Lean and Services

Introduction
Sonia Valeria Avilés Sacoto, MSc., DSc.
Sistemas Lean
 4PS  PROVE  LEAN  APPLIES  EVERYWHERE
Many people get confused because they believe
that lean  is no  more  than a  set  of  tools such as 5S  
Problem   and  Kanbanand ways of  reducing Waste that are  
Solving effective (and  only useful in  a  manufacturing
setting.)  But that is far from the truth.
People
People can begin to translate lean to their
organization—regardless of what it does—when
Process they study four basic principles of lean, which I call
the 4Ps.

Philosophy
 Always ask the following questions:

1. Do  you have a purpose to  your organization?

2. Do  you have people in  your organization?

3. Do  you have processes that create some

type of output  or service in  your organization?

4. Do  you have problems within your organization?

 Purpose
• It is the True North, a guide that provides direction as a company and
leads the company to successful thinking that fosters good leadership.

• At Toyota: Customer First thinking, making the highest quality product,

at the lowest cost, with the shortest lead time, in the safest manner, all
while respecting people.

• This cut across all our key performance indicators as a company and it
was an evolutionary statement. We never got there because if we did
we raised the bar and improved.

• Purpose is why you are doing business!

 People

• People are  the most important asset in  your organization!

• They determine  the rise and  fall of  your business;;  and  in  the lean  system,  
they are  counted on as  the key to  long-­term success. If we don't invest in  our
people then we are  missing out on the extraordinary brainpower they have to  
make a  difference. It is our job as  leaders to  develop their thinking every day
at  the problem and  place  by asking the right questions.

• People are  the heart and  soul of  lean  thinking and  without their buy-­in,  
engagement,  involvement, and  understanding of  how it ties to  purpose and  
alignment of their work
 Process

• If there is an output created then there is a Process

involved. Therefore, it should be standardize so your
people understand the expectations.

• Process is a sequence of events/steps that have to

happen to create the outcome we want. When there
are discrepancies that occur we should be able to track
back through our process steps to understand how it
occurred.
• So standards are just the processes we do.
 Problem
• When we have the ability to  recognize abnormality at  a  glance we are  light  
years ahead of  most organizations.

• How do  you know you have a  problem? I  often hear,  “well it happens a  lot”.

• If we don't have documented standards,  then we can  not see when things
are  abnormal,  which leaves us to  guessing,  which turns into symptom
fighting and  remove the ability to  hold our people accountable for their
actions.

• Having Standards enable people to  identify when things are  not normal,  and  
to  recognize this gap  from standard  as  a  problem,  provides an opportunity for
a  problem-­solving method that trains,  teaches,  improves,  fosters learning.  
 The Toyota Production System 4P Model
Closely working from a client
perspective, Toyota developed
more than one way to achieve
desired results. These amicable
teachings/methods of leading a
process / team / product are
something awe-inspiring and can
be counted as the foundation of a
good organization that genuinely
values the experiments,
learnings, mistakes, reflections,
and improvements. We now call it
the 4P Model of TPS (Toyota
Production System).
 References

Richardson,  T.  (2012).  4Ps  prove Lean  Applies Everywhere.  Retrieved from:  
https://www.lean.org/common/display/?o=2034

Pryadarshini,  I.  (2019).  The Toyota  Production System 4P  Model.  Retrieved from:  
https://www.visiontemenos.com/blog/the-­toyota-­production-­system-­4p-­model-­lean-­
thinking