The purpose of any organisation and in particular a lean organisation is to create value for its customers by providing what they want, when they want it, where they want it, cost effectively. In other words its purpose is to maximize value for the customer, cost effectively. This value is created by the organisation’s processes. The 3 key or primary processes of organisations are-
- Service or product development
- Fulfillment of the service or product
- Support for the customer over the life cycle of the service or product
To maximize value cost effectively the organisation must aim in the long term to develop perfect processes through a process of lean thinking and continuous improvement.
The way to achieve this is to-
- Manage the business backwards from the customer definition of value not forwards from the organisation and assets
- Identify
the whole value stream through the steps required to
create each service or product and remove non value adding waste
viz
- Processing waste
- Transportation waste
- Motion waste
- Overproduction waste
- Inventory waste
- Waiting time waste
- Product defect waste
- Make the process of value creation flow smoothly and quickly to the customer
- But only in line with the pull of the customer
- Ensure the actions in the processes are satisfying for people to perform and managers to manage and strive for perfection by continually removing successive layers of waste.
If the project is well done the staff will find their jobs participative (in developing the process further), fulfilling and interesting. When organisations learn through problem solving they change their attitudes as a result over time. The real gains are in process redesign not just waste elimination and lead to improved customer service but more importantly to the creation of value or solutions that meet customer expectations (which are often unspoken) for which in the commercial world the customer is prepared to pay a premium.
For organisations in the early stages of improvement a first step towards lean thinking is the Workplace Management 5-S Program to achieve higher quality, lower costs, more reliable deliveries, improved safety and greater throughput and customer satisfaction. This program consists of five basic steps, Sort, Straighten, Scrub, Standardise and Sustain.
As with all lean introductions implementation of 5-S begins with an audit and pilot project involving a machine area or cell/department of operations to compare the before and after results and share the success with the rest of the facility. It is important to populate the pilot project with personnel from the full range of functions within the organisation. This helps to spread the culture more quickly through it.
Contact us to find out how BFG Consulting Group can help to improve your business.
