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Five Minute Lean – Introduction

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptautonomy mastery purpose, five minute lean excerpt, five minute lean introduction, high velocity edge leadership qualities, intrinsic motivators, lean book, learn leanDavid McLachlan

This is an excerpt from the book "Five Minute Lean", by David McLachlan - a wonderful book that blends teaching of the tools, culture and philosophy of traditional Lean with a modern-day Lean parable.

You can get the whole book on Amazon here and enjoy your own copy.

Introduction

This book was created for you.

In fact, if you are working either as an employee or as a business owner there’s a good chance you have run into your fair share of frustration over the past year. A recent study found that nearly 87% of employees are “disengaged” in their jobs*, feeling unhappy and stuck with the work they do every day, and I know at times we would probably even use a stronger word for it than that. With the average age of retirement currently in the high sixties and rising, that could be a very long time to spend doing something that you don’t enjoy.

This feeling is not just for the majority of employees in the work force either. Small business owners often find themselves working 12-hour days in their business, with no clear process and no way to make things easier for the future. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Perhaps you know someone who is going through the same thing or even someone who feels the same way. Have you ever come home exhausted because your job makes things more difficult than they should be? Maybe you’ve been trying to do good work but seem to be blocked at every turn and you think to yourself, “If only there was a better way.”

Well here is the good news: There is a better way, and you’re about to learn it.

What you are about to learn will help make your job easier, faster, and more enjoyable. It will give you an incredibly simple view of your job or your business and improve it so much that work becomes a pleasure again (or maybe even a pleasure for the first time). It will help you to think like a leader, and people who think and act like leaders tend to get paid more on average than those who don’t.

Award winning research** has proven that the best of these leaders, in the most outstanding companies around the world, all have the following four capabilities in common:

They know how to reveal problems & opportunities in their work
They solve the root cause of these problems, building new knowledge
They share any knowledge learned throughout the organisation
They develop the first three capabilities in others

This book will give you the means to achieve all four of these leadership qualities.

It All Starts With a Standard Process

As you will soon discover for yourself, Lean transformations can see incredible results. Process and delivery times can be cut in half (or more), and it is not uncommon for quality to improve in the area of over 100%. But it all starts with a standard process.

Although it might be hard to believe at first, everything in life has a process, whether that process has been properly articulated or not. And where there is a process, it can be improved.

Because of this, I am 100% certain this book can help you, no matter what industry or area you work in.

Top athletes train a very specific way each day to gain the success they enjoy in their field – they have a standard, repeatable process to get results. Restaurants such as McDonalds have built themselves into multi-billion dollar businesses, and are run primarily by 16 year olds at the front line. They can produce food the same way every time, because they have a method that is trained the same way each time to young people on the job.

But it also goes deeper than that.

Surgeons following a process checklist in a study from the New England Journal of Medicine saw death rates drop by almost half (47%). Serious complications also dropped by around 36%. A huge and positive impact, all by following a standard process.

How about music? Surely that is a creative industry, and can’t be put in a “standard process” box?

Well, when Lou Perlman started Trans Continental Records in the 1990s, he studied a previously successful band called New Kids on the Block, and discovered that the use of five part harmonies in a certain way resulted in a large number of Top 10 hits. He then used that very same process on the Backstreet Boys, *NSync, Take 5 and O-Town, creating a variety of boy bands from scratch and selling well over 200 million albums between them. It was standard and repeatable and it made him many millions of dollars.

There are many ways standard processes help people to succeed. Starting with your current process and using the methods in this book to improve it has been proven to be extremely effective.

This Book Itself is a Standard Process

To make your experience as easy as possible, you’ll notice that this book itself is a standard process, which you can reference quickly, depending on where you are on your journey.

Each chapter title is actually one of five individual steps that you can use and see at a glance, based on the five step Lean implementation process at the Lean Enterprise Institute. These steps are “Specifying Value, Map, Flow, Pull, and Perfection”. The five sections within each of these chapters are also titled as more detailed instructions for you to reference quickly. Laying out the book in this way ensures that you and your team-mates have the power to learn and share Lean improvement methods in under five minutes, and it also makes it easier for you to get started and learn by doing, instead of spending time trying to find all of this information yourself.

Included at the beginning of each chapter is also an ongoing story – it is the story of someone improving their job so much that they enjoy it again. As you read this story some parts may seem unusual at first, but please know that they have been carefully crafted to embed in your subconscious the Lean tools and practices. Using a book in this way, with a summary and a story means that people with different learning styles can learn quickly and in the way that they most prefer. Those who prefer a summary can read the summaries, those who prefer a story can read the stories, and those who want it all can read both.

While traditional Lean improvement tools were used in manufacturing companies, in Five Minute Lean we will also use them further in the world of office processes, food, finance, technology and dozens of other industries. They can – and should – be used everywhere, from the home kitchen or work-shed through to building a home kitchen or work-shed, from a hotel doorman through to a hotel CEO.

Everyone has the power to improve their work, no matter what that work is.

Teach and Share to Build an Incredible Culture

Five Minute Lean is designed to make it easier for every one of your team-mates to improve their job. This not only makes the job better and less burdensome on themselves, but it benefits customers with improved quality and delivery speed, and shareholders with increased profits and lowered costs as well.

By teaching Lean to all levels of a company, you can achieve amazing things. This is because when management is on-board and well versed in job-improving tools, they can support and drive change. When front-line team-mates learn these problem solving skills, they can often see quick ways to improve their job as they already know the process well.

Lean is the common language that when everyone has, ties this all together.

To quickly implement this common language, there is a key underlying principle of Lean, which is “respect for people”. Respect for people means that we see problems as an opportunity to improve the process; we don’t consider it as a failing of the people. Seeing it this way and improving a process also has lasting results – a legacy, even if people come and go.

While we are improving the process, we are also building our people. This means growing the team-mates you work with and bringing them on the journey with you. Every time you improve your work, you can share and teach these problem solving tools as well. With more people around you who can discover and solve real problems quickly, work can become more and more pleasurable over time – even (believe it or not) fun. This combination of front-line expertise and Lean problem solving ability cannot be bought with money, it must be grown within your business, which is why no one is ever “let go” as a result of a Lean transformation – only grown into new positions.

Finally, the steps in this book will give you and your team huge benefits in your personal lives. Proof has emerged* that shows it is not always extrinsic rewards like money that increases motivation and happiness, but more intrinsic rewards or motivators.

These intrinsic motivators are:

1. Autonomy

Where we are given free rein in solving a problem

2. Mastery

Where we can work continuously toward mastering a worthy skill

3. Purpose

Where we are contributing to something greater than ourselves

A Lean initiative, when taught to every level of a company, can give you all three. By putting this book in everyone’s hands, you not only have the power to improve your job, but dramatically increase the engagement of your team-mates across the board as well. Then, not only will work become a pleasure again, but great financial rewards will begin to flow.

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Five Minute Lean – Introduction

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Five Minute Lean – The Power of Incentives – What is Measured and Rewarded Improves

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptcharlie munger quote, five minute lean book excerpt, incentives for the decision maker, lean book, learn lean, the power of incentivesDavid McLachlan

The Power of Incentives – What is Measured and Rewarded Improves

‘If you want to change how someone acts, change what you measure and reward to reflect it.’

When you’re effecting change in an organisation you should be aware of one of the most powerful influences of a person’s behaviour:

Incentives – but it’s not what you might think.

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s business partner Charlie Munger famously said that he continually underestimates the power of a person’s incentives. Think about the global financial crisis in 2008 – it was caused in large part by institutions financing thousands of terrible loans – simply because their incentives were married to how many they sold and not the quality of the loans themselves. Seems so simple now, doesn’t it? But it made no difference to the salespeople if the loans went bad (which they eventually did), and it ended up causing widespread financial havoc.

So our last step when implementing a change in our company or organisation is this:

To change how our team members work and act, change how they are measured and rewarded.

This doesn’t have to mean monetary rewards either – it might simply be the difference between pleasure and pain in a task. If a task is extremely difficult or painful to do the right way, it subtly makes the incentive for our team-mates not to do it. If doing a task the wrong way is easier, the unspoken incentive is actually to do it that wrong way.

Changing what we measure has a similar result. If you want team members to stop passing on mistakes or unfinished products downstream (to the next step in the process), then stop measuring them by the amount they do and start measuring them on the quality instead. Make the focus on zero defects, and tie bonuses or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to quality or adherence to a standard process, with the amount they do as a secondary consideration. The same works for any other process output you are trying to change, in business and in life.

If you want better customer service, create a standard process around your customer service interactions then change what you measure and reward to reflect it. Feedback (both good and bad) for these things is best given as soon as possible – the longer you wait the less powerful it becomes.

Understanding the effect of incentives on team-mates’ every day decisions can truly change your business and your life.

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Five Minute Lean – Put it Together With Design for Ease of Use

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptdesign for ease of use definition, five minute lean book excerpt, how to make a product easy to use, lean book, learn leanDavid McLachlan

Put it Together With Design for Ease of Use

‘The most successful companies have products that are easy for customers to use, and processes that are easy to create them with.’

Design for Ease of Use (DFEU) is the idea that both our product and our process should be designed as simply as possible, so that anyone can use and understand it.

Truly, the more people that can use your product, the more opportunities you have to sell it. And the more employees that can perform your process, the easier it will be to find quality, capable staff.

It is no mistake that an average two year old can find their way around an Apple iPad, and that Apple as a result has been an immensely successful company.

This is why Design for Ease of Use is so very important.

The first step is asking our customer, “What is it you are trying to do?” The reason we ask, is because value is always determined by the customer (1.1). Whatever their answer is, we can ensure that our process gets them to that outcome more easily, by answering for ourselves the DFEU questions below:

1. How many steps are in the process?

Can these steps be reduced?

2. Is Value added at each step?

Can we remove non-value added steps?

3. How many wasteful activities take place at each step (3.1)?

Can we remove this waste?

4. How long should each step take?

Can we make them faster, and does it meet customer demand?

5. Why is the step necessary?

What would happen if it was eliminated?

6. Are there any queues or stops?

How long does the process stop for, and can we remove these queues?

7. What can go wrong at each step? Is it possible to make a mistake?

Can we use Error Proofing (4.2) to avoid mistakes?

8. If the mistake cannot be prevented, can it be detected before it goes to the next step (4.2)?

And finally, the big one:

9. Would customers be willing to pay for this step if they knew about it?

To quote a phrase that is attributed to Albert Einstein – “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Making things easy to use is the pillar behind any great product.

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Five Minute Lean – Work Towards One-Piece-Flow (and Reducing Silos or Batching)

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean book excerpt, how to reduce batching, how to reduce silos, lean book, learn lean, one piece flow definitionDavid McLachlan

Work Towards One-Piece-Flow (and Reducing Silos or Batching)

‘One Piece Flow allows us to create our product or service smoothly and to customer demand, one piece at a time, reducing inventory, queues and work in process.’

One Piece Flow is where, instead of many different departments or processes creating large amounts of material or work, it is done in as close to the one place and at the same time as possible.

It also means that our product moves from step to step continuously, one piece at a time and with no build-up of work in between. In our Line Balancing example (3.4) there would always be one piece (and only one piece) working for each step, and those steps would be balanced to customer demand (Takt time).

One of the main ideas behind this is that by only working on one piece at a time until completion, if anything stops or holds up the process it becomes very clear, as the process simply cannot continue. It reveals problems, which is good as they are opportunities for us to improve, and we can then look at these problems as they arise instead of pushing them aside for later.

Performing the work in the same place and time, whether it is a physical space or using a single computer program, significantly reduces wait time between processes, reduces unnecessary people or tasks, saves on space, machines and resources and gives an opportunity for simpler management.

One piece flow is also opposed to “batch processing”, where items build up in a process causing larger inventories, longer queue times and rework.

Many of the eight wastes (3.1) will affect one piece flow. Unnecessary movement, transport, additional process steps or unevenness in a process can all slow things down. We can use our value stream map to see some of this waste, then root cause analysis to get to the real problem, and Line Balancing to see any variation in timings and balance the process to customer demand.

A Pull system, including Supermarkets and FIFO lanes and Kanban triggers in the next chapter (4.1) can also greatly assist with implementing one piece flow. Before we finish this chapter let’s look at one last thing:

SMED and Quick Changeovers

Just a quick note on Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), which is another way of saying “quick changeover” techniques. Sometimes our process might have long wait times as we change between processes, people, machines, systems or tools.

While it is easy to see how a quick changeover can apply to a manufacturing machine creating two different items, it can apply to an office environment in the form of changing between people or processes as well. Brainstorming ways to change over quickly, based on the instructions below can help reduce this wait time.

The method for quick changeovers is based on two types of changeover operations which should be separated from each other:

Internal, or “hidden” operations, which can only be done separately and when the person, process or machine is stopped, and;
External, or “visible” operations, which can be done in parallel while the person, process or machine is still going.

The aim is to reduce any waste (3.1) in the changeover, and then to:

Convert any Internal (hidden) changeover operations to External (visible) changeover operations.
Perform these changeover steps in parallel to each other (at the same time) or while the process is still running.

Can a client’s details be filled out by someone, in parallel, while they are having their consultation? Or could a person changing roles within an organisation complete some of the changes themselves by making an internal, or hidden process, external and accessible? With a little imagination, we can transform our job and make it easier, which is why our first step would always be to “go and see” at the Gemba. Front-line team-mates often have great ideas on how to make hidden processes visible and complete changeover steps in parallel.

By putting all the steps in this chapter together we are reducing blockages, wait time, employee and customer confusion and unnecessary steps. Just doing this alone has the potential to add massive value to your company, department or business, and there are still more ways in the last two chapters to help you improve your work even further.

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Five Minute Lean – Add Important Data to Your Map

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean book excerpt, lean book, learn lean, swim lane chart example, value stream map data, value stream map example, what information to add to value stream mapDavid McLachlan

Add Important Data to Your Map

‘Including the right information on your process map allows you to see areas where you can improve straight away.’

The last step in “Map” is adding the right information to our Value Stream Map so we can reveal problems and improve the process. This data includes:

Rework or defects
Additional problems or ideas called out by front-line staff
Non-value added steps
Process and customer timing

Let’s look at each one in turn, and then an example at the end.

Rework Percentages

Rework can also be known another way as “First Pass Yield” or “First Time Right”. Basically, this is how many times you need to go back through the previous steps to get additional information or fix a defect, for example a car that needs repainting, or a form that is not filled out correctly and needs more information from the previous department.

If our item goes through correctly 70% of the time, then we have a “First Pass Yield” of 70%. Or, if you prefer, you can note it as rework, which is one of the wastes we go into in (3.1) and in which case it would be reworked 30% of the time.

Kaizen Bursts

You will notice in our Value Stream Map icons that there is an icon called Kaizen Burst. A Kaizen Burst icon is a great way to write down additional ideas or problems called out by our front-line team-mates.

We can then delve deeper into these additional problems and solutions when we move into root cause analysis (3.3) and brainstorming solutions.

value stream map kaizen bursts

Figure 10: Examples of using Kaizen Bursts to call out opportunities for improvement. Note that we number opportunities to correspond with the process step they relate to.

Value Add / Non Value Add Steps

If the process task improves the product, or the experience of the customer and it is something our customer is willing to pay for, we consider it Value Add (VA). Almost everything else is Non-Value Add (NVA) or waste that we can seek to reduce.

We can also note NVAR or “Non-Value Add Required” steps, that might include things like regulatory approvals or audits that don’t add value but are necessary to perform.

Timing our Processes

We can display these value add (VA) and non-value add (NVA) steps with a process timing band. In a Value Stream Map, the timings for our NVA steps stand out on the peaks, and the timings for the VA steps stay in the valleys underneath our map, shown in Figure 11.

value stream map non value add timing

Figure 11: An example of Value Add (process boxes) and Non-Value Add (queues) in a process map, shown by the timing band underneath each process. Value Add steps are shown in the valleys, while Non-Value Add steps stand out on the peaks.

When gathering the timings for our process it is a good idea to time a process at least 10 times, then use the “lowest repeatable time” as the standard – the lowest time that appears three times or more. You may need to time more for fast processes and slightly less for slow processes, but 10 is often a good place to start.

There are also three main types of timings that we need to reveal:

Cycle Time, which is the time of a single process. This is noted underneath the process step.
Lead Time, which is the total time to create and deliver a product or service. This can be noted at the end.
Takt Time, which is the rate of items required as determined by the customer, for each shift.

To get our Takt time, we take the average items sold (or serviced) and divide it by the hours worked. For example if Lisa’s customers called through 40 times a day (per operator) and she worked eight hours (480 minutes), her customer demand would be one every 12 minutes (480 minutes, divided by 40 calls = 12 minutes a call).

Of course, all of these timings relate to “Delivery” in our Customer Driven Metrics (1.2). Now that we have all this information, let’s add it to our Value Stream Map and see what it looks like:

value stream map with data

Figure 12: A Value Stream Map of our Shoe Emporium process, now with rework, process timing separated into Value Add and Non-Value Add as well as the other common icons. The Takt time can be added separately.

swim lane flow chart timings

Figure 13: A Swim Lane Flow Chart of our Shoe Emporium process. Although it is uncommon for a map like this, the important NVA times (the top times) and VA times (the bottom times) are also noted, with the totals on the right.

So well done! There is a lot to take in in this chapter, but you did it.

On your journey you will notice that different people and organisations might lay out their maps slightly differently. As long as there is an agreed standard within your company, then including the information listed in this chapter at a minimum will give you enough insight to start making improvements.

If you are doing all of this for the first time, it can be a truly eye-opening experience. There might have been something that annoyed you in your job or business that you just couldn’t put your finger on – but when you map it all out you can actually see it. You can see where the hold ups are, the rework, bottlenecks in the process and more. It’s amazing, and it can really improve your work and your life.

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Five Minute Lean – Use Feedback to Fix and Guarantee

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean book excerpt, how to use customer feedback, lean book, learn leanDavid McLachlan

Use Feedback to Fix and Guarantee

‘Fixing and guaranteeing the things our customer finds annoying is an immensely powerful way to gain raving fans.’

Many industries will have their pet hates – things that have become almost clichés as they annoy customers in that industry the most. Perhaps you’ve had the cable technician who never turns up on time, or the call centre operator who moves slower than a glacier. Great companies and businesses that survive the longest are ones that take this into consideration and do something about it.

One of the most simple and powerful methods we can use here is to:

1. Find out what annoys the customer most

Discover what annoys your customers by using the Net Promoter Score “Dissatisfiers”, and collecting customer complaints. Examples of this step might include a tradesperson that doesn’t show up, clothes bought from an online store that don’t fit, or food that is cold when it’s delivered.

2. Fix it

Imagine if your tradesperson actually did show up right on time, every time? Or your clothes were either the right size or you could exchange them? Or your food really was delivered hot and fresh for every order? We can fix what annoys customers the most using the tools in this book.

3. Then guarantee it

Now imagine if your tradesperson showed up on time, guaranteed? Or your clothes were the right size or you could exchange them for free, guaranteed? Or your food was delivered hot and fresh guaranteed, or it’s free?

These three steps are truly one of the fastest ways to get yourself raving fans, and raving fans turn average earnings into outstanding earnings.

The examples above were not just chosen at random either – they are real life examples of outstanding companies. Domino’s Pizza implemented the idea of pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free, guaranteed and the company has gone from strength to strength in business and in its stock price since.

Zappos is an online clothing and footwear company that implemented a 365 day return policy (effectively a satisfaction guarantee), and has grown from a small online store to turning over more than a billion dollars a year.

And lastly, local tradespeople who show up on time, guaranteed, have more work than they need and can often charge more than the average as well.

When you combine all of the five steps in “Define Value” you have a quick and easy way to get insight into what brings your customer value and what they would be willing to pay for. This is truly powerful information, and can save you a lot of heartache down the track, whether you are just starting a business or improving an existing one.

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Five Minute Lean – Create a New Standard Procedure and Checklist for Quality Control

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptchecklist, five minute lean book excerpt, lean book, learn lean, standard operating procedureDavid McLachlan

Create a New Standard Procedure and Checklist for Quality Control

‘When your process can be performed easily by someone straight off the street, then chances are you have an excellent Standard Operating Procedure.’

And now finally we come to the point of it all! A standard, repeatable process that anyone can learn, teach to others, and quality check.

You will find that most businesses, even ones you have worked for, do not have clearly written, standard, repeatable processes for the work that they do. This means that the work is often “hidden”, finishing very differently from person to person and relying on large amounts of expensive training, experience or even highly paid experts. Therefore, by simply articulating a standard process (making it visible) first, and then using the knowledge in this book to improve it, you can see some incredible rewards.

Taking our future state process and ensuring we have tested it well, we can now create a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for people to carry out the same way every time, or use as a new baseline for future improvements.

The most common inclusions are a set of main tasks, and then sub tasks – simple step by step instructions from the beginning to the end of the process. A good process checklist will also include the takt time, or the rate required as per customer demand, the lowest repeatable cycle time (2.5), and relevant pictures, safety and risk notes.

When team-mates are using the same checklist as the person who is measuring their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), then everyone is on the same page and their job is made that much better, easier and enjoyable. There is nothing worse than trying to do a good job while being judged or monitored on different rules (or rules that are always changing or are not clearly defined). This step truly has the power to fix these inconsistencies in an organisation.

lean process checklist

Figure 30: A checklist for your standard procedure doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it simple so anyone can create and follow it. Many people separate their SOPs into a handful of main tasks, and then sub tasks next to each related main task.

It’s a good idea to keep your standard checklists in a central location where everybody has access to them, in addition to making them visible at the workstation and rolling them out to the people performing the process, the people training the process and the people monitoring the process.

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Five Minute Lean – Organise Your Process with Five S

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean book excerpt, lean book, lean five s definition, lean shine, lean sort, lean standardise, lean straighten, lean sustain, learn lean, shadow board, visual managementDavid McLachlan

Organise Your Process with Five S

‘Organising a workplace with Five S reduces risk, increases safety, makes it easy to reach and find things and know when they are running out.’

In Lean, Five S (also “5S”) is a method used to create an organised, clean and safe work area where things are visible, easy to reach and easy to find. This can also help in reducing waste, cycle times, overburden and stress and help implement your Pull system.

It doesn’t just have to be a physical space either – in the world of technology it can mean reducing different and unnecessary programs, sorting out unnecessary fields in your software or forms, or reducing the many folders or areas we keep work, results, forms or code.

The five S’ are:

1. Sort

Sort out and remove any unnecessary items.

2. Straighten

Organise the remaining essential items so team-mates can find materials quickly and reach them easily.

3. Shine

Clean the area and work tools.

4. Standardise

Make the standard process and the designated places for each item clearly visible for all to see.

5. Sustain

Put into place regular sorting and review of the necessary items and the implementation, for continuous improvement.

In other words, we have a place for our necessary things, and our necessary things in their place.

A nice example of 5S in a physical space is a “Shadow Board” – where shadows of the tools are put behind tools hanging on a wall so you know what goes where and can always see if something is missing. This idea can also relate to a Kanban trigger (4.1) to replenish an item. If the marked space is empty, this might trigger the upstream process to produce and place a new item there.

Item “footprints” are a similar idea – outlines and labels to show where items belong. All items should be close at hand, requiring minimal movement.

shadow board visual management

Figure 25: An example of a shadow board, where the shadow behind the tool makes it easy to see what goes where, and when a tool is missing. Great visual management that can be seen at a glance.

Implementing 5S

“Red tagging” items to begin our 5S is one of the easiest ways to start. We tag items with red tags or post it notes, and take them off if the item is used. This way it becomes clear if we have any items that we don’t need, and can “Sort” them out. Doing a tally of how often fields are used in a software program (if at all) is another good way to tell if the field is truly necessary or not.

After we sort, “Straightening” an area can mean clear labels on storage boxes that help keep things in their proper place, and having items or tools within arm’s reach so a team-mate doesn’t have to move far to get them. This helps improve speed and quality.

When we want to “Standardise”, it is also a great idea to show the standard process clearly on the wall of the area, making it visible for everyone to see (4.1). For example, you could place instructions for keeping an area clear or for storing things that come in, or the steps of the actual process performed in this area.

“Sustaining” a 5S effort is often done by making a roster clearly visible, with the date 5S was last performed and the date and name of the next person to perform it.

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Five Minute Lean – Help Your Process Flow with Line Balancing

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Help Your Process Flow with Line Balancing

‘A Line Balancing chart shows you where you can combine or split processes, to save wait time, reduce hand-offs and ensure you meet customer demand, all at a glance.’

Lisa might use this once she has done her Value Stream Map (2.4) with timings, and wants to see if she can make the experience faster for the customer. Line balancing is where we improve Flow by balancing out the steps in our process, so that they are faster than the rate of customer demand, or Takt time. This can mean combining steps where possible to eliminate queues or wait time, or splitting steps into smaller parts so they can be performed more quickly than our customer demands. A Line Balancing Chart helps us visualise it so we can see where we can improve.

As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words – let’s look at the process steps we started with in our SIPOC (2.3):

lean line balancing chart

Figure 16: Example of our initial line balancing chart, where each process step is being performed at the same time as they move along a “production line” that is always full.

In the example above we have a service that needs to be produced once every 12 minutes to meet customer demand. In other words, 12 minutes is our Takt time.

To create this service, we have five process steps. Our timings look like this in minutes: 7, 3, 1, 3, 14. Every step is always working, as items constantly move through the creation process.

Our two longest processes are 7 minutes and 14 minutes each. We also have a problem, because if one step is taking 14 minutes and we need one every 12 minutes, we won’t meet our customer demand.

So how do we balance this workflow?

We can see that the second longest process (step one, “Call”) is 7 minutes. Steps two and three after it, however, only add up to four minutes (3 + 1). So we have the opportunity to combine the first three steps to reduce the number of total steps, with the added benefit of eliminating queues or wait time in between.

Step 5, however, is 14 minutes – 2 minutes over our Takt time. We can split this step into two, or add some of it to another step in order to bring it under 12 minutes.

Doing this and balancing out our process steps, we have a much more streamlined process with less wait time, fewer handoffs and that we know meets customer demand.

lean line balancing chart

Figure 17: Example of our process after performing line balancing – some steps are combined, reducing queues in between, and one step is split up, ensuring our longest process is still under Takt time.

Using a Line Balancing Chart to Start Initiatives

Using a Line Balancing chart to start an improvement initiative is easy – we just need to reveal the right things.

Remember, when timing a process we do so a minimum of ten times and use the lowest repeating time (2.5). However, we can also draw in the maximum time for each step. This will show us the lowest repeatable time versus the maximum time, with the time between them revealing any variations in time when performing the process. And what causes these variations? You guessed it – waste (3.1) and not having or following a standard process (5.4). This variation can be a good opportunity to focus a Lean initiative on.

This is why problems are such great opportunities. Once the process is improved, we can create a new standard process based on the changes, and then improve it again.

lean line balancing chart

Figure 18: An example of a Line Balancing chart showing variation in times when performing a process. This variation is the perfect opportunity for a Lean improvement initiative.

We could potentially reduce this variation and the time of any remaining steps as well. Getting rid of NVA steps or processes (2.5), getting rid of the Eight Wastes (3.1), using quick changeover techniques (3.5) or adding error proofing and Autonomation (4.2), using 5S to organise work-stations and keep items close at hand (4.4) can all help reduce and balance out our remaining total Lead time even further.

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Five Minute Lean – Map the Value Stream to Reveal Opportunities

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean excerpt, lean book, lean map, learn lean, swimlane chart, value stream map, value stream map definition, value stream map example, value stream map iconsDavid McLachlan

Map the Value Stream to Reveal Opportunities

‘Mapping the process in this way, you can see your entire process at a glance, including any blockages or sticking points to fix.’

A Value Stream Map (VSM) is a map of the flow of steps for creating our product or service. It can be done at a high level, between departments or a low level, in a single task. Because of this, mapping the value stream is a good way to create a standard operating procedure (5.4), if one doesn’t already exist. This is also the method that Steve taught to Lisa and encouraged her to try with her teammates, and in doing so they revealed a number of problems and opportunities.

In fact that is the reason we map our value stream: to reveal opportunities in our process for us to improve. Things like long process times, many queues, having to redo work, or information travelling between too many departments. All of this is referred to as “waste”, which we go into in more detail in (3.1).

You should know that there is a lot of information packed into the next two sections, and learning how to make a value stream map can seem daunting at first. However, at the end you will be able to see your process at a glance, and it is a very powerful tool.

When creating a VSM, the easiest part to grasp is noting the process steps down the bottom, in order from left to right. Before that, the customer is noted in the top right hand corner, and the supplier is noted in the top left hand corner.

Let’s take a look at something simple to start with – our first “SIPOC” step, or Lisa taking a sales call at the Shoe Emporium.

lean value stream map basic

Figure 5: A basic start of a Value Stream Map for the Shoe Emporium sales process. The stream “supplier” is in the top left, the steps are bottom left to right, and we ultimately deliver to the customer again in the top right, completing the cycle.

As you go through the chapters in this book all of this will make more sense to you. Below are a few of the common icons you might come across in a Value Stream Map for you to reference as we progress.

lean value stream map icons list

Figure 6: Some of the main Icons to help show your process clearly when creating a Value Stream Map.

A picture says a thousand words, so let’s add some of these icons in where they belong, and we can see how they work in our Value Stream Map.

lean value stream map example

Figure 7: Our Value Stream Map with added systems, email communication, queues and delivery. With a little experience a map like this will be second nature to you.

We now can see queues in between our processes, an email communication, an automatic transfer of information from the telephone prompt, databases or systems for where our information is stored, and a truck icon at the end, showing the delivery of the forms to our customer to end this part of the process.

Swim Lane Flow Charts

For those of you who are not yet comfortable with a Value Stream Map, another way of mapping a process is to use a Swim Lane Flow Chart. Also known as a Business Process Map (BPM), it’s called a Swim Lane Chart because it looks like an Olympic swimming pool – but don’t be deceived by how simple it seems. This method of mapping a process is also extremely powerful.

Different departments or stations are noted on the left from top to bottom with their lanes extending to the right. It’s in these lanes that each step is noted, and the steps move up or down the lanes depending on who is performing the step. A picture will help:

lean swimlane flowchart

Figure 8: A basic example of a swim lane flow chart, used to map our value stream. The departments are vertical (up/down) and the process steps are horizontal (left to right).

The main difference is in the process boxes, where a square is a normal process, a diamond is a decision box (often posed as a “yes or no” question) with one or more pathways and a circle is the start or end of a value stream.

lean swimlane icons

Figure 9: The three main types of process boxes in a Swim Lane Flow Chart. A decision process step is often posed as a “yes or no” question, with the answer influencing where the process goes from there.

You can often get a good idea of the process at a glance using this method. It is also very easy (once you have the hang of it) to quickly jot a Swim Lane Flow Chart down on a napkin or piece of paper over a cup of coffee with front-line team-mates. Next, we add some more information to our map so we can see any opportunities to improve at a glance.

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