Tag Archives: learn lean

Five Minute Lean – Gather Direct Feedback and Indirect Feedback

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptask the customer, customer feedback, five minute lean excerpt, gather feedback, lean book, learn lean, quality delivery costDavid 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.

Gather Direct Feedback and Indirect Feedback

‘By gathering feedback from our customer we can provide the value that they are willing to pay for.’

If the product is something that brings value to the customer, how do we find out what value actually means to them?

We need to gather feedback, both directly from the customer by asking, and indirectly in the form of measuring results.

Indirect Feedback – Measuring Customer Results

In Lean, there are certain results, called the “Customer Driven Metrics”, which can show us whether a process is working well or not, and also help us clearly define any problem before we begin (3.3). Almost every improvement opportunity within a business can be defined using these metrics, as they are centred on our most important participant, the customer.

They are:

1. Quality

An increase in the quality of the product or service (or reduction in defects or rework)

2. Delivery

Making the delivery faster, or better suited to the customer, including faster “delivery” between each process (or improving timings such as Cycle time and Lead time in 2.5).

3. Cost

A decrease in the cost of creating the product or service, which is ultimately related to Quality and Delivery as well.

Of course, Quality, Delivery and Cost are not the only things that can be can measured. Another great way to see whether a product is providing the right value to the customer is to gather feedback on the metrics below:

1. Sales

When there is a product, even a Minimum Viable Product for a start-up company, we can measure the sales of the product as we change or add features to it. In this case, the more sales the better.

2. Returns

While not traditionally considered a good thing, if a product is being returned this is still feedback that we can use, and can also be a good opportunity for us to ask our customer more about what brings them value.

3. Customer Complaints

Complaints are the perfect way to measure if a product is performing well. Obviously, the fewer the better. They are also a goldmine for Lean initiatives because where there is a complaint, there is an opportunity to improve, so we should collect complaints and use them wisely.

Direct Feedback – Asking Our Customer

Alternatively, the most straight forward way to get feedback from a customer is to ask. And typically the best time to ask a customer for feedback is after they have bought the product or service and the experience is fresh in their minds – for example when Lisa has been through a sales call with one of her customers.

Depending on the situation, we can use:

Asking face to face
Telephone follow-up calls
Email follow-ups
Customer surveys
An online question box
A feedback slip to collect or place in a box

Sections 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 go into more detail as to what to specifically ask your customers, and how to manage the results you get.

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Five Minute Lean – Create a Future State Value Stream Map

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean excerpt, future state value stream map, lean book, learn lean, value stream mapDavid McLachlan

Create a Future State Value Stream Map

‘When you can see a possible future next to a current reality you can see at a glance if your change is worthwhile.’

Seeing the possible changes that can be made side by side with an existing process is one of the most eye-opening experiences ever. As a manager or business owner it is possible to lose touch with the ground-level processes, and seeing improvements mapped out clearly can be extremely valuable.

This step is called “Perfection” at the Lean Enterprise Institute, simply because when we are continually improving, testing changes and streamlining processes, then our aim of perfection becomes much more achievable.

Going through the steps so far, we have a Current State Value Stream Map that shows us our wastes, queues, rework and more. Once we have been through the process of brainstorming ideas for eliminating waste and increasing value, we need to show what it would look like in a Future State Value Stream Map and present it to the appropriate decision makers.

This is the kind of tool that Lisa can use to build a case and help management or stakeholders buy in to the change.

Have any existing processes been taken out? Have we taken out queues or combined two systems into one? Have we performed Line Balancing? Have we added in Supermarkets, FIFO, Error Proofing, Visual Management or new Kanban triggers? All of these will change the Value Stream Map, and now it’s time to show the effects. We should ensure that our new reduced timings are included, including our new Value Add times versus Non Value Add times and the new total Lead time.

Presenting a change in this way ensures professional results, using solid data and facts to support them. An “A3” can also help your presentation, which we discuss in (5.2).

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Five Minute Lean – Create a Pull System with FIFO, Kanban Triggers and Visual Management

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean ExcerptFIFO lane, FIFO Lane definition, five minute lean excerpt, Kanban, Kanban definition, lean book, learn lean, pull system definition, visual managementDavid McLachlan

Create a Pull System with FIFO, Kanban Triggers and Visual Management

‘By making our process visible, including visual triggers and a small standard inventory where necessary, we can create our product or service as our customer orders it, instead of working to create something that no one wants.’

We know that our customer can be our end customer or anyone who is next in the process (downstream) from our department or process. In this part of our Lean journey we will start doing things to get rid of work piling up and being forced on us or our downstream customers.

At the Lean Enterprise Institute, this fourth step is simply called “Pull”, and the idea is to create a Pull system as opposed to a Push system. What this means is that you or your department creates a product or service only as your customer (or downstream process) requests, or “Pulls” it. We don’t “Push” our product to our downstream process or customer, or we don’t create product unless it is asked for.

This has the effect of reducing large inventory of unnecessary items, reducing “work in process” or a build-up of unfinished work, streamlining the process and promoting one piece flow (3.5). This in turn improves upon our customer driven metrics of Quality, Delivery and Cost.

Many of the tools below will assist in promoting a Pull system, and fit nicely with the methods we’ve already learned.

FIFO Lane

FIFO stands for First in First out, and it is an outstanding way to make sure that stock doesn’t go out of date, or that work is distributed fairly. It is most commonly used in a “FIFO Lane” where items in a lane are taken at one end and supplied from the other.

Lean - FIFO Lane

Figure 19: An example of First In First Out – a small amount of inventory that takes the oldest first.

You will have seen this in the bread aisle in your local supermarket – you take, or “Pull” bread from the bottom as you need it, and they restock it from the top. Of course, this is the best way to avoid stale old bread! But it might also be how you delegate work. It might be how you replenish perishable medicines. It might be the order in which you prepare food in after taking a customer’s request in a drive-through. The main idea is that the item is pulled only as it is needed, and an empty space in the FIFO lane triggers the need for the item to be replaced.

Not every job will be able to create their product or process from scratch as quickly as a customer orders it. A bakery still has to bake their goods, and a hotel still has to prepare their rooms, for example. This is why keeping a small amount of “inventory” handy in any process via a FIFO Lane or Supermarket (below) can assist you in delivering quickly, without overproducing.

Supermarket

Another similar theme to FIFO is the Lean “Supermarket”. A Supermarket is a predetermined standard inventory that is kept to supply the downstream process in exact amounts.

For example, if a doctor used 10 vials of medicine at a time in one operation, we might keep 10 of that particular medicine in one place so the doctor could take that exact amount for each operation. When that box is taken it will leave an empty space, triggering us to replace it with another pre-made box of 10.

Figure 20: A basic Pull system, where the customer pulls (orders) the product, and the empty squares prompt our team-mates to pull ingredients from their upstream supplier and create another product for the customer.

Kanban Trigger

Kanban is a Japanese term for “sign” or “signboard” and is basically a signalling system to trigger action. In other words, we ask ourselves:

How do we know when we need to begin work on an item?

And:

How do we let our supplier know we are pulling work (or product) so they can replenish or create their product as necessary?

What is the trigger that tells us these things? This is where a Kanban comes in.

Traditionally Kanban was associated with a “Kanban card”, which was a card (or small “sign”) holding details such as the product and quantity required of a product, handed to the upstream supplier to trigger production.

In a company using Agile techniques (5.3) it might be items in a Kanban “To Do” lane waiting on their wall. Ask yourself what the trigger is, or if you don’t have one, what trigger would work best for you? In other industries, a Kanban can simply be any trigger to begin working on an item. It might be a green light telling us “ready to go!”, it might be an “ORDER MORE” or “REPLACE” card placed where there are two left of something in stock, it might be an empty slot in a FIFO lane or an empty space (specially allocated by Five S in 4.4) for our Supermarket.

Figure 21: A simple Kanban card, with standard instructions and quantities included.

Visual Management

Visual management is another Lean method that can be applied to industries of all types. The idea is to increase transparency by making your process “visible”. Things that are visible tend to get noticed, and things that are visible tend to get done. This can include detail of work queues, anything blocking the flow of the process, who is doing what or sizes of jobs; the list goes on and really depends on your industry or workplace.

For this step we ask ourselves:

What information would be really useful to see at a glance, so we can know if things are working as they should?

Then we can go about putting this on one board, signal or sheet of paper for all to see. A Layered Check Act board (5.2) that shows process metrics is a good example of visual management. It could also be instructions for a process step made clearly visible at the work station with Five S (4.4). The Kanban board or Kanban card we mentioned earlier is also an example of visual management.

Visual Management is something that Lisa might use, if she wanted to make her sales calls visible. It is not uncommon for a call centre to have a large electronic board with the amount of people waiting, or the amount of people available to take calls.

If you come up with any ideas for visual management during your Kaizen meeting, add them to your current Value Stream Map as a Kaizen burst (2.5) so you can remember them for later.

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Five Minute Lean – Eliminate the Eight Wastes to Improve Flow

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerpteight wastes definition, five minute lean excerpt, lean book, lean waste, learn leanDavid McLachlan

Eliminate the Eight Wastes to Improve Flow

‘The eight wastes are a standard, fast and easy method of discovering ways to make our job better’

Now we get to the really good stuff – in fact, this part is my favourite. The best thing about mapping our process in the previous step is that it makes it easy to see possible ways to improve. Articulating any wasteful steps or processes also helps us clearly define our problems before we begin.

At the Lean Enterprise Institute, this third step is called “Flow”. As we go through step three you will see that reducing “waste” in our processes will improve how well and how quickly those processes flow from beginning to end.

The Eight Wastes are a standard way of identifying process blockages in a Lean transformation, and they form a wonderful acronym: “D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E.”

The Eight Wastes are:

Defects
Over-production
Waiting
Non-effective use of time and talent
Transport
Inventory
Motion
Excessive processing

Let’s find out what they mean below, and see if you can recognise any of these wastes in your own job, company or processes (here’s a hint: you definitely will).

Defects (and rework)

Defects are mistakes that require rectification, including rework; or worse, an item being scrapped completely. This might include a job not done properly the first time that needs to be re-done, or items that can’t be delivered because they don’t work as they should. The cost of team-mates time and resources to perform this rework can be staggering.

Over-Production

Over-production is producing more of our goods or services than necessary, and that do not meet the specific needs of our customers. Ideally we will produce items only when our customer requests it, with a small buffer of items to meet demand if necessary.

Waiting

The waste of Waiting is when groups of team-mates in downstream processes are waiting for the completion of upstream work. Have you (or your customer) ever waited too long for someone before you (upstream) to complete their work, while you were unable to do anything?

Non-effective use of time and talent

This is the failure to fully utilise the time and talents of employees. It will include things like not using the front-line process or customer expertise of staff, or not asking for input in solving problems from relevant team-mates who are experts in the process they perform.

Transport

The waste of transport relates to unnecessary transport of material, items in production, information or products. For example, a warehouse that shifts things around too many times, or worse still – moves items from manufacturing, to a warehouse, then back to manufacturing. Or in an office environment – moving things between too many systems, folders, forms or departments.

Inventory

This waste refers to the production of inventory that no one wants (or has requested). It costs money and time to produce and store items, and companies often have additional inventory lying around because they can’t yet produce at the rate of customer demand. The more inventory, the costlier it is.

Motion

This is unnecessary movement by employees active in a process. Reaching too far, moving around to get to things or, in a technology environment, having to sort through items, or folders or systems to find what you want, all relate to motion.

Excessive Processing

This means processing steps that are not needed, or any steps that don’t add value to the customer. This could be excessive approval steps, meetings with no outcomes, or anything else that does not specifically add customer value.

Two additional inefficiencies that are noted in Lean are also:

Overburden:

Unnecessary burden or stress on people or equipment, often because of waste.

Unevenness:

Peaks and valleys in workloads creating too much idle time, followed by times of stress.

Can you see any of these in your own company? How about examples in other jobs you’ve worked in?

One of the most important wastes to note during a Lean transformation is number (4) – failing to utilise the time and talents of people. For a transformation to happen quickly and with enough momentum, it must be taught to all levels, including management or owners who can properly support a change initiative, and front-line staff who know their customers and the process well and can share valuable knowledge on how to improve it. This ensures that everyone is on the same page, speaking the same language, and can use the same problem solving tools in combination with their own process expertise.

Most people can see at least one of the eight wastes in their own work, and many will be able to see four or five.

Note them into your Value Stream Map as Kaizen Bursts (2.5) so you don’t forget them.

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Five Minute Lean – Go to the Gemba

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean, go to the gemba, lean book, lean gema, learn leanDavid McLachlan

Go to the Gemba

‘To truly know a process we must go to where the work is done – second hand information will not suffice.’

Now that we know what brings our customer value from chapter one, we can use the following tools to map out the process of creating that value so everyone can see it clearly and use it to move forward. For this reason, the Lean Enterprise Institute calls this step “Map”, and a good map will also reveal opportunities, problems and “waste” (3.1) in a process. We will go through all of these in this chapter.

We also started this book by saying that most businesses don’t have an existing standard, repeatable process for their work. Mapping the process is an easy way to articulate the current way of working, to use as a makeshift standard process before you start improving it. After all, you can’t improve something you don’t have.

First, in order for us to truly know a process we have to go to where the work is done. In Lean this is called going to the “Gemba”, and Gemba is the Japanese word for “Actual Place”.

In a Lean transformation, getting reports on a situation or hearing it from someone else (like a team-mate or a manager reporting to you) is not good enough. To find out the true situation we must go and experience it first-hand, preferably every day.

This could mean:

Walking the Gemba (going directly to where the work is done), spending time with the people and asking questions or mapping the process as you go.
Involving people from the front lines in a Kaizen Event (2.2) as you map a process and get to the root cause of problems, and;
To a lesser degree, using an LCA Board (5.2) to track metrics of front-line processes.

But it doesn’t just mean going to where the work is done. It also means that we “go and see” as soon as a problem occurs, so we can get our team-mates’ consensus on what the problem might be before we try and solve it. While this may seem like more work initially, it will save you many hours of wasted effort in the future as a problem gets older or becomes embedded in the workplace culture.

If you are an employee like Lisa, you will already be very familiar with your process, and this book will give you a great way to visualise problems and the tools you need to solve them. If you are a manager or an owner like Steve, you may be more removed from the front-line process during the course of your daily work, which is another reason why learning to regularly go to the Gemba to see and experience for yourself is worth many times its weight in gold.

If you are not sure of a problem, or even a solution, nothing can replace the experience of actually going to where the work is done.

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