Will Be Weighed and Measured Understanding Lean Assessment Methods

Issue 4 Volume 2 | May 2012 | www.leanmj.com All WIll BE WEIGHED AND measURED Understanding lean assessment methods. IN THIS ISSUE: The Shingo model for operational excellence: Bob Miller discusses the Shingo model and explains how firms can use it to assess their performance while aspiring to company-wide improvement. The central nervous system of lean: Matt van Wyck looks back at its experience with designing an improvement programme for DeBeers. Take company uniqueness into account: Stay away from prescriptive approaches to lean accounting. John Darlington on the risks of adopting methods that are recognised as successful but do not necessarily match the characteristics and needs of a business. Unstoppable: This month LMJ attends the Lean Management Summit in Amsterdam and meets some of the best companies presenting there, for the It’s a lean world special on the Netherlands. Critical Initiative Support: improving operations in Afghanistan: Tim Clancy and Adam Sommers of IBM Global Business Services explain how Critical Initiative Support can help bring change about in difficult situations where results are needed quickly. The Lean Management Journal is supported by the Lean Enterprise Research Centre, Cardiff Business School LETTERS LMJ & COMMENT This has generally always been the case, but today’s challenge lies specifically in “integratively” executing all people, process and Lean six sigma technology elements of the business operating strategy in aligned and synchronous execution programmes and initiatives. Integration must be a is sufficient but not enough! In particular, it’s not an easy task to connect people, process, and waste of energy technology dots across the business and build new sustainable process capabilities through projects and a project management office (as stated in a previous article). Leaders like P&G, DuPont, Joseph Paris, Toyota, and Kellogg’s have built integrative improvement chairman of management systems to guide the transformation journey. XONITEK says The integrative improvement system codifies the transformation of continuous traditional supply chain, IT, human resources, demand planning and improvement continuous performance strategies and functions into end-to-end initiatives need process capabilities. Integration of a set of projects and systems focused on cutting costs and improving functional cycle times is no stewardship to be longer enough! successful. “Integrative” is a new term, but one familiar to the life sciences industry. It refers to the following recommendations I made in the t seems that everywhere I look last two LMJ articles: – every article I read, every I subject matter expert to whom 1. The transformation journey is multi-year and top down across the I speak, and every talk to which I listen end-to-end business; – the message appears to be the same: 2. The journey must simultaneously accommodate and address globally lean six sigma fails. Depending upon different markets, cultures, and states of change readiness across the the source, lean six sigma initiatives business; might fail 25% of the time or even 70% 3. Integrative improvement means systematically progressing along of the time. Some even claim that it performance improvement capability stages while maintaining never fulfills its promise or realises its goal alignment and business process integration at every stage of potential. In fact, there are so many the journey. This all while the business keeps operating (not unlike articles and lectures on how often and changing the design of an airplane while it is in flight); how much lean six sigma fails that it is 4. Systems, enablers and platforms such as IT, organisation structures, amazing anyone would even bother to change management, and CI must evolve with the stages of try to implement it, or otherwise select performance improvement maturity. it as a path for improvement. Leaders already on this journey have been working the “integrative As a long-time member of the angle” for years. Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and being on the Advisory Board of The net result is that these businesses are already seeing outcome its Process Industries Division, as results. For example, one leading consumer goods company well as being on the Advisory Board returned 300% of the business impact of a stock out problem back of Binghamton Universities System to the business by looking end-to-end. This return was used to fund Science and Industrial Engineering (SSIE) the business transformation. Department, I have been intimately exposed to the material on the subject The key takeaway is to deploy an integrative improvement system being taught and decided to investigate that codifies the capability building journey and guides the the “root cause” of such poor results transformation work across the business. being reported and the increasingly poor 48 LETTERS & COMMENT expectations associated with continuous and how to wield it for maximum Merriam-Webster defines “stewardship” improvement initiatives. effectiveness. And I would also support as “the conducting, supervising, or the vision painted by the proponents of managing of something; especially: the During this exercise, and for both what could be achieved. careful and responsible management of academia and industry from sources something entrusted to one’s care.” around the world, I examined the But the one thing I noticed in almost all curriculum offered and reviewed the of the material I reviewed - very subtle Unlike leadership, which is removed books and other materials used in the in nature, but with a profound impact from the details, and unlike being a teaching of the disciplines associated on the results - was that the consistent practitioner, which is all about the with CI in general, and lean six sigma in references to the singular. There were details, stewardship is a cross-over specific. I also examined the websites many mentions of “you” and of “me” function that bridges the strategic, and articles written by practitioners and and of “I”, but very few to “we”, or to through the tactical to the logistical. To consultancies (including my own). “us”. It is almost as if any results that be a steward, you must have something might be achieved in a continuous entrusted to your care – and you must Almost all of the material I read referred improvement programme are solely the be careful with, and responsible to, to the forensics of the disciplines – a consequences of an individual’s efforts that which has been entrusted to focus on the “how”, including the “tools” and not that of a team – not to mention you. As a steward, you are not only of the trade and the “methods” of their an entire company. If leadership, “conducting”, as a practitioner would; leveraging and deployment. One book programme management, and you are also supervising and managing, had an emphasis on 5S, another on VSM, communication skills are mentioned at as a leader would. And as a steward, kanban, kaizen, and so on. Another book all, they are usually given short shrift and you are not alone – but a member of went at great lengths to talk about the tucked towards the back of the book. the community over which you preside; importance of flow and roadmaps. And a community that depends upon you as every book I read made some reference Maybe all of this is natural. There is much as you depend upon it in order to the miracles performed at Toyota and an obvious distinction between being for both to be successful. advocated how they can be replicated in a “leader” and being a “practitioner”. any business anywhere. The leader mainly operates above the Which comes to my recommendation: details and has a propensity to think I believe that addressing the need for Which brings me to the other underlying strategically with sights set beyond stewardship and teaching stewardship theme that was shared in everything I the horizon. Whereas the practitioner skills are critical to the success of read: the “why”. All of the books and lives more in the here-and-now any CI programme. Stewardship materials I have read and the lectures I with an emphasis on training and establishes the necessary precursor have attended have discussed in great experience that is more logistical and environment only through which the detail the benefits of embarking on tactical in nature – the person who full achievement of the benefits of such programmes. All of them create a implements the strategy. And perhaps any CI programme is possible and vision of a better place – a better set of this is why the material written about will result in the realisation of the conditions under which a business might leadership does not delve deep into maximum potential reward associated operate and the great benefits which will the requirement details of continuous with leveraging the tools and methods be realised as a result. They all create improvement and lean six sigma – of lean six sigma. I also believe that a very compelling and pretty picture of and the material written about the teaching of these stewardship skills what the world can be like if only we continuous improvement and lean should be moved to the front of the embrace the disciplines of lean six sigma six sigma does not address the curriculum and materials – and not as the approach for a CI programme. importance of effective leadership as an elective or after-thought. As an and the required skillsets. individual member of the community All of this knowledge and instruction – whether your role in a project or a is necessary, well and good. I would In my opinion, herein lies the “root business is that of a practitioner or support any argument that it is cause” of why CI and lean six sigma that of a leader – the steward will important to know how to properly use initiatives fail to realise their full ensure everyone is working as a the tools in your toolbox; which one potential.

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