: - , 1 03 0 v e a r s i h e r

1 . t 1 n t1o n w a s n o t t o Asprrrn
the history
Understanding
i e v e l o o s o r r r es o r t o t
Pennrollrn
Vraqra\r andbackgroundof lean
, . . r t , e C{ ij p i 6 1 t 1 6 . p r ' "
'r':rall manrJfactLirtnq
Chemoth\ppy
Lrprtor canhelpsortout your
manufacturing
''tot7 Prozac
5 ' n O I Vi v a n t e a ii ,
lantrn implementation
approach
. r r v c 'T o \ z c t a ' ss p e c r fr alrum
, ' r .l l l r r r . l q . I h e S O l U t t O n S

t'rey chcse .,llhite

h.oar; haserl i'jc,'rc:

r ' ' F . t ( a 5 s ( l r lr D
\ 1D i v r n a i
..
l.,al o'r,,
. l n r t r + i r q 1 i i r s t . r l.its e a : '--r'*'-"-\---,-A.\
"This combo works for all my patientsl" :
'.C
,r a e . r i ) r ' r ( : r. r a 6 - -

'.
FABRrcnr,ory ffi B
:.\,..'er-l i.)"lntarilV n i e - r - . _ , , ' - , r l i c r - K fI o i A i rt"-: : .le.r :lr:lf l.,il {.'- __r________*_ jssY
ASS!
,...:; -t -
1/!fem lsDrrec nv Fc'l , . ,s e r l e s laj .,, r-' \' i r \ 1 1 . ' r -i ' , , ' 1 ,

'r| 'r\/e r+: ' 'r'-i

i,.ll,llrCC{l alaJ S V n a f - t r C f r r S € . : ) ,: r1i i 1 t - l } r 1 l r 1 1 p 6 r ' -i 1 . r r i
t 'liSl-e *a ',-ra r;1qf ..x.taiti, ',,i'i-O' 'ril.rr jFrl
1;:i Ve"t.d i; i)rOCi.al 3r.',p" . BRtflNCi.D
'r11p. :'rrr '1'.r\r,.
"r.):{\' Cl! 1'1r" (.'1 {
.SYNIHR.ONIZtD
.l\* t' !rtJ:l .;(' "'

.1lr.o.dl.l1--'!]].e|-:,]i-':.+l']e'-.]s[e::|-il.
.lBt . SIi'1PUF
IiD

,,,'tal
DfaVCr\ia.r',
+ilrr.{)._r
_(al ,-),'
.,\f +n i ..+ ':-..r+. .-r- ,i.r''+-lL.
U!*;r.ratEFACTORY .WAST[f l?Lt
. MTl0Nnliiqa
. : i( . 1 t a r - r A 5 t L , - ar-l<i:'-( 1.\f '-yorrf gr.T i
tr',-.:,il
"l '-r' .a
, ;pqi-,.1

riCr
- c\ i r i . : l ( : (

.r ' -r'-' 'islc

"r/:r" i' rll .lI:f I

j. i -,rlr<esfl'i-;:rlr. il'aall

{ifit
-(. ^lSL'e
\rila rrfla\.

'- ; r'ialr).\\/A ri D'): a)f1- F

' ) ( : l {e l s a ' ' ! /
rfp,2r., i .it a * S* a l i a t t , ' 3r i i + + e r o ' . | ' 1 , j t e .
2' i; Lr:a)C

it

..1 - .-l _i _i lli-lr'

alri iol:r
,, lif{p16.r-,

T'a,:tarrr,l +iSrAlS

C e l u l a rM a n u f a c t u r i n g
'1r1'
Total Quality \,l,lit:-l:t : ^y,'r
rll-11;i

Teams ,p,,,rar. I r t r a t' av l ) .

Y
rldl
l\ci,, ,,Dllr

R a p i dS e t u p ( 5 M E D )
Kanban :'r€l
V a l u e S t r e a mM a p p i n g D.lia'l

P r o c e s sM a p p i n g
Work Balancing
5-5
Autonomation
Pokayoke
Ji d o k a E q u i p m e nl st L a r g e r
E l i m i n a t i o no f w a s t e T h a nR e q u i r e F dor
T o t a l P r o d u c t i v eM a i n t e n a n c e A n y O n el t e m
C o n t i n u o u sf l o w
O n e P i e c eF l o w
S t a n d a r dw o r k Produces
V i s u a lm a n a g e m e n t Multiple
Products
I n s t a t i o n p r o c e s sc o n t r o l
L e v e lp r o d u c t i o n
TaktTime Products Have
Pointof usestorage Different Process
Steps and Functional
K ai z e n
S u p p l i e rD e v e l o p m e n t

A u t u m n2 0 0 7 M a n a g e m e n t S e r v t c e s 15
Fewindividuals copeeffectively
or organisations with more
than2-4multiple,
high-priority
objectives
system.Thesedo not touch the product
or add value,but they enableor assistthe
process. Inf rastructureincludesscheduIing,
training,culture,organisationstructure,
qualitymethods,utility systems, costing
systems and investmentpoliciesand a host
of other elements.Someof theseelements
are embeddedin attitudes,habitsand
cultureratherthan explicitpolicies.Here,
again,experience in leanmanufacturing
is important.Not becausethe problemis
difficult,but because the paradigmis different.

ldentify your own lean elements

Basedon the abovevisionof the future state,pickthe
appropriateelementsof lean manufacturing from the lean
laundrylist.You may alsoidentify other advancedmanufac-
turing techniquesthat are not on the usuallistsof lean
manufacturing.

ldentify precedentsand priorities

Next,identifyprioritiesand precedents. Precedence may require
the useof certainelementsto makesomeother elementpractical.
Forexample,RapidSetup(SMED)may be necessary to enable
kanbanand workcellsmakekanbansimplerand easier. Workcells Developthe plans
alsofunctionbetterwith smalllots.The precedence might With a broad overviewof the situationand a visionfor the
thereforebe Workcells+ SMED+ kanban.In reality,theseare future and knowledgeof precedentsand priorities,we can
likelyto be concurrentasmuchassequential, but moreon this beginto plan our courseof action.
later.
dependpartlyon precedence
Priorities but they alsodepend Phasing
on ROl.By givingpriorityto thoseelements,productsand areas We suggestthree broad phasesfor lean manufacturing:
that promisethe fastestand largestreturns,the systemtransfor-
mationbecomesself-financing. l. Coredisciplines
Forexample,manycompanieswant to startwith 55.Theywant ll. Consolidation
to cleanthe placeup.Thisseemslikea goodthing and Martha lll. Continuousimorovement
Stewartwould surelyapprove.Howeve4generally,cellular
manufacturingis a better placeto startfor the following reasons: PhaseI implementsthe minimumessentials necessary for the
systemto work effectively.Theseare often (but not always)
. The returnon 55 is lowel lessimmediate,and lessobvious the coredisciplineson the home page.Perhaps60-80% of the
than the returnfor workcells benefitsaccruefrom Phasel. The changesin PhaseI are dramatic,
. lf workcellsare implementedafter 55,much of the 55work the resultsimmediateand the benefitsclear.When peoplespeak
must be redoneafter the rearrangement of a leanimplementation, they usuallythink of Phasel.
Phasell buildson the coredisciplinesof Phasel. lt includesthe
The rearrangement into workcellswill automaticallyentailmuch latel secondary techniqueshonedby Toyotaand others.Examples
of the cleanup,fix up work of a 55 program include55and quickand easyKaizen.Phasellfine-tunesand
improvesthe initialsystem.lt includesmethodsand trainingthat
. Workcellsare smaller, tighter and morefocusedthan inculcatebasicvaluesthat sustainthe systemfor yearsto come.
functionalareas.As a result,they are easierto cleanand Continuous, incrementalimprovementisthe hallmark
keepclean.With workcellsin place,55 becomeseasier,faster of Phaselll. Here,the changesare lessdramatic,but more
and more effective important.Phaselll neverends;a corevalueat Toyotabut
. The inventoryand materialhandlingreductions from Cellular unappreciatedby most imitators.
Manufacturingmakethe plant neaterand easierto manage
a n d clean Timeframes
Thetime requiredfor PhaseI variessignificantly; lt depends
Anotherfactor in settingprioritiesisthe 'low hangingfruit' upon the sizeof the firm, the product-process mix, culture,
principle.Fora varietyof reasons,it may be very quick and easy leadershipand many other factors.Let us assumea 'typical'
to implementone or anotherof the selectedelements.lt thus factoryof, say,500employees,2000or so manufacturedparts,
makessenseto givesuchelementshigherpriority. a dozenproductlines,and competentleadership. Phaselwill

Autumn 2007 Management Services 17

 PhaseI
lmplementation
Activities

Arl
Products

Phase I Workload
r' * *-
l-l
Gontrot I I

r- Jt fr r
Team A

Pr rra:ntc'rnfr
 -- i
t o s u p e r f i c i a lr u l e sa n d r e g u l a t i o n s .
. T h e l e a r n i n g i n a b l i t z i s s u p e r f i c i a lT
. h e r e i s s i m p l yn o t t i m e
t o e x p l o r e a l l p o s s i b l es o l u t i o n so r d e l v e d e e p l y i n t o i s s u e s .
M u c h o f t h i s l e a r n i n g i s t h r o u g h s l o g a n s ,r u l e sa n d e d i c t s ,
n o t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l r e a s o n sb e h i n d t h e m . l t w o r k s b e c a u s e
t h e f a c i l i t a t o r m a k e s( o r e n c o u r a g e s m
) a n y d e c i s i o n so, f t e n
instinctively,that avoid seriouserrors.
lmplementation project example
H e r e i s a v e r y s i m p l e e x a m p l e o f a P h a s eI i m p l e m e n t a t i o nt h a t
i l l u s t r a t e st h e p r i n c i p l e s l. t a n t i c i p a t e st h r e e w o r k c e l l s .E a c h
w o r k c e l l w i l l r e q u i r e r a p i d s e t u p ( 5 M E D ) ,k a n b a n p r o d u c t i o n
c o n t r o l ,t o t a l q u a l i t y a n d t e a m d e v e l o p m e n t .I n a d d i t i o n , t h e
p i a n a n t i c i p a t e sa m o r e g e n e r a l s u p p l i e rd e v e l o p m e n te f f o r t
t h a t w i l l e v e n t u a l l yb r i n g s u p p l i e r si n t o a k a n b a n s y s t e m .
The Gantt chart showsthe timeframe for each activity.The
w o r k c e l l sw i l l b e i m p l e m e n t e ds e q u e n t i a l l yT. h e m o r e g e n e r a l
s u p p l i e rd e v e l o p m e n ta n d k a n b a n i s e s s e n t i a l l sy e p a r a t e .
T h i ss c h e d u l el i m i t st h e n u m b e r o f t a s k st h a t a p a r t i c u l a r
d e p a r t m e n t m u s t u n d e r t a k e a t a n y o n e t i m e . C h a r t 2 s h o w s ,f o r
e a c h d e p a r t m e n t ,t a s k st h a t r e q u i r e t h e i r h e a v y i n v o l v e m e n t .
N o t e t h a t n o g r o u p h a s a h e a v y i n v o l v e m e n tw i t h m o r e t h a n
t w o s i m u l t a n e o u st a s k s .T h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o no f l e a n m a n u f a c -
t u r i n g s h o u l d n o t f o l l o w a c o o k i e - c u t t e ra p p r o a c h .E v e r yf a c t o r y
i s d i f f e r e n t a n d t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e sr e q u i r e u n i q u e a p p r o a c h e s .
T h e e l e m e n t sc h o s e n ,t h e i r s e q u e n c eo f i m p l e m e n t a t i o na n d
m a n y o t h e r d e t a i l sd i f f e r f r o m f a c t o r y t o f a c t o r y .T h e o r i g i n a t o r s
o f l e a n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ,p l a c e d i n d i f f e r e n t c i r c u m s t a n c e sw, o u l d
Autumn2007ManagementServices
h a v e d e v e l o p e dd i f f e r e n t s o l u t i o n s .
T h e k e y st o s u c c e s isn c l u d e :a f u n d a m e n t a l a p p r o a c h ,s y s t e m s
t h i n k i n g , l e a d e r s h i pa
, f l a i r f o r s t r a t e g ya n d r e c o g n i t i o no f t h e
p r a c t i c a l i m i t so n r e s o u r c e s .
References
Hayes,Robert H and Wheelwright, Steven C, RestoringOur
Competitive Edge, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1984.
Hill, Terry,Manufacturing Strategy, Macmillan, London, 1985.
Skinner, Wickham, Manufacturing ln The Corporate Strategy,
J o h n W i l e y & S o n s ,N e w Y o r k , 1 9 7 8 .
Skinner, Wickham, Manufacturing: The Formidable Competitive
Weapon, John Wiley & Sons,New York, 1985.
Stalk, George And Hout, Thomas, Competing Against lime, The
Free Press,New York, 1990.
W r e n n a l l ,W i l l i a m , a n d L e e ,Q u a r t e r m a n ,H a n d b o o k o f
Commercial and lndustrial FacilitiesManagemenf, McGraw Hill,
August, 1993.
Quarterman Lee ('Q') started his career at the fountainhead of
lean manufacturing, Ford Motor Company. He has worked in
f o u n d r i e s , p a p e r m i l l s a n d a w i n d o w m a n u f a c t u r i n gp l a n t i n
positions from Engineerto Plant Manager. Since 1977 he has
been consulting, training and writing. Mr Lee has authored two
books and hundreds of articles and programmes. He is currently
President of Strategos, Inc www.strategosinc.com.
19