Lean For Everyone

Seeing a Kaizen in action. 23 minutes = ROI of $3,000

    I was lucky enough to see this Kaizen video a few days ago and am recommending it to everyone.  It is a great example of how quickly improvements can tested and implemented.

Synopsis-  A company takes a manual packaging process and by doing quick iterative Kaizen improvements over the course of a couple of hours (compressed to 23 minutes) they decrease processing time  from 45 sec. to 14 sec, saving an estimated 200 man hours per yr = $3,000.

The entire video is 23 minutes however if you just watch the first 5 min you will see the process changes dramatically.  By the end of the video, the process has a really nice flow.

Being a good uncle, and Lean practitioner, I required my nephews P. (12 yrs) and B. (8 yrs) to watch the video before I took them to Marvin's arcade.  They tell me they are inventors and innovators so I wanted their opinions on the Kaizen process. 

P. said "It was boring but they thought of things he wouldn't have so it was pretty good and they should build robots to help."

B. said "That it was awesome but they need a conveyor belt and a huge machine to make a lot of them." 

I think I'll have to put them through a little more Lean training and find some "cooler" videos on JIT, Pull and VOC for them to see.  Then I'll ask them if they still think they need robots, a huge machine and a conveyor belt.

Lean Six Sigma: SIPOC or Spock...A Comparison in Logic?

  Spock is a pointy eared Vulcan that uses pure logic to to arrive at an answer that often irritates some of his team members.

 

SIPOC is a diagramming tool that uses logic to help a team create a process map of a how they (the team) accomplish a task.  This also has a tendency to irritate some of the team members if done incorrectly.

 

 

 

SIPOC stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers.  Here is a great link to how to perform a SIPOC diagram, meanwhile I want to talk about the benefits.

The power of a SIPOC is that it makes a team actually put on paper what they do.  In most small organizations individual's think they know how things are accomplished by their team members, both upstream and downstream of them.  Most often what they believe is happening is not entirely true.

Once a process is mapped,  you can add the wait times between processes and actual processing time to the map.  This helps to identify areas that need improvement.

I did a SIPOC with a finance department and we discovered areas ripe for improvement.  They wanted to improve their collections in accounts receivables because their DSO (days sales outstanding) was very high.  We had everyone that worked on accounts receivables (4 people) do the map and after 2 hours what emerged surprised all of them, including the controller.

We found that:

• Invoicing occurred every 7-10 days.
• Report of overdue invoices was run every 30 days
• Action on overdue invoices occurred 7-14 days after the report was run. (Low priority)
• Many Invoices had errors and error resolution took an additional 3-7 days (Low priority)
• Receipt of payment was tracked at the day deposited into the bank and not when actually received
• Monies were deposited only twice a week 

 

The times and issues above were estimated from the workers..."gut instinct data" which after further checking was discovered to be fairly accurate.

Final Result

After doing some additional Lean Six Sigma work the DSO dropped by 50% in a matter of 2 months.

"Live Long and Prosper"

                   S'chn T'gai Spock "the pointy eared-bastard"

Lean on TV : Kitchen Nightmares - Gordon Ramsay from Hell's Kitchen a change agent?

If you're wondering what Lean can do to help transform an operation then you should tune into Fox's Kitchen Nightmares on Fridays 9/8c.

 

I was watching an episode on Hulu with my wife K. last week and it dawned on me that Chef Gordon Ramsay is a Lean change agent!  He completes his process of Lean Transformation in 7 days with a lot of change.

Step 1 - Go See What the Issues are

Chef Ramsay goes to the restaurant, tries the food and offers feedback:   He arrives at a restaurant and tastes the food and examines the basic layout and decor of the place.  He then gives his feedback about the food to the Chef.  He doesn't pull any punches and can be sometimes crass however he tells it like it is.  If it tastes like dog sh*t then he says..."this tastes like dog sh*t".

Watch the current state of flow of the dinner service: Gordon observes a typical evening at the restaurant.  He sees the communication between the chef, waitstaff and customers.  Looks for the bottlenecks, processing defects and does some simple metrics.

Listen to the customers to find out what they want:  Customers expect the basics- good food, served at the appropriate temperature and in a timely fashion.  This is what is of "Value" to them.   In most of the episodes the restaurants fall short on at least 1, if not all 3 of these value items.

Step 2 - The Change Process

Simplify the menu:  The menu goes from 20-40 options to 10-12 in some cases.  Dishes are made to order with fresh ingredients as opposed to frozen or pre-made dishes.  Portion sizes are dramatically decreased.  *NOTE Value does not equal large amounts of mediocre food!

Renovate and relaunch the restaurant:  Sometimes it's just a new coat of paint, other times they move walls and bring in new tables, chairs and place settings.  This helps solidify that change has taken place for the employees and the customers.

Fix the flow of the kitchen:  With any change there are a few hiccups but everyone needs to work through them.  This may include shifting duties or just changing minor processes.

Lean Transformation Complete: With a simplified menu of fresh ingredients and smaller portion sizes the kitchen can flow orders out the door to waiting patrons.  The food is delicious and the customers are happy.

I love this show:  It is entertainment TV and it makes Lean Transformation look simple but it's an excellent example of what Lean can do when applied.  It also shows how fast a turnaround can occur if Lean is embraced and the owners are willing to change.  Great Job Chef Ramsay!!

Lean for the Home: Doing the Laundry

My wife K.  and I started talking about how to lean up our home and what we can do to make our lives easier.

We made a list of things we wanted to simplify in our lives and the laundry came up high on the list. 

We brainstormed about what we disliked most about the laundry.  Tops on the list were:

• Clothes overflow in the laundry bin and clutter our room (Excess Inventory)
• We are always looking for specific items that need to be washed right away (Expediting Orders)
• Sorting darks from lights (Re-work)
• An entire day is usually dedicated to laundry (Large production runs)
• K does most of the laundry (Un-even work load)

What we changed to make it easier:

    We divided the bin into 2 sides "Lights and Darks".  Each side is the equivalent of a single load of laundry.  

                 BEFORE LEAN                                           AFTER LEAN

 

Rules:

Dirty clothes are immediately sorted into the bin and not piled or put on the floor.

When the bin is full, the person adding the last bit of laundry is in charge of taking it downstairs and running the load.

Results:

We no longer find laundry to be a chore and it's now routine.  We have more time because we aren't loosing an entire day to laundry and we are both happier.

If you like this Lean for the Home tip you should check out:  Loading the Dishwasher using Lean