Progressive Lean: Strategy and Spread the Word: Part 1
Like Julie Andrews said to those Von Trapp kids, "Let's start at the beginning. It's a very good place to start."
Before you go to kanbanning and heijunking, you have to develop a strategy for what you're about to do. Planning, of course, can be straightforward or very complex. I bet you're like me in that you prefer straightforward planning.
The planning I'm talking about will be done by senior leaders. Essentially, senior leaders will discuss and come to consensus on the following:
Why the heck are we doing this?
Before getting too far down the road, you need to get clear on why you're bothering to do all this lean stuff anyway. In other words, you're going to have to establish an overarching vision for the initiative. Because, here's the thing...lean is a royal pain in the ass to implement. Don't get me wrong. The tools are pretty easy. It's the discipline and the necessary culture change that will wear you out.
A "cost cutting only" vision won't work. It's too hard and requires too much investment up front.
What kind of vision will work? A strategic one. By that I mean that a lean/agile initiative has to be seen as a central part of your long term strategy to gain market share, building capacity so as to increase the top line. OK, I could wax eloquent for pages about visions dancing like sugar plums in your head but the main point here is that you have a clear one that provides an answer to the question above.
The answer should be strategic and proactive. "Cutting costs" is neither.
I'll talk about the set of metrics next time.
Before you go to kanbanning and heijunking, you have to develop a strategy for what you're about to do. Planning, of course, can be straightforward or very complex. I bet you're like me in that you prefer straightforward planning.
The planning I'm talking about will be done by senior leaders. Essentially, senior leaders will discuss and come to consensus on the following:
- An answer to the question, "Why the heck are we doing this?" , aka, a vision;
- A set of metrics by which you'll measure your progress;
- A calendar of events and milestones.
Why the heck are we doing this?
Before getting too far down the road, you need to get clear on why you're bothering to do all this lean stuff anyway. In other words, you're going to have to establish an overarching vision for the initiative. Because, here's the thing...lean is a royal pain in the ass to implement. Don't get me wrong. The tools are pretty easy. It's the discipline and the necessary culture change that will wear you out.
A "cost cutting only" vision won't work. It's too hard and requires too much investment up front.
What kind of vision will work? A strategic one. By that I mean that a lean/agile initiative has to be seen as a central part of your long term strategy to gain market share, building capacity so as to increase the top line. OK, I could wax eloquent for pages about visions dancing like sugar plums in your head but the main point here is that you have a clear one that provides an answer to the question above.
The answer should be strategic and proactive. "Cutting costs" is neither.
I'll talk about the set of metrics next time.
Posted by George Bohan at Tuesday, November 01. 2011 
Categories: How to Implement Lean Manufacturing
Categories: How to Implement Lean Manufacturing
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