Description
Three Steps to Immediately Improve Business Operations
STEP 1 |
STEP 2 |
STEP 3 |
First, you must learn to recognize and quantify the wastes that increase Operating Costs and Customer Wait Times. You need to run your business using performance metrics that drive the correct employee behavior, support data-driven decisions and help to sustain healthy growth of the business. Therefore, your performance metrics should be tied to: (1) the elimination of waste to reduce the quote-to-cash cycle time, (2) the avoidance of over-burdening of employees and managers, (3) the reduction of workload imbalance and variation between work centers (or departments) that perform the core operations to deliver product (or service) to customers. |
Next, you must develop the Value Stream Map (VSM) to document the process (or multiple linked processes) that your business uses to deliver product (or service) to customers. A Value Stream consists of all the actions (both value-added and non-value-added) currently required to take a product through the logical sequence of processing steps to complete the product. A Value Stream Map helps to visualize all the wastes (recall NVA and NNVA steps?) in the current processes and information flows that support the process for order fulfillment. The map visually depicts the location of each occurrence of the Seven Wastes in the existing system, operational parameters such as setup time and cycle time for the VA steps, etc. |
Finally, having the Value Stream Map in hand, you need to follow a systematic process to improve operations by eliminating waste in different areas of your business. You cannot adopt a Whack-A-Mole strategy! A change made in one area of the current system could counteract another change made elsewhere in the system. How to systematically pursue elimination of the different wastes displayed on the Value Stream Map? By following a POOGI (Process of Ongoing Improvement) that focuses on improving the performance of the “weakest link in the chain” which is the current bottleneck in the system. |
Agenda
Session Time |
Topic |
8.00 – 8.30 a.m. |
Step 1 to Immediately Improve Business Operations |
Overview of Presentation: This video Toast Kaizen uses the day-to-day activity of making toast in the kitchen to teach the Seven Forms of Waste. Click here to see a segment of this video posted on YouTube. Don’t think that the real bottleneck in the ToPS (Toast Production System) will be obvious when you see this video! The fundamental takeaway from this video is that the Seven Wastes boil down to a single business performance metric, Cash Earning Velocity (CEV), which can be calculated simply as follows: $ earned by delivering the service or product to the customer CEV = --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time it took to deliver the service or product to the customer |
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Supplementary Information for this Presentation: In addition to handouts distributed during the workshop, each attendee will receive instructions to access additional information available online for this session. |
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8.30 – 9.00 a.m. |
Discussion: What is the cost of any significant waste in your business? |
9.00 – 9.45 a.m. |
Step 2 to Immediately Improve Business Operations |
Overview of Presentation: This video Value Stream Mapping describes how the process mapping tool was used to map the complete end-to-end production flow of the core product that they assemble at Jotul North America. Click here to see a segment of this video that is posted on YouTube. Click here to see another YouTube video that features the CEO of Jotul North America talking about the benefits gained from implementing Lean. |
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Supplementary Information for this Presentation: In addition to handouts distributed during the workshop, each attendee will receive instructions to access additional information available online for this session. |
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9.45 – 10.00 a.m. |
Discussion: How Can the Seven Forms of Waste be Identified in a Value Stream Map? |
10.00 – 10.15 a.m. |
Break |
10.15 – 11.00 a.m. |
Step 3 to Immediately Improve Business Operations |
Overview of Presentation: This video The Goal describes how Alex Rogo, the Plant Manager of a hypothetical company, Unico, was given only three months to make his plant profitable else corporate was going to shut it down. With the guidance of an external consultant, Alex implements the 5-step Process Of Ongoing Improvement (POOGI) based on TOC (Theory Of Constraints) to improve the performance of Unico’s Value Stream. Click here to see the initial segment of The Goal video that is posted on YouTube. |
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Supplementary Information for this Presentation: In addition to handouts distributed during the workshop, each attendee will receive instructions to access additional information available online for this session. |
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11.00 – Noon |
Lean⇔TOC: Integrated Use of a Value Stream Map with POOGI to Immediately Improve your Business Operations |
Overview of Presentation: Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a process mapping tool that is suited for low-mix high-volume (LMHV) repetitive assembly production. In contrast, POOGI is a CI (Continuous Improvement) methodology that is better suited for high-mix low-volume (HMLV) flowline production. Why not integrate the two methods to leverage their strengths and eliminate their weaknesses? During this session, we will do the following activities: 1. Discuss answers to key questions in a detailed Q&A on The Goal. 2. Discuss how to improve a production or service delivery system using a Value Stream Map to guide POOGI. |
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Supplementary Information for this Presentation: In addition to handouts distributed during the workshop, each attendee will receive instructions to access additional information available online for this session. |
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Noon – 1.00 p.m. |
Lunch |
1.00 – 2:45 p.m. |
Examples: Implementation of Lean by US Manufacturing and Service Companies |
Overview of Presentation: It is good to see what others have done, gained (or lost) and learned from implementing Lean. During this session, we will use a simple show of hands to pick a couple of the case studies listed below for the entire group to see and discuss: · Bahri Dentistry: Dentistry (www.FirstLeanDentist.com)[1] · Peterson Pacific Corporation: Wood Chipping Equipment · VIBCO: Industrial Vibratory Equipment · MADICO: Multi-layered Laminating and Coating Films · GEMGroup: Administrative Services for Benefit Plans · Accurounds: Precision Machining · Z Corporation (now 3D Systems): Production 3D Printers · Abiomed: Heart Support and Recovery Products · Brookfield Engineering Laboratories (now Ametek): Viscometers · Raytheon’s Integrated Air Defense Center: Missile Guidance Systems |
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Supplementary Information for this Presentation: In addition to handouts distributed during the workshop, each attendee will receive instructions to access additional information available online for this session. |
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2.45 – 3:00 p.m. |
Break |
3.00 – 4:30 p.m. |
Where Do You Go From Here? |
Overview of Presentation: Each attendee (or team) from a local business may want to get feedback on their plan to implement the 3-step process for improving business operations that was taught in this workshop. Volunteers from the group of attendees will be invited to share their plans with the rest of the group. · What is your Plan Of Action to cut waste in your business? · What could be the obstacles that you will face? · How do you plan to overcome these obstacles? Everyone is expected to put on their problem-solving hats and guide/advise the presenter/s during this session! |
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4:30 – 5:00 p.m. |
· Workshop Evaluation · Adjournment |
Takeaways for ALL Attendees
- Learn how Lean and TOC (Theory Of Constraints) can be integrated into a single 3-step approach to improve operational performance in the office and on the shop floor
- Network with peers who want to improve office and shop floor operations
Industry Professionals Who Should Attend
- Business Owners
- Operations Managers
- Plant Managers
- Consultants
- Manufacturing Engineers
- Industrial Engineers
- Production Supervisors
- Lean Six Sigma Practitioners
Businesses that Should Attend
Any business could benefit from this workshop! Each attendee will be emailed a list of hyperlinks to success stories of Lean implementation by the businesses listed below:
Bakeries | Caterers | CNC Machine Shops |
Coffee Shops | Collision Repair Shops | Commercial Laundromats |
Construction Companies and Homebuilders | Dentistry Practices | Document Printing Services |
Education | Fabricators | Furniture Makers |
Government | Home Improvement Supplies Superstore | Hospitals |
Insurance | Landscapers | Warehousing and Distribution |
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul | Marketing and Advertising Agencies | Mining |
Oil and Gas | Outdoor Furniture Makers | Restaurants |
Shipbuilding | Tool & Die Repair | Trophies and Recognition Awards |
Case Studies
Please click here to access a wide variety of Lean Management Case Studies posted on the website of the Lean Enterprise Institute.
Please click here to access a wide variety of case studies posted on the website of Planet Lean, The Global Lean Network Journal.
Recommended Reading for this Workshop
Byrne, A. 2013. The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company. McGraw-Hill.
Goldratt, E. & Cox, J. 2014. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. North River Press.
Koenigsaecker, G. 2013. Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation. CRC Press.
Womack, J. P. & Jones, D. T. 2005. Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together. Free Press.
Womack, J. P. & Jones, D. T. 2003. Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation. Free Press.