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 WELCOME TO THE LEAN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL Dear reader, We are all familiar with the adage ‘you can’t improve what you can’t measure’. There is no doubt methods to assess lean programmes can be a valuable tool for a company to understand where issues, and therefore opportunities for further improvement, lay. It is also true, however, that hoping that just any assessment method will be easily adaptable to an organisation’s specific characteristics is naive and dangerous. Think about this, as an example: how often do we hear people say, “We have introduced the Toyota Production System into our operations”? Correct me if I am wrong, but there is a EDITORIAL reason why it is called the Toyota Production System. At page 12, Kate Mackle stresses Commissioning editor the importance of understanding your business before turning to measurement tools Roberto Priolo [email protected] for guidance, while John Darlington (page 20) warns against the “blind” adoption of Editorial director accounting methods that were designed for companies that may be very different to your John Bicheno own. Once again, focusing on the tools without considering the bigger picture can end up [email protected] inflicting great damage, as does failing to realise the uniqueness of each company. Contributors Tim Brown Sub-editor At page 7, Bob Miller of the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence talks about what is [email protected] largely viewed as the most comprehensive assessment tool available. Last month, LMJ attended the Lean Management Summit in Amsterdam and spoke to DESIGN some of the most interesting companies that presented at the event. Their stories are told Art Editor in this month’s It’s a lean world section (page 30), which looks at lean in the Netherlands Martin Mitchell [email protected] and paints the picture of a country where the principles of continuous improvement have Designers been applied to realities that are very different from manufacturing. Ever heard of lean in Viicky Carlin, Alex Cole [email protected] elementary schools? In this month’s special feature, LMJ analyses a system for improving operations in difficult In order to receive your copy of the Lean Management scenarios – specifically Afghanistan – where there is a need to act and achieve results Journal kindly email b.walsh@ sayonemedia.com, telephone quickly (page 38). 0207 4016033 or write to the address below. Neither the Lean Management Journal or SayOne There is a lot going on at the journal these days and I would like to take this opportunity Media can accept responsibilty for omissions or errors. to welcome Gwendolyn Galsworth as the newest member of the LMJ Editorial Board. Gwendolyn – who will speak at this month’s LMJ Conference – is a visual workplace Terms and Conditions Please note that points of expert and Shingo-award winning author. She is the president of Visual Thinking Inc. view expressed in articles by contributing writers and in and of the Visual-Lean Institute. Her incredible knowledge and experience, as well as her advertisements included in this journal do not necessarily ability to connect and engage with the people she works with and speaks to, make her a represent those of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to great addition to the board. ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the journal, no legal responsibility will We are receiving extremely positive feedback on the journal from readers around the be accepted by the publishers world and I would like to thank you all for your ongoing support and interest in LMJ. We for loss arising from use of information published. All constantly strive to further develop the journal and bring you more quality content and rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced interesting case studies. We will soon have a brand new website, and the LMJ e-bulletin or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by will also be launched in the coming weeks. any means without prior written consent of the publishers. Happy reading, Commissioning Editor, Roberto Priolo 2 CONTENTS MAY 2012 CO 04 Lean News 36 THE FIFTH COLUMN This regular column, written by John Bicheno, aims to 05 Introducing the editors provoke debate on some of the most interesting and controversial topics in lean. 06 Knowing where you are John Bicheno introduces this issue of LMJ, which focuses on measurement and assessment. 38 SPECIAL FEATURE Critical Initiative Support: improving operations PRINCIPLES & PURPOSE in Afghanistan Tim Clancy and Adam Sommers of IBM Global 07 The Shingo model for Business Services explain how improvement operational excellence initiatives like the Critical Initiative Support can help bring change about in difficult situations where Bob Miller talks about The Shingo Prize model for results are needed quickly. operational excellence, explaining how companies N can use it to benchmark themselves against best practice in their bid to achieve change. 42 LEAN DIary 12 Think flow: why lean assessments Safety matters most don’t work In this column, LMJ observes the lean journey Without a deep understanding of a business’ of Serbian manufacturer SCGM. Director Sandra core problems and processes, assessment Cadjenovic shares the most recent update on cannot be used to establish the status of lean the company’s progress in its continuous in the organisation, says Kate Mackle, founder improvement programme. TE of Thinkflow. 45 LMJ IN CONFERENCE 16 The central nervous system of lean Matt van Wyck looks back at what he learnt This section features reviews of the events LMJ at DeBeers as he designed and developed a attends. Find out what goes on in the lean community programme for transforming the company’s by reading about some of the most interesting South African operations. conferences and seminars. 20 Take company uniqueness into account 46 BOOK REVIEW John Bicheno’s The Service Systems Prescriptive approaches to lean accounting can Jacob Austad reviews Toolbox end up damaging a company that might not , PICSIE Books. operate in the same situation those approaches were designed for, as well as the reputation of N lean, explains John Darlington. 47 LETTERS AND COMMENT Contributions in this issue come from Joseph Paris, 25 Integration: the way forward for chairman of XONITEK, who shares his view on the supply chain need to steward CI programmes to make them Shane Maher MBA shares with LMJ a research successful; and from Roddy Martin of Competitive on the latest thinking on supply chain Capabilities International, who draws the conclusions integration and provides a case study on a on how a company can fully transform its supply manufacturer of medical devices. chain and make it a demand-driven system. TS 30 IT’S A LEAN WORLD 50 EVENTS Unstoppable Find out about the best lean events coming If you think lean is difficult to adapt to non- your way. manufacturing businesses, think again. This month, LMJ travels to the Netherlands to study the application and status of lean thinking in the country, and finds a wide adoption of continuous improvement in businesses from several different sectors, including healthcare, financial services and... elementary schools! Elizabeth House, Block 2, Part 7th Floor, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NJ T +44 (0)207 401 6033 F + 44 (0)207 202 7488 www.sayonemedia.com. Lean management journal: ISSN 2040-493X. Copyright © SayOne Media 2012. www.leanmj.com | May 2012 3 LMJ A NEW WEBSITE FOR BIG APPLE BETTER SERVICE BIS PUBLISHES MIGHT TURN FIGURES ON TO LEAN TO Mobile accessories retailer MobileFun upgraded APPRENTICESHIPS IMPROVE its international websites to improve customer WATER experience and boost sales. A new shopping The Department for Business, SERVICES basket and checkout and a model selector Innovation and Skills has reported that widget are among the improvements made to there have been 256,500 recent new the company’s five websites in the UK, Germany, apprentices. The figures cover the New York City will partner France, the Netherlands and Spain. Other new academic year between August and with Veolia Water, a features include navigation by attributes, a new January. Most of the new recruits were specialist in outsourcing image gallery including video, the ability to individuals of 25 or older. Some 100,300 water services for pay in different currencies, through alternative fell into this category (which covers by municipal authorities, to payment methods and provide reviews in far the largest age range), compared evaluate the performance different languages. “With our continuous to 79,100 who were 18 or younger.