Lean Archives - Lean East

12Feb 2021 by Steve Musica No Comments

Continuous Flow

Every Lean expert will tell you that continuous flow of value is the goal of a Lean process. Batching work is the opposite of continuous flow, yet most people batch jobs because they feel it is more efficient. For example, if we are baking a cake we may as well bake a second cake while the recipe book is open, all the ingredients are out, and the oven is on. The time for baking two cakes in a batch will be only slightly more than baking a single cake. The average time per cake is, therefore, lower when batching - this is more efficient! So if batching is more efficient, are the Lean experts wrong? Why we batch work All people, even lean practitioners, batch some of their work.…

23Nov 2020 by Steve Musica 1 Comment

Theory of Constraints

Summary

This is a summary of the story and key lessons from the 1984 classic The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eli Goldratt that introduced the world to the Theory of Constraints. Goldratt has published multiple editions of the original book, and also adapted the TOC concept to project management theory with his book Critical Chain, published in 1997. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is an operations management method that views any system as being limited in achieving its goals by a small number of constraints. Every system has at least one constraint – TOC uses a focusing process to identify and eliminate the constraint, therefore raising the output of the entire system. “No Chain is Stronger Than Its Weakest Link” The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement…

28Apr 2020 by Steve Musica No Comments

The Business Case for Lean

Lesson

Five Lean East case studies that show the benefits of Lean Thinking The Lean East team is focused on teaching and applying proven Lean Six Sigma principles and tools to develop high performing organizations. We focus specifically on organizations that provide customers with a service (i.e. healthcare, government, financial, insurance, education, construction, repairs, etc.) rather than a product. Lean Six Sigma has a long track record of success in manufacturing, but only recently became embraced by service-based industries. Some of our clients use Lean thinking as a strategic differentiator – far surpassing their previous results (and their competition). Some of our clients select us because of our expertise in Lean Six Sigma methodology. Other clients have “no idea what this Lean stuff is about.” Our goal in this post is…

23Feb 2020 by Steve Musica 3 Comments

The Difference Between Push and Pull

Lesson

This post focuses on the difference between push and pull in Lean. The goal of Lean is for every process to “flow value at the pull of the customer.” The key terms in this statement are defined below: [caption id="attachment_3048" align="alignright" width="150"] This symbol represents "pull" in Lean value stream mapping[/caption] The ultimate Customer is the end-user – who the product or service is providing value for. The other customer is the next step in the process. What does the next step need, and when do they need it? Flow refers to how value is created in a process. In a “perfect process,” value is created during every step, without any waste (or delay) in the process. Value is defined by the customer (end-user or next step). Every step…

25Dec 2019 by Steve Musica No Comments

Develop Scientific Thinking with Lean Kata

Lesson

This month we are happy to share a simple yet powerful tool that will benefit any organization. It is the Lean Kata approach for developing a culture of scientific thinking at all levels of any organization. What does the word “kata” mean? Kata is the Japanese word for “form” and refers to a detailed, choreographed pattern of movements practiced alone or in groups. Anyone who has ever practiced the martial arts has performed katas in front of a sensei to advance and earn additional belts. The kata allows the trainee to memorize and perfect the movements being executed so they can easily make the movements later using muscle memory. The Lean Kata was developed by Toyota and has been well described in the Mike Rother book, Toyota Kata:…

19Aug 2019 by Steve Musica 1 Comment

Allowing For Trial & Error

Lesson

Lean East shares our improvement cycle and the need to experiment to learn and grow. We are pleased to offer this monthly lesson as a video post! You can read the lesson below, which is a formatted transcript of the presentation, or watch the 5-minute video embedded at the end. Allowing For Trial & Error: A Better Way To Grow & Compete Have you ever worked in a place where the goal is to be unnoticed and the boss visits your area only if you are about to hear bad news? I have seen too many organizations where employees just go through the motions, doing what they are told. Raises and advancements at these workplaces are based primarily on not making mistakes. Employees are told what to do…

25Feb 2019 by Steve Musica No Comments

Lean and Agile – Ideas that Work Together

Lesson

Lean East shares five similarities between Lean and Agile Readers of our blog will be familiar with Lean fundamentals. Many of you have completed improvement projects or attended workshops such as our ‘Introduction to Lean Thinking’ course. Readers of our blog are past or current clients, or people we have connected with in LinkedIn Groups (we recommend Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence as great sources of information and energy). Likewise, many of our readers will know that the goal of Lean is to maximize customer value by minimizing non-value-added “waste” in processes. Lean changes the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services across technologies and departments. But what about Agile? Some members of our community have started to hear the whispering of ‘Agile’…

30Jan 2019 by Steve Musica 1 Comment

8 Lean Wastes: Transportation vs Motion

Lesson

Learn about the 8 Lean wastes to minimize from your processes and how to differentiate between the wastes of Motion and Transportation. We enjoy teaching the 8 Wastes of Lean Thinking to our clients and the participants in our training workshops. As instructors, we share examples of wastes from our professional experience in both manufacturing and service-related organizations. Together, we brainstorm ways in which the wastes reveal themselves in our attendees' organizations. One question that gives us pause in every Introduction to Lean Thinking workshop is the request to explain the nuance of two 'movement' wastes - motion and transportation. Motion The motion waste focuses on the movement of people or equipment that is unnecessary. It is any movement beyond the minimum required for completing the process step. The motion…

14Sep 2018 by Steve Musica No Comments

Developing High-Performing Organizations

Summary

Lean East was founded in 2010 with a mission to bring out the best in organizations by bringing out the best in people. We focus on introducing proven Lean Six Sigma improvement methods to service organizations in Maine and New England – in industries including healthcare, government, insurance, construction, and finance. Many of the clients we have partnered with have had a common goal – to improve their culture and performance and provide better customer service. Some client organizations want to improve their processes and provide more customer value with less waste. Others focus more on changing work culture, training their leaders and staff, and improving teamwork. One client wanted to improve in multiple dimensions and move the company from good to great. A common theme with all our clients is…

20Aug 2018 by Steve Musica No Comments

The Toyota Way

Lesson

Lean principles are based largely on studies of the Toyota Production System (TPS) from the early 1980s and influence manufacturing and service organizations across the world today. In 2001 the Toyota Motor Corporation summed up their philosophy, principles, and values in an internal document they referred to as, “the Toyota Way 2001.” The document expanded upon TPS with additional leadership and management practices that have made Toyota one of the most respected companies in the world. Author Jeff Liker visited Toyota and summarized these principles in his 2004 book, The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. The book covers Toyota’s history, successes, and ideas with many great Toyota case studies; this post will focus on summarizing Toyota's 14 Principles. How many of these principles are followed…

Tag: Lean

Continuous Flow

Theory of Constraints

The Business Case for Lean

The Difference Between Push and Pull

Develop Scientific Thinking with Lean Kata

Allowing For Trial & Error

Lean and Agile – Ideas that Work Together

8 Lean Wastes: Transportation vs Motion

Developing High-Performing Organizations

The Toyota Way

Receive our Lean East newsletter!