouaimforthefriendlysideof things. 2. Categorize INTERNAL and EXTERNAL activities. This is perhaps the most important conceptbehindSMED.Internalactivitiesarethosethatcanonlybecompletedwhenthe

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machineorprocessinquestionisnotrunning.Youcannot,forexample,changethebit onarunningdrill.AtleastIdontrecommendit!Externaltasksarethosethingsthatcan be done while the machine or process is running. For example, you may be able to knock out the paperwork required, gather tools and materials, and essentially get everythingyouneedreadybeforethemachineorprocessstops. 3. When possible convert internal activities into external activities. Are there things we candowhilethemachineisrunningsowedontwastetimeonceithasstopped?My Mom used to make me lay my clothes out for school the night before so I wasnt searchingforsocksinthemorning.ShewasteachingmeSMEDandIdidntevenknow it.Blessher! 4. Maketheremaininginternalactivitiesflow.Fortasksthatcannotbemovedexternally, ournextfocusistodothemasfastaspossible.Thinkofthepitcrewforyourfavorite racingteam.Theyhavemasteredthisstep!Also,ifweneedtoscrewthingsdown,how canwereducethenumberofturnsrequired(i.e.shorterbolts,wingnuts,etc.)?Anddo wereallyneed28boltsholdingthefixtureinplace?Maybe.Maybenot.Ofcourse,do not jeopardize anyones safety. But often times no one has asked why there are 28 bolts! 5. Similar to step 4 we also need to optimize the external activities. Again, think about makingthingsflowasefficientlyaspossiblewithnostopping,waiting,ordefects. 6. Document the new procedure so it is repeatable and reproducible. Is it possible to video an excellent changeover so new employees can watch it and learn from it? Of course, having things written down in words is important but seeing it on video may reallyacceleratethelearningexperienceofanewassociate. 7. Pursue Perfection. As with all things lean and six sigma we must constantly work to make things better and faster. A good strategy is to attempt to halve the current changeovertime.Soifittakesyou2hourstoday,aimtogetitdownto1hourafterthe SMED kaizen event! Our ultimate aim may be to change things over in less than 10 minutesbutthisprobablywonthappenimmediately.

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Summary Inorderto makethingslikelevelloading(heijunka)areality,wemustbeabletochangeour machinesoverquickly. ThereareexcellentbooksonthistopicthatgointomuchgreaterdetailthanIhavehere. Finally,JonMillerhaswrittenonthistopichere.AndthegoodmenoveratEvolvingExcellence havesomeexcellentfoodforthoughthere.

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Chapter13:OEENotJustforTPMPrograms!
If someone were to force me into a corner and only allow me to use one metric in my plant, I would have to choose Overall Equipment Effectiveness(OEE).ThereasonIwouldpickitissimpleitisreally3 metrics in one! Here is a quick summary of how this powerful metric works. The3PiecesofOEE OEElooksat3areas: 1. Performance: Here we compare the actual output with what that particular piece of equipment should be producing. We are really focusing in on what we call speed losses.Forexample,duetothehardnessofaparticularmaterialthelathemayneedto run at a slower speed than normal. So, in a given day a machine should produce 100 widgetsbutattheendofthedayitonlyproduces85widgetssowehaveaperformance of85%(85/100). 2. Availability:Herewelookathowmuchtimeisavailabletorunthemachine(takingout breaks, etc.) and how much we actually ran the machine. With availability we are primarily looking at our losses associated with downtime. Things like setup time, machinebreakdowns,andstartuplossesarecommonculpritsofavailabilitylosses.So,if there were 7 hours available to run the machine and we actually ran 6 hours our performanceis86%(6/7). 3. Quality:LastlyOEEalsolooksatquality.If80outofthe85widgetswereacceptable(5 bad)wehaveaqualityscoreof94%(80/85). OncewehaveourthreepercentageswesimplymultiplythemtogethertogetourOEE.Inour example,wehaveanOEEof69%(85%x86%x94%).

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Dependingonwhichbookyoureadorconsultantyoutalktoyouwillhearvariousopinionsof whatworldclassOEEis.IworkwiththethoughtthatifyouhaveanOEEof80%ormore,you aredoingwell.Reallywell,actually! NotJustforTPMPrograms! One thing that bothers me immensely is how some people think OEE is just a maintenance thing.Ifwegobacktotheaforementionedbooksandexperts,wemostlyhearaboutOEEinthe TPM(TotalProductiveMaintenance)chapterortrainingmodule.ThisisfineasOEEandTPM definitelygotogether. But,letmejustgetonmysoapboxforabit.OEEisarguabletomostholisticproductivitymetric known to mankind. So if you think the maintenance guys are the only people that should be drivingOEEwiththeirTPMprogramyouaredeadwrong. Anyone and everyone that cares how many widgets are produced in the plant should care aboutOEE.Theoperatorshouldcare(andbeintimatelyinvolvedincapturingthedata).Theline supervisorshouldcare.Thequalitymanagershouldcare.Theplantmanagershoulddefinitely care. The maintenance team should care. Even the controller, who wants to see all the cash flowingonthefinancialstatements,shouldcare.Heck,yoursignificantother,whowantstosee youemployedforalongtime,shouldcareaboutOEE!Itsjustthatimportant. Here is afree video and OEE calculator you can download. And yes, I know,it is in the TPM sectionofthiswebsite.Cestlavie!

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Chapter14:ValueStreamMappingOverview
Oneof,ifnotthesinglemostpowerfulleantoolavailable to us is value stream mapping (VSM). The reason its so powerfulisbecauseofitsrelevancy. You see, it doesnt matter if you are an accountant who sits behind a desk, or a nurse caring for the sick, or an assembler building a Toyota Camry value stream mappingcanhelpyouseewastefulactivityinanewway.I guaranteeit. DefinitionofaValueStream A value stream can be defined as all the steps both value added and non value added required to take a product or service from its raw materials state into the waiting arms of a happycustomer. VSMOverview Initially,valuestreammappingcanseemabitintimidating.Therearelotsoffunnylookingicons andzigzaggylinesthatuponfirstglanceseemtodonothingbutconfusethings.Butonceyou understandwhatyouarelookingatyouwillbehookedforever. Likemostthingsrelatedtoleanandsixsigmatherearesomegeneralstepstofollowwhenwe createvaluestreammaps.HereishowIdoit. Step1:IdentifytheProductFamily ThefirststepIrecommendyoutakeistoidentifytheproductfamilyyouwishtomap.Thetool to use for this is a PQPR (Product Quantity / Product Routing) matrix. This tool will help you identifywhichproductorinsomecasesproductstofocusinon. I cannot stress how important this step is. I have seen too many excited people run out and start mapping the first product or process they see. While value stream mapping anything is betterthannothingyoudefinitelywanttofocusyoureffortsonthemostimportantareasfirst. Step2:CreateaCurrentStateValueStreamMap Once you identify what to map you and your motley crew must set off and create a current statevaluestreammap.

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Asthenameimpliesweareinterestedinhowthingslooktoday.Wearenotinterestedinhow thingsshouldlookorweredesignedtolook.No,wewanttodrawrealityontoapieceof paper. Thepieceofpaperisakeypoint.WhileIamabigadvocateofusingsoftwaretodrawourfinal mapsup,IcringewhenIseepeopleattemptingtogostraighttothecomputer. Astopwatch,oversizedpieceofpaper,pencil,andgooderaserareallyouneedatthispoint. Step3:CreateaFutureStateValueStreamMap Nowthatwehaveabetterunderstandingofthecurrentstateofaffairs,whichistypicallyone eyeopeningexperiencebytheway,wearereadytodrawapictureofhowwewouldlikethings tolookinthefuture. Typically,asanexample,weaimtomakethingsflowandreducetheamountofinventoryor waitinginbetweensteps. Itsatthispointwhenpeoplegettodreamalittle.Youknow,createtheidealworkingplace. Step4:CreateanActionPlan Nowthatweknowhowthingsareworkingtodayandhowwewouldliketoseethemworking inthefutureitstimetoformaplan. Thereareavarietyoftemplatesavailableforthis.ThekeyisnotwhichkaizennewspaperorA3 reportyouuseinsteaditsthatyouandyourteamknowexactlywhatneedstohappenand whenitneedstohappen. Inshort,weformtheplanthenexecutetheplan!

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Chapter15:HowtoCreateaPQPRMatrix
Inordertogarnermaximumbenefitsfromyourvaluestreammappingefforts,itisimportantto takesometimeupfrontinordertoidentifytheproductfamilyyouwishtostudyandimprove. ThefirsttoolIrecommendyoulookatisaproductquantitymatrix.Thebasicpremisehereis that you should target your higher volume products for improvement first. Here is a 2 step roadmapfordoingjustthis. 1. Collectproductionoutputdatabothinunitsshippedandsalesfigures.Asa startingruleofthumbIrecommendattemptingtocollect6to12monthsworthof data. 2. CreateaParetochartwiththisdatainattemptstoidentifywheretofocusfirst (e.g.highestvolumeproducts). Insomecasesyoumayhavetworesults.Thefirstplacewinnerbasedonunitsshippedmay beproductABC.However,thefirstplacewinnerbasedonsalesdollarsmaybeproductXYZ. Inthesesituationsitisuptothemanagementteamtomakethecallastowheretofocus. Sincethisisallbasedonhistoricalfacts,youcantweakthismethodeversoslightlybyincluding forwardlookingforecasts.Butbecarefulsincetheonlythingcertainwithaforecastisthatits certaintobewrong. ProductRoutingMatrix Iftheresultsoftheproductquantitymatrixareinconclusivewecanlookatanothertoolthe productroutingmatrix. Withthistoolweareinterestedtolearnhoweachproductfamilymovesthroughtheprocess. Forexample,docertainproductspassthroughtheexactsamemachines?Ifso,wecanactually groupthemtogetherandcreateonesetofvaluestreammapscoveringbothproducts.

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CombiningtheTools

While eachof these tools can work well on their own, it is my opinion they areat their best whenworkingtogether. InthepictureaboveweseethatABCtooktheprizeformostunitsshipped,andXYZmadeus themostmoney. Then, when we looked at the routings we saw that ABC and QRS actually went through the samemanufacturingsteps.Further,productQRSwasaclosesecondplaceonsales$andthird placeforunitsshipped. So,inthisexampletheteamdecidedtomapproductABCandQRStogether. Summary Thatsreallyallisthereistothistool.Obviously,reallifeexampleswillbefarmorecomplex thanmysimplescenario.Buttheprocessyouuseshouldbenodifferent. Lastly, this same process works in front office/transactional environments as well. Instead of lookingatmachinesyoumayinsteadlookathowapieceofpaperflowsthroughtheoffice(e.g. whichfunctionaldepartmentstouchit).

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Chapter16:CurrentStateValueStreamMapping
Whenever there is a product for a customer, there is a value stream. The challenge lies in seeingit. LearningtoSee,LeanEnterpriseInstitute Inthischapterwewilldiscusshowtogoaboutcreatingacurrentstatevaluestreammap. Itiswhatitis ThekeytocreatinganexcellentcurrentstateVSMistodocumentwhatyouactuallyseewith yourowneyes.Wearenotinterestedinhowtheprocessissupposedtowork,orwasdesigned towork. Instead,weareinterestedinhowtheprocessisperformingtoday.Willtheprocesschangeabit tomorrow?Sure.ButthatsOK. FunwithIcons IrememberthefirsttimeIsawavaluestreammap.Iwonderedhowanyonecouldbenefitfrom it.Itwasabitmessy,andIdidntknowwhatanyofthelittleshapesandiconsmeant.Inshort,I wasabitintimidatedbythewholeexperience. Luckily,IhadsomegreatinstructorsandIdidquiteabitofselfstudytogetpastmyinitialfears. So,theonlywayyouwillnotbeabitintimidated(assumingyouhaveneverseenaVSMbefore thatis)istostudyabitandpractice,practice,practice.Therearereallyonlyahandfulloficons youwillalwaysuse.Andfortherest,youcanuseacheatsheetlikeIdo! Tohelpyoualong,Ifoundthiswebsitethatoffersgood(andfree)explanationsonmanyofthe keyVSMiconsyouwillneedtoknow.AnotherexcellentresourceisthisVSMQuickReference GuidefromourfriendsoveratGembaResearch.Itsnotfree,butdefinitelyworththemoney.

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Itstimetocreatethemap! OK,letslearnhowtocreateacurrentstatevaluestreammap.TohelpyouvisualizethingsI havecreatedafictitiousexampleofapeanutbutterandjellysandwichfactory. OurPB&JmanufacturingcompanygoesbythenameofKB&RInc.Forthoseinterested,thats thefirstletterofeachofmythreekidsnames! Step1:Calculatetakttime.Dontproceeduntilthisstepisdone.Ifyoudontrememberhowto calculatetakttimethisfreeresourceshouldhelpyoualong. Inourexample,wehaveadailydemandof700pieceswiththefollowingarrangement.

Hourspershift:8 Breakminutespershift:30 Shiftsperday:1 Daysperweek:5

Irecommendyoupracticepunchingthisout.Butincaseyoudont,Illtellyouthetakttimeis 39secondsperpiece.Inotherwords,weneedtoproduceaPB&Jsandwichevery39secondsin ordertosatisfycustomerdemand. Step 2: Get a pencil and BIG eraser. The best value stream maps have eraser marks all over them.Please,Ibegyou;dontuseapenwhendrawingthese. Step3:Haveabigpieceofpaperready.Yourstandard8.5x11pieceofpaperwontcutit. Personally,Ipreferthe11x17papersize.Itsbig,butnottoobigtocarryaround. Finally,whileIwillbedrawingthevaluestreammapusingsoftwareinthisarticle,Irecommend youalwaysdrawthemaponpaperfirst.Then,whenyouarereadytoshareyourmasterpiece withseniormanagementyoumaychoosetogoforthesoftware.

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Step4: Walkthe processfrontto back.Quicklywalktheprocesswithyourteaminorder to understand the general flow. Its important to also define the start and stop point of the process.Dontattempttotakeontoomuch.Remember,weeatanelephantonebiteatatime. Step5:Drawinthecustomerbox/details.Inthetoprighthandsideofthepaperwedrawthe littlesawtoppedboxrepresentingourcustomer.

Wealsonotetheirmonthlyand/ordailydemandalongwiththetakttimeascalculatedinstep one. Step 6: Go to the end! Next, we start at the END of the process and begin drawing the map backtofront.Anddontforgetaboutthateraser.Youwillneedit.Irecommendyounominatea scribeandhavethemdrawthemapfortheteam. Another trick is to ask each person on the team to map it out so you can compare and consolidatewhenyougetbacktotheroom.Yetanothertrickistohavetheteamdivideand conquerasyousendsomeofftomapthebeginningsection,sometothemiddle,andsometo theend. Therearemanywaystodothis.Experimentanddowhatworksbestforyoursituation. Step7:Focusonthematerialflowfirst.Focusonthematerialflowsideofthingsfirst(bottom portionofthemap).Thisincludestheprocessboxesanddataboxes.

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Regardingthedataboxes,ifyoudonthaveallthedataperfectlycollectedonthedayofthe mapping exercise just do the best you can. You can always assign homework to go back and validatethefigureslater.

Infact,evenifyouthinkyouhavesoliddata,Iurgeyoutovalidateyourmeasurementsystems to make sure we can trust the data. If you want to get really tricky state both a measure of central tendency and dispersion. You wont see this advice in most lean VSM books I guaranteeit! AfterstudyingtheKB&Rmanufacturingprocessforanafternoonwelearnedthateachprocess step is staffed with 1 operator. We also collected cycle time information at each step. Additional homework will be to collect information such as defect rates and changeover times. Step8:AddtheInventory/WaitTimes.Onceyouhavealltheprocessanddataboxesin,its timetoaddininventoryand/orwaitingtimes.ThesearethelittleyellowtriangleswithanIin themiddle. Forinventory,wesimplycountthenumberofpiecesinbetweentheprocessesandnotethem underthetriangle.

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We also want to convert these pieces into days supply. To do this, we divide the number of piecesbytheaveragedailydemand(whichweusedtocalculatetakttime). So,ifyouraveragedailydemandis10piecesandyoucount20piecesofinventoryinbetween process step A and process step B you have 2 days supply (20/10) in between the two processes.Wewillnotethisnumberonourtimeline(tobeaddedinafuturestep). Lastly,dontattempttomapeverypartnumber!Chooseoneortwokeycomponentstostart with.Youcanalwaysaddmoretothemaplater. Inourexample,wechosetosimplycounttwopiecesofbreadasonesubassemblysincethey movetogetherdowntheproductionline. Also,wearenotaccountingforthepeanutbutterandjellyrawmaterialatthispointsince KB&RsexpertsupplychainteamnegotiatedakillerconsignmentstockdealwithSamsClubso thisinventoryisquitelowontheline. Duringthestudy,welearnedthat,asoneexample,therewere486subassemblies(972pieces of bread) in between the jelly application and packaging stations. This equates to 0.69 days supply(486units/700dailydemand).

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Lastly,duringthewalkthroughoftheprocesswenoticedthateachprocessstepseemedtobe workinginisolation.Inotherwords,theladyworkingatthepeanutbutterapplicationseemed to produce as many units as she could and then pushed them along to the jelly application process. Thispushprocessisfoundinjustabouteverymassproductionprocessknowntomankind. WhenweseethispushingactionwenoteitonaVSMwithadashedlinethroughtheyellow inventorysymbol. Step9:Drawintheinformationflow.ThisstepiswhatreallyseparatesaVSMfromtraditional processmapsinmyopinion.Yousee,inadditiontolearningabouthowmaterialflowswealso wanttounderstandhowinformationflows. For example, we want to know it is moves about electronically? If so, we use a lighting bolt lookingarrowedline.Isitcommunicatedmanually?Ifso,weuseastraightarrowedline. Duringthisstepwealsodrawinourproductioncontrolbox.Formany,thisboxwillincludethe letters MRP in it. In most mass production systems we typically see several manual information(straight)linescomingoutoftheMRPboxaimedstraightateachprocessstepbox. Inourexample,welearnedthatproductionscheduleseachprocessstepinisolation.Inother words, each work station gets its unique production schedule. We draw this using straight manualinformationlines.

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We also add in the information flow from our customers as well as to our suppliers. In our example, we learned that PB&Js customer sends 30 days electronic forecasts as well as electronicdailyorders.Conversely,PB&Jsendsitsbreadsupplieranelectronicweeklyforecast.

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Step10:Addinthetimeline.Wecannowaddthetimelinetothebottomofthevaluestream map.Thissawtoothlookinglinehelpsusseparatethevalueaddedcycletime(takenfromdata boxes)fromthenonvalueaddedtime(daysorhourssupplyinfo).

Thelaststepintheprocessistosumupallthevalueaddcycletimesandnotethematthe end of the timeline. Likewise, we also sum up the inventory times and note that on the timeline. Inourexample,thetotalvalueaddcycletimesumsto97secondsandthetotalnonvalueadd inventorytimesumsto2.39days!Wecallthetotalinventorytimetheproductionleadtime (PLT). Tocalculatetheprocesscycleefficiency(PCE)wedividethevalueaddtimebythePLT.When we do this we get a PCE of 0.15%. To gain a better understanding of the PCE statistic let me referyoutothisarticle.

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Summary Andthatsitmyfriends.Youjustcreatedacurrentstatevaluestreammap.Thismayseemabit daunting initially, but with just a little practice you will be a current state VSM drawing machine! Upnext,wewillseewhatimprovementsweenvisionforthisprocessaswedrawupafuture statevaluestreammap.

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Chapter17:FutureStateValueStreamMapping
IHaveaDream! TheprocessofcreatingafuturestateVSMcanbequiteexcitingascreativityandexcitement mergetogether.Itstimetodreamalittleasweworktocreatebetter,safer,moreproductive workplace.And,pleasebesuretohavesomefunduringtheprocess! Inthelastarticlewedocumentedthecurrentstateprocessofourfictitiouspeanutbutterand jellysandwichfactory.Welearnedthefollowing.

Wehaveaproductionleadtime(PLT)of2.39days Thetotalvalueaddedtime(VA/T)is97seconds Theprocesscycleefficiency(PCE)is0.15%

Obviously,wehaveroomforimprovement.Andwhilethisisacompletelyfabricatedexample, Ithinkyouwillfindsimilaropportunitiesinyouroperation. Letsseewhatimprovementsweforesee. Step1:CreateaCycleTime/TaktTimeGraph. Fromthedatacollectedandcalculatedduring thecreationofthecurrentstateVSMweare able to draw a cycle time / takt time graph. This graph simply compares the individual cycle times to the overall takt time of our process. This is an important step as it will help us make decisions as to how and what to improve in future steps. Click the above picture to see what this looks like for our example.

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As you can see, both the peanut butter and jelly application steps are under takt time. The packagingstep,however,isovertakttimeandiscauseforalarm.Initscurrentstate,weare notcapableofmeetingcustomerdemandwithouttheuseofovertime. Step2:Decideifyouwillbuildtostockormaketoorder.Next,wemustdecidewhattypeof distribution model we will develop. Will we build to a finished goods supermarket or ship directlytothecustomer?

In our example, we only produce one product and customer demand is relatively stable. Therefore, it would make the most sense to develop a make to order model. This means we wouldonlyproducewhatthecustomerwanted,whentheywantedit. Now, since most companies produce more than one product and battle inaccurate sales forecasts,buildingtoafinishedgoodssupermarketoftenmakesthemostsense. One normally asks, Isnt this just building up inventory one of the 7 deadly wastes? The answerisyes.But,thekeydifferenceiswearecontrollingtheinventorylevelsinsteadofthe inventorylevelscontrollingus. So,forsakeofexample,wewillassumethefolksatKB&R,Inc.decidedtoimplementafinished good supermarket where they will hold 0.5 days supply of finished stock (a.k.a. PB&J sandwiches)beforeshippingasdemonstratedinthepicture.

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Step3:CalculateOptimalCrewSizeandImplementOnePieceFlow.Currently,theoperators at KB&R work in isolation. You could say they allwork to their own drum beat. Whenever possible,ourgoalasleanpractitioners,shouldbetogetalloperationsproducingtothesame beatnamelytakttime. Aswelearnedinstep1,boththepeanutbutterandjellyapplicationcycletimesareundertakt timewhilethepackagingstepisover.Thisneedstobeaddressed. Thesolutionistorebalancetheworkandimplementonepieceflow.Theteamfirstdetermined theoptimalcrewsizefortheentiresandwichmakingprocess. Todothis,theteamtookthetotalcycletimetoproduceasandwich(97seconds)anddividedit bythetakttime(38.6seconds).Thisresultedinanoptimalcrewsizeof2.5operators.Sincewe cannothave0.5personstheyroundedupto3. If the team is ever able to reduce the total cycle time to less than 77 seconds the crew size couldbetrimmedto2persons,freeinguptheadditionalresourceforothervalueaddingtasks. Next, the team worked with their lean sensei and designed a ushaped cell where all 3 operatorswouldworkinaonepieceflowmanner.Oncetheworkwasredistributedtheteam wasabletoproduceaPB&Jsandwichapproximatelyevery32seconds.Thetotaltimeforthe firstsandwichtobecompleteisstill97seconds. TherearevariouswaystonoteaushapedcellinaVSM.Oneofthemostcommonistosimply drawasmallUinsideaprocessboxasshownbelow.

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Step4:PullwhenOnePieceFlowisnotPossible.Anytimewebuildtosupermarketswemust haveawayofsignalingwhentoproduceandwhennottoproduce.Thereareavarietyofways toaccomplishthis.Theeasiestwayistousekanban. Without going into great details onhow to size and implement kanban, letme explain it this way. When a customer places an order for 10 PB&J sandwiches, which we will assumeis the standard packout quantity, a withdrawal kanban for 10sandwichesis sent to the finished goods supermarket. The shipping clerk pulls off a pallet of 10 PB&J sandwiches and ships themtothecustomer.

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Thisnowleavesaholeinthesupermarket.Therefore,aproductionkanban(whiteonaVSM) for10sandwichesissentbacktotheushapedcell.Thisproductionkanbanbasicallysays,Hey, wejustshipped10sandwichesandneedtoplugthehole!Makeus10moreplease!

Additionally, the supply chain team has worked with their supplier and negotiated frequent milk runs, or scheduled deliveries. This allows the team to only hold 0.5 days of bread ina WIPSupermarketbeforetheushapedcell.Again,kanbanandakanbanpost(goalpostsymbol onVSM)areusedtoreplenishthisWIPsupermarket. Finally, the implementation of kanban has allowed the team to turn off the MRP portion of theirERPsystemandleaguesofleanangelssangHallelujah! Step5:ImproveCommunicationandScheduleaPacemaker.Sofarwehavegonealongway toimprovetheflowofmaterialandmanpower.Now,letszoominontheinformationsideof theequation. Rather than scheduling each process on an island the lean approach is to schedule one process.Wecallthisprocessthepacemakerprocesssinceitsetsthepacefortheentiresystem.

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By definition, the pacemaker is typically defined as the process step closest to the customer wherebyeverythingafteritflows.Inourexample,thiswouldbeshippingsincethesupermarket aftertheushapedcelltechnicallyimpedesflow. So, we will aim to schedule production at shipping. Once shipping gets the instructions as to whattodotheywillalerttheupstreamprocessesviakanban. Additionally, the team has decided to ratchet up the communication with its customers and suppliers. This twoway communication will help all parties prepare for things like demand fluctuations. Summary On paper we have made some sizeable improvements. Production Leadtime (PLT) has gone from2.39daysto1day,andtheprocesscycleefficiency(PCE)hasgonefrom0.15%to0.358%. Next up, we will discuss action planning and how to go about closing the gaps between the currentstateandfuturestate.

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Chapter18:IntroducingtheKaizenNewspaper
Here is a sobering fact short of uncovering lots of opportunities we havent accomplished muchuptothispoint.Askepticcouldsayallwehavedonesofarisdrawsomenicepictures. Withthissaid,themostimportantaspectofthevaluestreammappingprocesshasyettobe started.Thataspectisactuallymakingchangesandbridgingthegapbetweenthecurrentstate andfuturestateVSM. Therearemanyapproachestothisandevenmoretemplatesavailable.Iamasimpleman,and thusprefertokeepthingsaseasyaspossible.Assuch,Iknowofnobettertooltohelpwith thisphaseofthegamethanthekaizennewspaper. Extra,ExtraReadallAboutit! Thekaizennewspaperisasimpletemplatethatstatesthefollowing:

TheProblemStatement.Simplyput,whatistheproblemweareaddressing.To helpensureyouarestatingyourproblemstatementproperlyIhighlyrecommend youkeepthingsSMART.

TheObjective.Whatisthegoalorpointoftheinitiative?Again,thinkSMART whenstatingtheobjective.Dontjustsaywewanttomakeitbetter.Howmuch better?Whatdoessuccesslooklike?

TheOwner.Whoisleadingtheinitiative?Seeingyournameonahugepieceof paperhungonthewallcanbeapowefulmotivator! TheDueDate.Whenwilltheinitiativebecomplete?Sincekaizenneverendsyou maychoosetosimplystatethedatetheact/adjustphasebegins. ThePhase.Herewenotewhatphaseoftheplan,do,check,act/adjust(PDCA)we arein.IfyouaremoreofasixsigmaorganizationyoucaneasilyreplacePDCAwith DMAIC.Dowhateverworksbestforyourbusiness.

Hereisfreekaizennewspapertemplatetogetyoustarted.Feelfreetotweakitasyouseefit. Someliketoaddinthingslikethetypeofwasteyouareattacking,etc.

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RevisitingKB&RsPB&JSandwichFactory The team at KB&R has lots of work to do. They have decided to list out their plan of attack using a kaizen newspaper. Rather than showing the detailed kaizen plan, here are the highlights. First,theyaregoingtodesign,build,andthentestthenewcellthatwilloperateinonepiece flow, paced to takt time. They will do this offline in such a way that production is not impacted. Next,theywillalsoworktoproperlysizetheFGandWIPsupermarketsandassociatedkanban. They have hired a lean consultant to help them with this since this is very new territory to them. Duringthedevelopmentofthepullsystemtheproductionplanningteamwilldeterminehow theywillmoveawayfromtheiroldMRPmannerofschedulingeachworkstation.Instead,they willnowschedulethepacemakerprocess. Finally, the way KB&R communicates with its customers and suppliers will change. To accomplishthis,meetingshavealreadybeensetupinordertoworkthisprocessout. The team has broken these tasks done and assigned owners using a kaizen newspaper. This newspaperhasbeenprintedoutononaplottersizedpieceofpaperandhungonthewallfor alltosee. Summary Takingactionisthemostimportantpartofvaluestreammapping.Ifallyoudoisdrawupa current and future state VSM and leave it sitting in drawer you have wasted an enormous amountoftime. Willthefinishedproduct(postkaizen)lookexactlylikeyourfuturestateVSM?Probablynot. Butaslongasimprovementisbeingmadeyouareontherightpath.

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LastPieceofAdvice:BeSpeedy! My last word of advice is this be speedy! A current state VSM can be done in 1 day. The futurestateVSMshouldstartthatsamedayoratthelatestthenextmorning.Dont,Iplead withyou,thinkyouwillgettothefuturestateVSMnextweek.Thatisthekissofdeath! Finally,oncethefuturestateVSM iscompleteandthepointkaizeneventsareidentified,set aggressivegoals.Ihaveseentremendoustransformationsoccurin4days!Theselightingfast transformationsareculturechangingtosaytheleast. RecommendedReading TocontinueyourVSMlearningjourneyyoumayconsidercheckingouttheseresources.They havehelpedmealotovertheyears.

LearningtoSee.Thisisthebibleonvaluestreammapping.Itteachesyouhowto seewasteinanewway.

CreatingContinuousFlow.Afterlearningtoseewastewemustlearntomakevalue valueflow.Learnallaboutcreatingcellsinthisworkbook.

CreatingLevelPull.Learnallaboutkanbaninthisexcellentresource.

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Chapter19:TwoTypesofKaizen
BuzzWords The word kaizen has become a buzz word galore. Youwillhearabouthowpeoplearedoingkaizen or running a big kaizen event next week. Many times folks are in fact executing kaizens in an attempttomakethingsbetterandIapplaudthem. In addition to the infamous kaizen mind setthere are at least two, possibly more, types of kaizeneventsIamawareof:pointkaizenandsystemkaizen.Letsdiscusstheminthischapter. PointKaizen Frommyexperiencethemostcommontypeofkaizenpracticediscalledpointkaizen. Thesekaizeneventstypicallycomeaboutastheplantmanageriswalkingthroughtheshop(a greatthingbytheway)andnoticesamessincell4.Soheorshefindsthesupervisorofthecell anddiscussesit. Thesupervisorgetsthehintandlaunchesanimmediate5Skaizeneventinthearea.Greatstuff to be sure but we must be careful lest point kaizen consumes us and we lose focus on the entiresystem. SystemKaizen Systemkaizen,incontrasttopointkaizen,comesaboutwhenthissameplantmanagerrealizes that their flagship product line is suffering froma growingpast due backlog, too much inventory,andoverallpoormoralefromthefolksaddingvaluetotheproduct. With this in mind, he or she works with the team in developing both a current state value streammapandthenafuturestatevaluestreammap.Thisfuturestatevaluestreammapisa

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view of how the team wishes to see things working in a predetermined time frame (e.g. 3 months,6months,etc.). Things like tidying things up via 5S, creating model cells, and implementing WIP and finished goodsupermarketsmaybesomeofthethingsneededinordertoreachthisfuturestate. SystemKaizenleadstoPointKaizen Whattheteamsoonrealizesisthatthe2dayvaluestreammappingsystemkaizenexercise leadtotheidentificationofmultiplepointkaizenevents.Andoncethesepointkaizenevents aresuccessfullycomplete,theteamshouldbemuchclosertotheirfuturestatevision. So,whilepointkaizenisneverbad,Ifeelitextremelyimportanttomentiontheneedtofirst look at things from a system perspective before worrying about things on a point perspective.

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Chapter20:KaizenRules:1&2
These next few chapters are about all things kaizen. I personally believe kaizen is the key to longtermsuccessbothprofessionallyandpersonally. Oftentimesweassociatethewordkaizenwithkaizeneventswhichareshortimprovement initiatives that last around 5 working days. For example, we may run a 5S kaizen event one weekandTPMkaizeneventthenext. However,inadditiontothesespecificevents,kaizenisaphilosophyforhowyouoperateona daybyday,hourbyhourbasis. Alongtheselines,Iwillbesharing2specifickaizenruleseachchapterwhichIhopebringsyou closertothekaizenwayoflife. Rule1:Challengethestatusquo Rigid,dareIevensayconventional,thinkingcanbedeadly.Atruekaizenmindsetrequiresusto think beyond common sense. If something is broken, we must fix it. However, even if somethingisworking,wemuststudyittoseehowitcanbeevenbetter. Rule2:Thinkofhowtodoitinsteadofwhyitcantbedone I recently wrote on this very topic of why a concrete head can be so detrimental to improvement. Wemustenterahowitcanbedonemindsetinsteadofwhyitcannotbedonemindset.The formerisessentialifwearetomakeanyserious,longlastingchange. Thismannerofthinkingmustalsobetaughttoourassociates.Ifeveryoneadoptsthishowto mindset,changecanoccurrapidly.

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Chapter21:KaizenRules:3&4
Inthelastchapterwediscussedthefirsttworulesofkaizen.Nowwewilldiscussexcusesand perfection. Rule3:Stopmakingexcuses.Startquestioningcurrentpractices. Whenweencounteradefectorfailure,weshouldnotmakeexcusesorplaytheblamegame. Instead,wemustgotothegembatoseewhatisreallyhappening. Does the worker know how to do their job? Are there visible work standards? Have all the workersbeentrained?Doestheworkarearesemblethelivingquartersofapig? Iftherearegapsinanyoftheseareas,theleadershipmustassumeresponsibilityandremedy theproblem.Perhapssome5SandStandardWorkisagoodplacetostart. Ifeverythingseemsinorderwemustrealizethatnostandardisinfalliblesoperhapsweneed toimprovethem(standards)aftersomehansei. Rule4:Dontseekimmediateperfection. For many of us, we want it all and want it now. However, aiming for immediate perfection isnotthekaizenway.Tobesure,perfectionisourultimategoalbutitwillneverbeachieved withonesingleinitiative(orever). Our mission, if we should choose to accept it, is rapid improvements again and again. These quickimprovementscreatemomentumthatisdifficulttostop.Andthis,myfriends,iswhen kaizenisatitsbest.

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Chapter22:KaizenRules:5&6
Wecontinuewithourmultipartkaizenrulesseries. Rule5:Correctmistakesatonce If you are walking through your office, factory, or even home and spot an abnormality, you shouldmakeeveryefforttoremedythesituationimmediately. Dontwaittocallameetingorformaprojectplanandimprovementcommittee.AsDr.James Womack says in his book, Lean Thinking, JUST DO IT! Many times this may mean implementing a temporary solution (i.e. a BandAid) until a more permanent solution can be established. Obviously, if the problem is more complex, we will need to enlist the help of others and properly document things. But we must be careful to not plan for days or even weeks while aproblem continues to punish us day in and day out. Stop the bleeding and then get the patienttosurgery. Rule6:Dontspendmoneyonkaizen Many times the best solutions cost nothing at all. Its easy to fall into the trap that new equipmentortechnologywilltakeawayallourproblems. Butifyoutakethetimetoreallystudytheproblem,youmaybeinpositiontoimprovethings withoutspendingapenny,pence,etc. If,afterexhaustingallotheralternatives,yourealizeyouneedtospendsomemoneythecapital expenditurejustificationshouldbeeasyasyouexplainthemanywaysyouattemptedtosolve theproblemonthecheap. Onceyoudogetapprovaltospendsomemoney,itmaybetimetoheadtoStapleswithcredit cardinhand.

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Chapter23:KaizenRules:7&8
Wehaveofficiallyroundedthecorneronourkaizenrulesseries. Rule7:Wisdomisbroughtoutwhenfacedwithhardship. I cannot explain this rule any better than Matthew May, author of the excellent Elegant Solutionsblog,recentlydidhere. Rule8:AskWhy?fivetimesandseektherootcause. I enjoy solving complicated problems using ultra sophisticated tools. Its fun and exhilarating whenyoubuildapredictiveregressionmodelthatconfirmsagainandagain. Butguesswhat?Mostproblemsdontrequirethingslikeregressiontobesolved.Instead,allwe mustdoisaskwhy5times. It almost sounds too good to be true and I could offer some examples here starting with somethinglikewhyareyoupouringsawdustonthefloorwhichwouldleadyoutotellme about the leaking oil,which would result in severalmore why questions until we identified therootcause.

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Chapter24:KaizenRules:9&10
These past few chapters have been about all things kaizen. Let us finish off the list in this chapter. Rule9:Seekthewisdomoftenpeopleratherthantheknowledgeofone. LoneRangersareathingofthepast.Nomatterhowbrilliantyouare,Iassureyouthatlistening toothers,andImeanreallylistening,willaccelerateyourkaizeneffortstenfold. Rule10:Rememberthatopportunitiesforkaizenareinfinite. Sofar,wehavediscussed9rulestokaizen.Ifyourememberonlyoneofthem,Ihopeitisthis lastonekaizenisamindsetandneverends. Summary Forthosefamiliarwiththebook,GembaKaizenbyMasaakiImai,youmaynoticeaninteresting relationshipbetweenthesetenrulesandthetenrulesheshares.Yeah,theyarethesamerules butwithmycommentsadded.Soifyouhaventreadthisbook,Ireallyrecommendyoupickit upandgiveitagoodread.

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Chapter25:Repent,ImeanHansei!
Ineverseemtostoplearningfrommyfriend,JonMiller.Iwanted towriteapostabouthanseiandthusdecidedtodigaroundtosee what other bloggers had to say on the topic. I typed hansei into Googleandmidwaythroughthefirstresultspage,Isawalinkto Jons blog on this very topic imagine that! After reading Jons post,Iwasenlightenedtosaytheleast. IhavealwaysusedthetermhanseiinthesamewayImightusethewordreflection.Itseems thismaynotbethebesttranslationofthetermafterall. Youseehanseishouldalwaysbeusedinthespiritofwhatwentwrongeventhoughinsome cases we think everything went great. Jon writes, Where people in the U.S. or Europe might celebrate the completion of a project with an office party, and maybe PowerPointing some lessons learned, the Japanese would have a somber hanseikai and then drown their hansei sorrowsindrink. Thereseemstobeafinelinehereasyoucanreflectandcometothesamethingasdescribed above. But you can also reflect and say, hmm fancy that happening, eh? This type of reflectionisnotwhathanseiisabout.JongoesontoexplainabetterEnglishwordforhansei mayactuallyberepent.Youknow,likerepentandbelieveallyewastefulsinners! ImustadmitthereareaspectsoftheJapaneseculturethatdepressmeabit.Imaybewayoff butitoftenseemstheyareneversatisfied,neverhappy,andnevercontent.Perhapsthisisthe true secret to Toyotas success. After all, many companies are doing lean but few get the resultsToyotadoes.Whyisthat?Perhapshanseiisinordertherealhanseithatis.Youcan readJonsentirehanseiposthere.

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Chapter26:IsLayingPeopleoffReallyAntiLean?
We often hear how companies apply lean and subsequently layoff hundreds, even thousands,ofpeople.Hereisanotherexample.Inthisarticleweread: Companywide,employmentisdownsharply.Telectnowemploys747peopleworldwide, downfromabout830ayearagoand2,300atitspeakin2000.Inthepastyear,ithas implemented leanmanufacturing strategies at its plants in Texas, Mexico, and Poland andnowcanachievethesameproductionlevelwithfewerpeople,hesays. So let me ask a hypothetical question. Lets say you,a lean enthusiast, are named CEO of a midsizedmanufacturingcompany. Letsalsoassumeyourmarkethasturneddownandtheconstraintisclearlyoutsideyourplant. Lets also assume you need to improve cash flow, reduce inventory, improve OTD, and most importantlyimproveemployeemorale. Next,letsassumethecompanyyouinheritedwaspoorlymanagedbeforeyoucameonandis notevenadecentmassproducer. Lastly, lets assume that the previous management (who the board fired) went on a massive hiring frenzy over the past few years in hopes of improving things by throwing bodies at the problem. Nowthen,letsimagineyoucomeintothissituation(asCEO)andimmediatelyimplementlean andsixsigmaprinciples.Ontimedeliveryimproves,inventoryturnshavedoubled,cashflowis improving,andmoraleisonthewayup. Allisgoodwithoneexception.

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After calculating the optimal crew size for each area (leaving in the ability to meet some expectedincreaseddemand)yourealizeyouhavetoomanyemployees. Infact,yourcalculationsshowyouneed250employees(bothdirectandindirectemployees)to runtheplantandyoucurrentlyhave425. Thereasonyouhavesomanyemployeesisagainduetothepreviousmanagementwhowent onthemassivehiringfrenzythepastfewyears. Whatwouldyoudo? Note: This article garnered lots of passionate feedback via the comments section. Be sure to checkthemout!Anddontbeshyaboutspeakingyourmindastohowyouwouldhandlethis situation.

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Chapter27:ShadowsorReality
One of my passions in life is to learn. As such, I have begun 2008 by ditching books about leadership, lean, and six sigma (for now). In their place, I have decided to study philosophy which may make you want to yawnbutIwouldbelessthantruthfulifI didnt admit to finding the topic

fascinating. PlusifyoustudypeoplelikeTaiichiOhno(chiefarchitectofToyotaProductionSystem)youwill noticehisteachingisrichwithphilosophicalthought. So in this chapter Id like to discuss one of Platos famous allegories as I see a tremendous relationshipbetweenitandthemanychallengesweascontinuousimprovementpractitioners face. Thegistoftheallegorygoessomethinglikethis. ImagineaCave Platoasksustoimagineacave.Insidethecavearepeoplechainedtotheground.Thesepeople cannotmoveandareonlyabletolookforwardatawall.Directlybehindthemisafireburning whichsubsequentlyshineslightintothecave.

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ShadowsontheWall Nowthen,aspeopleontheoutsidewalkbythecave,shadowsarecastontothewalls.The caveinhabitantshaveseentheshadowsalloftheirlifeandassuchbelievethemtobereality. Infact,theybelievetheseshadowsareallthereistolife.Andsincetheshadowsaretheonly thingthecaveinhabitantshaveeverseen,whocouldreallyblamethem. UnshacklingthePrisoner Plato then asks us to imagine someone from the outside world entering the cave and unshacklingoneoftheprisoners.Theprisoneristhenallowedtoexitthecave.Thebrightlight ofthesunalmostblindstheprisonerandtheyquicklyrunbackintothecavecompletelyshaken withfear. Eventually,thecuriousprisonerventuresbackoutsideandrealizesthatwhathethoughtwas reality was in fact only shadows on the wall. The person then attempts to explain this new amazingrealitytotheothercaveinhabitants. Sadly,theotherinhabitantsdontwanttohearanythingaboutsomefantasticoutsideworld. Theyhavegrowncomfortablewiththeirlifeanddontappreciatethisexcitedpersonsattempt todestroytheonlyrealitytheyhaveknown. WhataboutYou? So, let me ask you a few questions. As you move forward with your life personally and professionallyhowmanyshadowsareyoumistakingforreality? Andasitpertainstocontinuousimprovement,howmanycaveinhabitantsarebattlingyouas youattempttounshacklethemandshowthemanewreality? Group think and attitudes like this is the way we have always done it and you wouldnt understandourbusinessisdifferentmayinfactbenothingmorethanshadowsonthewall.

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Our challenge, if we should choose to accept it, is to unshackle these modern day prisoners showingthemafarmoreexcellentreality.

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FinalWords
Wellnow,thislittleprojectturnedintoabitmorethanIanticipated!InitiallyIplannedtocover bothleanandsixsigmainthiseBook.ButonceIgotintoit,Irealizedtherewasjusttoomuch leanrelatedmaterialtochoosefromsoIdecidedtomakethistheleanedition. Iwillreleaseasixsigmaversionaswellsokeepyoureyesoutforthat.Withthissaid,Ihope youenjoyedmyfirstattemptatsomethinglikethis.IwelcomeyourfeedbackastohowIcan improvethistypeofresourceinthefuture. Untilthen,pleasebesuretocomebackforthelatestandgreatesthappeningsatLSSAcademy. One way to ensure you dont miss anything is to subscribeto our full feed RSS. You can also subscribebyemailandhavenewarticlessentdirectlytoyourinbox.

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RecommendedReading

TaiichiOhno'sWorkplaceManagement
Oneofmyalltimefavorites.Inthisbookweenterinsidethemindofthechief architectoftheToyotaProductionSystem.Amustread.

LeanThinking
ThiswasonethefirstleanbooksIread.Itchangedmeandhelpedlaunchmeonto myexistingcareerpath.

LearningtoSee
Thisisthebibleonhowtocreatevaluestreammaps.Itteachesyouhowtosee wasteinanewway.

CreatingContinuousFlow
Afterlearningtoseewasteyoumustlearnhowtomakevalueflow.Thisisthebook toteachyouhow.

CreatingLevelPull
Oncematerialisflowingwemustthinkaboutpull.Learnallaboutkanbaninthis excellentresource.

TheToyotaWay
Atruemasterpiece.Dr.Likergoesinsidethecompanythatstarteditallandshares howToyotadoeswhatitdoes.

TheToyotaWayFieldbook
ThesequeltotheTheToyotaWay.Inthisbookwetakeadeepdiveinsidethetool boxthatisleanmanufacturing.

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