Macon a productivity improvement

Many of my early projects for Armstrong World Industries were at the Macon Georgia plant. This was and still is the largest ceiling plant in the world, with a capacity of over half a billion square feet of ceiling tiles produced annually.

I was asked to join a team that was going to help the Macon plant return to budget performance by the middle of the year. At the time, I was known and requested for my product flow and team improvement experience. A group of a dozen engineers, scientists, and project managers traveled to the plant for the week to identify the work we could quickly accomplish to improve plant performance and achieve the required budget attainment by the end of the current operating quarter.

The plant is separated into two operating units: board forming and fabrication. My expertise and experience are in fabrication, so that’s where I was assigned.

When we arrived, I told the team I would take a Gemba walk of the total fabrication business unit and share my recommendations by the end of the day. Hunter, an experienced project manager, and Jason, an electrical engineer asked to join me. I was happy to have help.

As we walked the department, we saw and identified many areas of opportunity that would incrementally improve performance, but to get back to budget performance, we needed a bigger win. And then, we found it. There was a line feeding another major line. As it turns out, it was starving the following line, because it couldn’t supply boards fast enough.

We took a deeper look to see what was causing things to run so slowly. I climbed all over the line to get a visual perspective on what was happening. What I saw shocked me. Large rectangular boards were going around at angles and bumping into guides and equipment and causing jams and shutdowns. It shouldn’t be this difficult to run, I thought.

We measured the operating speed of the line and determined 18 boards could get through the line per minute, when the line was actually running, which wasn’t very often, due to jams. The line was capable of running faster, but the technicians had slowed everything down because they couldn’t trust the boards to flow through the line smoothly.

This was our opportunity. We needed to solve the problems on the line to improve the flow and allow the operating speed to be increased to match the line being fed upstream. This was the project we presented to the rest of the team. I believed we could easily gain ten percent productivity on the line, if not more, which would allow the upstream line to produce closer to its budget with the same labor and energy costs. This improvement would be worth a significant percentage of the overall losses we were trying to recoup.

We were assigned some maintenance support for the rest of the week. Using my reliability and board flow approach, we were able to get boards to flow through the line at 22 boards per minute, which was a twenty percent productivity improvement. We locked all settings in, so that we could sustain the performance and not worry about others adjusting things back to the previous conditions.

This project and many others helped the plant beat its budget commitments and continued to build my reputation as a quick problem-solver and board flow expert. Many years later, I still teach board flow and reliability techniques to clients around the world and the results have been extremely positive and satisfying.

The Bottleneck

I met Andrew Koenig, the CEO of CITY Furniture, at a virtual Lean conference during the pandemic. We immediately hit it off, and he invited me to help strengthen the Kaizen culture at his company.

For two years, I facilitated Kaizen events on a monthly basis. It never ceased to amaze me at the number of improvements and breakthroughs that could be accomplished in a company that has been living Lean and continuous improvement for many years. More than that, the energy of team members was inspiring and infectious. I was warmly greeted by associates on every trip and many of them proudly showed off prior improvements and how they were sustaining the gains from our Kaizen events.

Late in the first year of my support, I met with the COO, Will Conway, during our monthly review. He always told me I was too expensive, but what he told me next stopped me in my tracks.

“Adam,” he said, “I love the results your teams have been getting. The engagement and excitement is amazing. We want more of this, but we can’t afford to bring you here more often. You’re the bottleneck. Can you help us figure out a way to expand this work?”

This would be a challenge. I had more than 30 years of experience facilitating teams. I honed my craft through many experiments and mistakes. I get feedback about how my teams accomplish results more quickly than many of the other consultants I have followed. Somehow, I would have to put together all of my experience into a training program.

I said, “Will, this is quite a task you’re asking of me. But I feel it’s something I must take on. I owe it to you, your teams, and quite frankly to me. If I can somehow figure out how to upskill other facilitators, I will have something I can transfer to others so my approach can live on after I have stopped working. Challenge accepted!”

Over the next few weeks, I developed my Kaizen Facilitator Certification Program. It consists of these elements:

-        Kaizen Facilitation Prep Course

-        Participate as a Kaizen team member

-        Participate as a Kaizen team leader

-        Co-facilitate a Kaizen with me as the Lead Facilitator

-        Lead facilitate a Kaizen with me as the co-facilitator

I developed reviews for the candidates, to ensure that they were ready to move on to the next (or final) step. The ultimate goal would be to solo-facilitate a Kaizen event. I knew no matter how much training and support I gave, the candidates would still make mistakes. As long as they showed the desire and drive to learn from them and demonstrated the principles of facilitation, I was willing to move them to the next phase. I knew I couldn’t “rubber-stamp” anyone’s certification. This would damage their results and my reputation.

Will chose four high-potential candidates from across the company. All except one had been at least team members in prior Kaizens with me. The other candidate had facilitated Kaizen events prior to joining CITY Furniture, so everyone agreed she could skip the Kaizen team member and team leader steps.

During the three-day Kaizen Facilitation Prep Course, I demonstrated the principles and techniques of facilitation. I had each candidate practice everything I taught. Then, I sent them out to meet with sponsors to develop charters for upcoming Kaizens. Following this, they developed Kaizen event plans and learned specific tools to utilize, such as Value Stream Mapping and The Wheel of Sustainability. At the end of the course, we celebrated, and I was hopeful they were all prepared for their next steps.

Over the next eight months, I facilitated Kaizen events with each of the candidates separately and was impressed by how much they learned and incorporated into their approach to facilitation. I was thrilled when some of the candidates went “off-script” and created their own approach to what I taught them. Their confidence was growing and at the end of each review, we talked through what they learned and what they thought they could do better next time. Every one of them was ready to take the next step.

I held separate reviews with Will, so that he could ask me the more challenging questions about each candidate. He agreed all of them were ready to solo facilitate.

And that’s what they’ve been doing. I don’t get to facilitate any more CITY Furniture events. I have eliminated the “bottleneck” and worked myself out of a job, which also frees up my capacity to pursue new challenges. From time to time, I get a text or an email showing me some of the breakthroughs they have made since I have left. It makes me feel good that I have been able to help them grow their capability and capacity. I feel even better knowing the program I developed can be used to help others and that things are no longer dependent on me.

You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

I worked as a supervisor in a small ceiling grid plant for Armstrong in Franklin Park Illinois. In my first year there, Armstrong and Worthington Industries created a joint venture to leverage each other’s strengths and grow the business. I was offered the role of industrial engineering manager at the plant in Sparrows Point Maryland. The plant in Franklin Park was going to be closed.

After helping to shut down the plant, I moved my family to Baltimore and started my new role. I quickly realized how much more Worthington understood grid manufacturing. They provided the steel and the science of roll-forming was clearly followed by them. They were quickly helping us improve performance.

I was invited to the corporate headquarters in Malvern Pennsylvania, to meet with various executives in the new venture. Malvern was a manufacturing site for Worthington, and they oversaw the day-to-day operations.

I always thought Armstrong was a conservative company with very simple and powerful values. Mostly guided by the Golden Rule, people were treated with respect and all rules were followed, to the letter. I even joked we were run by the Amish, who have a very simple, but hard-working life. Great people with an amazing work ethic. We were so strict and inflexible at Armstrong. It seemed like fun was missing. Or if not missing, it was well-hidden.

I arrived early in the morning and met with the president of the new venture. He was very passionate about the possibilities for the business and had laid out an agenda for my day. First up was the VP of manufacturing, quality, and then the VP of engineering.

When I met Bill, the VP of engineering, he told me a little about himself. He didn’t have a degree in engineering but had a lot of experience. This would never have been allowed at Armstrong. He also told me he’d rather go to lunch to get to know me. How could I say no?

We went to a local pizza joint, and he ordered a pitcher of beer. I told him I don’t drink during the workday and he told me, “That’s alright, it’s not for you!” I was surprised because I had never seen anyone at Armstrong drink during work hours. But I was also intrigued by the looser approach to work. I drank my Coke and Bill proceeded to finish the pitcher. I definitely got to know him better and we shared many stories and laughed a lot.

The rest of the day was a blur, but I got the same positive vibe from others I met as I did from Bill. Over the next two years, I got the opportunity to participate in many fun activities with other colleagues from the venture. They had the best parties and gatherings. We played hard and worked hard, and the venture became the number one grid manufacturer in the world.

Do Your Due Diligence

Midway through my corporate career, I was a senior industrial engineer at Armstrong World Industries. I spent most of my time providing support to our many manufacturing facilities all over the world. I have always been fascinated by manufacturing and it never ceases to amaze me how good (and bad) decisions can immediately impact performance.

I thought I would someday be a plant manager and told my manager I wanted the opportunity to take the next step to get me there, as a business unit manager. I thought all my continuous improvement experience would serve me well and I would make more good decisions than bad ones.

One day, the week before Easter, my manager informed me that the plant manager at the Lancaster flooring plant wanted to talk to me about a position in his plant. I was excited for two reasons. One was my opportunity to learn manufacturing from the inside. The other was it would be a two-grade promotion. More money was never a bad thing, or so I thought!

I met Rob, the plant manager, on the Friday before Easter weekend. The plant wasn’t running, but he gave me a short tour of the areas I would be responsible for. All of the hourly workers were gone and I never met anyone on the staff. I thought it was odd, but I was enamored with the idea of the next step towards plant manager.

At the end of the tour, Rob offered me the job and told me that he wanted my answer by the end of the weekend. Even though I knew my answer, I told him I would talk things over with my family and get back with him on Monday morning.

I really didn’t think too much about it. I knew I was going to take the job. My wife was supportive and knew this new role would keep me home more. But the hours were going to be long. It was a tradeoff, but it seemed like the right choice to make. I did mention it was odd that I hadn’t met anyone during the tour, but tried not to read too much into it.

On Monday, I called Rob and told him I would take the job. My manager and I agreed on a transition plan, as I had some projects to wrap up or hand over to others. For the next four weeks, I tried to do both jobs, spending half of my time at my new factory, watching the staff conduct business.

One week before I started my new job full-time, Rob was promoted and left the plant. His replacement wouldn’t arrive for six more weeks. In addition, my counterpart in the factory who ran a different business had a three-week National Guard deployment. I would essentially be on my own, learning as I went.

I had a staff, but they didn’t know me. I also had the vice president of manufacturing to discuss issues with, should things get out of hand. I really didn’t want to have to use his support, but there were a few times that I had to. There were some union/management issues to be resolved and I didn’t have the historical perspective to help me out. So, I swallowed my pride and met with the VP. He was very helpful and supportive. He understood my lack of experience.

For the next few weeks, I barely survived. Finally, my counterpart came back and helped me deal with some issues and then our new plant manager arrived. Things got better, but they were tough. This plant had been in decline for many years and the management and union relationship was strained, to say the least. I did my best to improve things throughout my two years as business unit manager.

Would I have chosen a different path if I had known what was in front of me? Maybe. More likely, I would have tried to gain perspective on what I was agreeing to well before accepting the job. It would have eliminated some of my early bad decisions. It was an amazing learning experience. I like to think I gained twenty years of experience during my time on the job.

The Five Whys

The Five Whys is a method that can be used to understand why a change isn’t being followed. It helps you get to the root cause of any resistance or problem you observe. If you find someone doing something in a non-standard manner, ask why until you get to their motivation for doing it differently. It may take five or more whys. It could take less. Here’s a sample conversation:

Sue (Joe’s manager): “I notice you’re adjusting the equipment differently than the new procedure. Can you tell me why you are doing it this way?”

Joe: “From my many years of experience, I have found that it’s better to adjust the equipment in the order I’m doing it.”

Sue: “I know you think it’s better. Can you tell me why you think it is?”

Joe: “It’s the most comfortable and stress-free approach I know.”

Sue: “It can be uncomfortable doing something differently and it takes time to get used to something new. Can you tell me why you’re more comfortable doing it the old way?”

Joe: “It doesn’t make sense to do step 3 after step 2. Step 3 should come after step 4.”

Sue: “Why do you think step 3 should follow step 4?”

Joe: “If I do it my way, I don’t have to search for the wrench when I get to step 3. I took it out of my tool box and used it when I did step 4. Then I can carry it to do step 3.”

Sue: “Are you aware the team mounted required tools at each step? You don’t have to carry them with you anymore.”

Joe: “I didn’t know that. I guess I forgot.”

Sue: “Let me show you. See, the tools are right where you need them for each step.”

Joe: “I can’t believe I missed that. Thanks for showing me.”

Sue: “You’re welcome. Now that you know, I need you to follow the prescribed order. When you do, please let me know what you think.”

Joe: “I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes.”

In this case, it took four whys to uncover the root cause of the issue. What else happened? Sue listened to Joe. She helped him understand the proper procedure. She reinforced the requirement to follow it, identified the benefits, and made the commitment to get his feedback.

Sue demonstrated Accountability. Joe is likely to do the right thing from now on and may communicate what happened to his co-workers. Holding yourself accountable is not always easy and can be time consuming, but the benefits outweigh the effort.

Little Things Mean A Lot

A global consumer goods manufacturer was experiencing high levels of downtime, jams, and long changeovers on a critical production line. They invited Process Improvement Partners to their plant to observe and discuss the problem and identify opportunities for improvement. After reviewing performance, we took a walk to the line. The line was running, and after a description of line components, it became apparent there were quick opportunities to improve performance of the line. The techniques we would use were quite basic: leveling, squaring, aligning, and centering of products with the process. It seemed so simple, and the customers were skeptical. We suggested a five-day Kaizen to improve line reliability, scheduled for January 2019.

Leading up to the Kaizen event, we had many discussions with line operators, mechanics, and engineers, and we made several confirming observations on the line. During a discussion with the Plant Manager, it became apparent he didn’t buy-in to the approach. He had used a process called “Center Lining” before, and had mixed results. In addition, it took weeks to accomplish. We assured him centering of the process would be completed on the first day of the Kaizen and then we would optimize all parts of the process around the center in the following days. He was still skeptical, but heard enough and saw our confidence, and gave final approval for the Kaizen to proceed.

In most Kaizen events, we provide a structure and approach to the team charged with solving a problem. We very rarely dictate specific actions to the team. In this case, the entire first day was controlled and team members were asked to follow very specific instructions before implementing their ideas.

After receiving training on the approach, the team walked to the production line. We reviewed safety requirements, shut down the line, and locked it out. The next step was to identify the center of the critical packaging process. This was the part of the line where everything comes together – the product and the package. We told the team everything leading up to the packaging process should be located and optimized to the center of the process. They didn’t think it would be very important, but were willing to learn and find the center of the line.

We located the center of the line at the midpoint of the conveyor frame on the out-feed side of the equipment and wrapped a string around that point. Then, stretching the string through the equipment, we found the center of the conveyors leading up to the equipment. A trained eye can keep the center precise within 1/32”, so we found what we believed to be center along approximately 100 feet of equipment and conveyor and pulled the string taut. Then, we marked the equipment and conveyor every 4 feet along its length to identify center for the process. Once complete, we noticed all product was coming into the equipment off center. The packaging was tracking off-center as well. That was the first time the skeptical team members saw something they weren’t expecting.

Our next step was to check the levelness of all of the conveyors leading up to and through the equipment. Ideally, all conveyors should be no more than 1/32” out of level at every transition (one section of conveyor to the next section) and side to side. Using a torpedo level and some shims, the team documented levelness of every section of conveyor. They found many of the conveyors were out of level by more than ¼” and some were out as much as ½”. The good news was this condition was easily corrected, and by the end of two hours, all conveyors were leveled throughout the process. The team was losing its skepticism as the products ran more consistently once we started the line back up. The first day ended with the team handing the line back over to the production organization.

The next morning, the team came in energized. They heard from the afternoon shift and overnight shift that the line had run smoothly overnight - much better than anyone had expected. We had four more days to improve things before the end of the Kaizen.

The next step was to optimize the location of the product with reference to the center of the process. Now that we had identified the center and leveled the line, this was easy. The challenge was to determine ways to ensure that our new settings would not change as soon as the Kaizen was over. The team was given the freedom to come up with ways to create and sustain the new settings. Using collars, pins, and labels, the team came up with ways to identify the proper locations for all of the different products running on the line. They also identified the product changeover steps (in the order to be followed) and labeled each part of the line with changeover steps that would need to be accomplished in proper sequence. These labels were made with large, bright green stock, so people wouldn’t miss them and forget a changeover step.

One problem the team identified was that the packaging wasn’t wrapping the product in a consistent manner. Upon further investigation, it was determined a top guiding roller was applying unequal pressure to the corrugated wrapper and the wrapper was shifting from side to side. One of the team members came up with a simple solution - tie all parts of the top guiding roller together to guarantee equal pressure across the wrapper. By doing this, the wrapper consistently met the product every time.

Improvements came fast and furious over the final days of the Kaizen, and by the last day, everyone noticed a significant improvement in line performance. The operators on the line thanked the team for correcting years of problems and even offered suggestions to make things better, which the team was able to incorporate into their work.

At the report out, team members remarked they were surprised how extremely small improvements impacted performance. They also realized these techniques could be taken to any other line in the factory. Once skeptics, they become zealots.

The Team Has More Power Than It Thinks

A leading consumer products company shipped millions of boxes of goods weekly. Most of the time, large quantities of the same products were shipped on a wooden pallet, and loaded on a truck. The distribution center employees were used to picking full pallets of products out of racks, placing one label on the entire pallet, and then, placing the pallet of goods on a truck.  In recent years, Amazon entered into an agreement with the company, and turned their efforts upside down.

Amazon ships any quantity of products, be it one box, or a truckload of boxes to customers. Their customers expect to get the right product quickly and properly labeled. The consumer goods company would now have to label every single box shipped to an Amazon distribution center or an Amazon customer. They would also have to do it more quickly than they had to for any of their other customers.

In the years leading up to and including 2018, Amazon business exploded for the company, much like many others around the world. The company added staff to ship all of the products required, but they weren’t meeting Amazon’s strict delivery requirements and were starting to lose money on the relationship. At this point, they called in Process Improvement Partners to help them solve their problem.

We walked through the existing process together to see what opportunities might present themselves and if a Kaizen event could help solve the problem facing them – develop a system that would meet the growing Amazon business and delivery requirements and do it safely, productively, and profitably. It turns out they were applying their large volume/low product diversity approach to the small volume/high product diversity Amazon orders. We also found out they didn’t always receive Amazon orders in a timely or predictable fashion from their corporate customer order systems, so it caused them to staff the distribution center in ways that made people wait for orders to pick and ship.

We designed a 3-day Kaizen to get them back into compliance and decided to set an aggressive set of goals: 25% productivity increase, 50% cycle time reduction, and 50% reduction in fines relating to late deliveries to Amazon.

In a Kaizen, you should pick team members who will help you solve the problem and want to win. In this case, we picked employees from the distribution center and corporate team members who could provide perspective on the issue and could also initiate identified system changes. We advised all team members this Kaizen was critical to the success of the company and we expected full participation from each one of them during their time together. The team leader made a compelling case and received commitment from all team members.

On Day 1, after team introductions, the team leader explained the problem from his point of view. He thanked everyone for coming and asked them to keep an open mind and be willing to challenge their thinking during the Kaizen. Then, the Amazon customer service manager from corporate presented “Voice of the Customer” information to the team. This was an engaging discussion, and the entire team felt an urgency and need for change and improvement. Following these discussions, we took the team out on a process walk.

We started out in the office, looking at a computer work station. When we asked what was happening at the work station, a team member explained they were waiting for orders to arrive from the corporate system.  Until orders arrived, she was stuck and couldn’t provide any assignments for the distribution center employees. We asked her the reason and she explained the orders must have been received by the corporate system after 6 pm. Orders from Amazon were manually entered, and after 6 pm they wouldn’t be entered into the system because everyone had gone home for the day. Orders would wait until at least 8 am the next day to be entered, and by the time they were, the distribution center wouldn’t see them until 10 am or later. The distribution center employees work around the clock. This was a big opportunity for improvement.

We walked around the facility next, looking at the physical and other system issues in the way of safety and productivity for the distribution center. The team members took many notes and after 2 hours, we returned to the meeting room to review what we observed.

After sharing all of the issues as a team, we mapped out the existing process on a wall with sticky notes to identify the biggest pain points and opportunities. There were many issues and we wanted to make sure we would be working on things that would make the biggest impact and also were within the control of the team. We made quick estimates of the time it took to complete each step, including the minimum and maximum times. The idea was to work on the steps that took the longest time, as streamlining them would maximize the customer service improvement.

We identified some steps that could take more than 8 hours and up to 24 hours or more. Those were the steps to work on. The team prioritized those steps and came up with ideas to reduce the time. They avoided the step called, “Wait for orders from corporate”. This step was identified to take anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 24 hours, so it would be extremely impactful if improved.

I challenged the team to consider improvements to the step. They didn’t feel like they could make any changes without proper approvals. I reminded them they were empowered by the simple fact they were the Kaizen team chosen to solve this critical business problem. If they didn’t feel they could unilaterally make changes, they should “phone a friend” who could approve their changes immediately. One of the team members, I’ll call her Ruth, left the room to make a phone call to the person who could approve the changes. After a few minutes, she came back to the room and informed the team the person she tried to call was out sick and she would try again tomorrow.

I knew we didn’t have time to wait, so I asked Ruth if she was willing to call that person’s manager or go to the person’s house, knock on his door, and gain his approval. She thought I was joking about going to his house (I really wasn’t), and decided to call the next level manager. She wasn’t available either. Finally, she called the Vice President of Logistics and Distribution.  After explaining what was going on and the approval she was looking for, she was informed that another team member, let’s call her Alice, had the authority to make the decision.  Ruth came back into the room, met with Alice, and secured approval for the change.

It turns out the change was so simple it could be executed by a few lines of programming allowing any orders coming in after 6 pm to be manipulated automatically and delivered to the distribution center immediately. This option was already being used for other critical customers. Adding Amazon to the list took no more than 10 minutes of effort. The team was so motivated by their win, they found many other quick improvements and letting nothing stand in their way, met or beat all of the objectives for the Kaizen.  They described how the only thing that was getting their way to improvement was their own way of thinking. Once they realized they were empowered, there was nothing standing in their way of victory.

PIP Helps Team in York, PA Improve Reliability of Critical Operation

Many consultants train and teach. I like to demonstrate and verify with teams that they truly understand the techniques for improvement that I am sharing with them. Most importantly, I want them to be able to take this work and transfer it to other parts of the factory without my assistance.

During an event in York, PA, I showed a team of maintenance technicians, engineers, and production operators how to level, square, and centerline equipment during a reliability improvement Kaizen. I demonstrated these techniques to show them how critical even the smallest improvements are. We were able to reduce the out-of-level condition on some conveyers from ½” to less than 1/16”. We also optimized the location of the product that was flowing through the conveyers and equipment. Immediately after doing this work, the production line ran smoother than anyone could remember.

When the team reported their results and findings, the audience was so impressed that they committed to doing this work all over the facility, using their new reliability experts.

350 Business Owners

An engineered flooring plant in Kentucky was losing money. They knew their product yields were deteriorating and didn’t know what to do about it. Process Improvement Partners was invited for a site visit. After reviewing performance and discussing the issues with plant leaders in a meeting room, we took a Gemba Walk to see what was actually happening.

As we walked around the plant, it was obvious that safety was the top priority in the plant. There was signage and effective placement of supporting tools and materials. Most importantly, all leaders in the plant were demonstrating their commitment to safety.  It was clear production was the next priority. There were hour by hour production boards, and all kinds of measures of productivity posted around the lines and in the offices.  There was no sign of the importance of quality or yield to be found. We searched all over the plant, but there was nothing that showed people what to do to reduce defects or improve yields.

We suggested a three-day Kaizen to develop managing systems to shift the plant from a culture of productivity to one of quality and yield.  The Plant Manager was unsure how we would do that, but was open to the possibility of using a Kaizen for such a significant effort. We agreed the team would be made up of all of the members of the plant leadership team, with a few extra guests added to provide outside perspective. We also suggested a few highly trusted production operators be included on the team, as they would provide an unfiltered view of what they would need in support of their efforts to improve yield and quality.

The Plant Manager was not comfortable with the production operators participating in the entire Kaizen, but did agree they should participate in part of the agenda to provide their perspective on efforts to improve yield and quality. Their part would be on the agenda on the first day, representing the Voice of the Customer.

The Kaizen started with a kick-off from the Plant Manager. It was clear most of the team wasn’t sure anything important was going to happen during the three scheduled days and were wondering why they weren’t in the plant running operations. After introductions, we reviewed some Lean managing systems and had a discussion about the current mind-set and culture of the plant. It was apparent all team members valued safety above all and then production. They were not sure quality and yield was well emphasized or even highlighted.

At about 10:30am, a group of six production operators and two production supervisors entered the room. They took their seats with the rest of the team and waited uncomfortably to see what would happen next. It seemed as though nobody had explained to them why they were there and they hadn’t interacted with the leadership team in this type of setting before.

I thanked them for joining us and explained the purpose of the three-day Kaizen and their role in this part of the agenda. They were our Customers. They were not impressed. Next, I told them we wanted to get their honest feedback about how the plant was run. Still not impressed or even believing we would listen to and use their feedback, it seemed likely they wouldn’t offer anything of value unless I could get them to relax and open up.

I asked a series of open-ended questions, such as “What is the message you currently receive about the importance of quality and yield vs. productivity? Is it clear or confusing? How do you decide to prioritize productivity vs. quality and yield vs. safety when you are in the middle of a production run?” A few gave some short, terse answers, and a few of the leadership team members asked follow-up questions to show they were listening. Still, nothing of high value was being shared.

After about 30 minutes of questioning and terse answering, I asked this question, “If you could change one thing about how the plant is run, what would it be?” One of the production operators, let’s call her Sally, blurted out, “If these SUMBICHES would just care enough to come to work every day, things would be better!” Blushing, she put her face in her hands. The room roared and clapped with approval. The Plant Manager thanked her for being so open and honest and said he wanted to know more about what she meant by her statement.

All of the sudden, the Customers opened up and told the team exactly what they thought. They talked about the leadership approach and the message that was being sent to the production operation about the value of quality and yield. People were now sharing their thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and leadership was listening. We were getting somewhere. After another hour or so, we had exhausted all topics and thanked our Customers for joining us. There were handshakes, high fives, and hugs and everyone left feeling like they had contributed to something important.  It was clear that the production operators and supervisors truly cared about the company and its impact on their families and the community.

The team now knew they had important work to do, and the next step was to create a vision for the plant emphasizing what their customers needed to do their job in the best possible way. It didn’t take long, and they came up with this vision statement:

“350 business owners with a yield-first mindset making every plank matter. Close is not good enough – stop until the customer will be delighted. Encourage everyone to take the time to make it right the first time.”

The rest of the Kaizen was spent developing strategy and tactics to support and emphasize the new vision. There was energy and excitement, and by the end of the Kaizen, you could see and feel the difference in the plant. The initial results were promising, as quality and yield performance improved. More than that, 350 people were aligned around what’s most important to them, their families, and their community.

Go See for Yourself – The Best Selling Tool There Is

In 2006, our Kaizen team was working on improving changeover time for a painting operation. After reviewing changeover reduction techniques with the team, we took a walk to the line to observe a changeover.

The team watched the paint technician clean the front of the paint booth with water for approximately 10 minutes. After that, he walked behind the booth for a few minutes and then came back to work on the front of the paint booth. None of the team members had followed him to see what he had been doing in the back of the booth.

After the changeover was complete, we asked the paint technician to demonstrate what he had been doing in the back of the paint booth. To our horror, he had to squeeze his body between a post and a wall, make his way to the paint tanks, stand on a natural gas line, twist his body, and reach above his head to open a valve on a paint tank. He told us, “This is the way it had always been done since the plant was opened [in 1990].”

A change was necessary, but the equipment had been installed this way and our small team would not be able to move equipment or automate valves in the short time we had during the Kaizen. We knew we had to sell the idea to the leadership team and identify safety and financial reasons for the change.

Luckily for us, each of the paint booths had some automation built in, so we wouldn’t have to install control systems from scratch. As a team, we decided that if we could automate the opening and closing of the valves on three paint tanks, we could eliminate the need for paint technicians to put themselves at risk while opening and closing the valves. We had an electrical engineer on the team, so while we worked on other aspects of the changeover time reduction, we asked him to develop engineering estimates for the valve automation.

Normally, engineers want to do research and build estimates with high levels of accuracy when they present their findings. But, in the spirit of Kaizen, he was willing to put together a cost estimate with an error of +/- 25% in a day. He came back with the cost estimate and we decided how we would sell our idea to the leadership team.

During the Kaizen, we worked on simplifying procedures, accessibility of tools, and the overall coordination of work by all technicians during the changeover. None of these things cost money, but they reduced the overall changeover time by more than 50 percent. We had accomplished our Kaizen objective.

On the day of the report out, we gave a tour of the new changeover procedure to the attendees. Our hope was to highlight the success of the team and the need for the automation. Eight leadership team members joined us for the report out. We began by thanking them for joining us and then explained the changes we had made. We then invited them to see the new changeover procedure.

We started in the front of the paint booth and demonstrated the simpler procedure.  Then, it was time to take them to the back of the booth to see what was actually happening. One by one, they ascended and descended the stairs that crossed over the line to get to the back of the booth. They squeezed past the post and wall one by one. One of the team members showed what was necessary to open and close valves. From the looks on the faces of the leadership team, they were unaware of what was happening in the back of the booth during changeovers. The operations manager said, “we need to automate these valves as our top priority.” Right on cue, our electrical engineer presented the cost estimate and got immediate approval.

Within three months of the Kaizen, the automated valves were installed and a 16-year problem was corrected. If someone had walked the line with the paint technicians when the plant was being built, this issue would have been avoided. The best way to understand what’s going on is to go see for yourself.

Sometimes It’s a Financial Question

A global ceilings manufacturer was building a plant in China. Things were going pretty well until they realized they were going to be two months late starting up. The team wasn’t sure what they could do to get back on schedule, so I was invited to join them and use Lean thinking to help solve the problem.

I had been to China before, helping the team with Kaizens during different stages of plant development. These Kaizens were more challenging than most, as they required an interpreter, so the team and I would understand each other.  As a result, I had to communicate more slowly than I was used to, making sure I didn’t use any slang or other terms unfamiliar to Chinese team members.

As I boarded my flight to meet them, I wondered what I could do to help the team. After all, they had been working and solving problems as they came up all along the way. They had their best engineers and scientists on the team who had come up with many breakthroughs. Why couldn’t they solve this problem? Why was this problem stumping them to the point they required my help? I always sleep well on airplanes, but during this 15-hour flight to China, I was more restless than usual.

I met my interpreter on Monday and we reviewed the approach for the Kaizen. I would help the team look at their problem from many angles, trying to uncover opportunities they hadn’t thought of and brainstorm as many potential solutions as possible.  My interpreter reminded me in the Chinese culture, people don’t like to make a suggestion or offer an idea unless they are completely sure it is correct. In a Kaizen we want people to bring out ideas that aren’t fully formed or guaranteed to work, so others can build from them. I knew I had to make the team comfortable to say anything at any time. To do that, I would use sticky notes and pens and ask all team members to write their ideas down and share them, one person at a time, one idea at a time. This technique tends to make people comfortable saying whatever they are thinking, regardless of the country or culture.

The goal of our Kaizen was to have the plant start up on time. Our objective was to develop contingency plans to take two months out of the schedule and meet the initial commitments to the Board of Directors and the customers in China.  I knew very little about why the plant wasn’t on schedule, so I had the team brainstorm possible reasons why they were behind schedule. Using the sticky note technique, more than 100 ideas were written down, some in Chinese, some in English. Knowing we couldn’t solve all 100, I asked the team to prioritize the most critical reasons for the delay. I used a technique called “multi-voting”. Each team member placed a dot or a mark on the sticky notes that contained the top five ideas or reasons for the delay from their perspective. The sticky note with the most dots was the idea the team felt was the most likely reason for the delay.

There were 15 team members and 14 dots on a sticky note that said, “Two month wait for government testing.” Intrigued, I asked for an explanation. They told me the Chinese government must qualify and approve the first ceiling tile produced by the plant before they were allowed to produce more and sell to customers.  It took two months from the time a test was requested to the time a tile could be submitted for testing, and then another week to get results. The team wouldn’t produce tiles that weren’t officially approved, so they were going to wait those two months for approval before starting full production. The plant had scheduled production of the first acceptable tile around April 1st, 15 days before the original start-up date commitment, and then would have to wait two more months before gaining approval to produce tiles for sale, thus creating a two-month delay. It was then I knew there was an answer, but the team had to come to the right conclusion. It was time to ask some questions and facilitate them to an answer.

Question one was, “How much does it cost to submit a tile for a test with the Chinese government?” The answer was $10,000.

Question two was, “How long does it take from the time a test is requested until test results or approval is given?” The answer was two months.

Question three was, “When do you believe you will be able to produce tiles?” The answer was around April 1st.

Question four was, “What is the cost of the plant starting up after April 15?” The answer was $60,000 per day, as defined in the original project investment request.

Question five was, “Do you currently believe that the tiles you will produce on or about April 1st will meet the Chinese government requirements?” The answer through internal testing and quality control was “highly probable”.

Question six was, “Are you willing to risk $10,000 by submitting a test request to the government two months in advance of producing your first production tile, in order to save $60,000 per day for the next two months?”

At that point, the team knew what it had to do. The rest of the Kaizen was spent developing plans to ensure a successful test by the Chinese government on April 1, two weeks ahead of schedule. In the end, the plant started up on March 28, and the team saved over $2.5 million for the company. The lesson here is that when you frame a problem on a financial or factual level, rather than an emotional level, the answer becomes obvious.

Improving Changeover Time in 4 Simple Steps

Have you ever watched an auto race? If so, you probably noticed what happens when a car enters Pit Row and is tended to by a whole team of people trying to get it back on the track as fast as possible. If you wondered how they knew what to do and how they didn’t get in each other’s way, the answer is SMED.  

SMED stands for Single Minute Exchange of Die. It was developed by Dr. Shigeo Shingo in the 1960’s and 1970’s on behalf of Toyota. Dr. Shingo was interested in reducing the time and effort that it took to change a production line from one product to the next. By intense study and trial and error, he developed a 4-step method to drive all changeovers down to less than 10 minutes, thus coining the term single minute exchange of die. For auto racers, they use SMED to improve their auto changeover times and have achieved times below 15 seconds.

Changeover reduction is a team sport, just like in NASCAR, so picking the right team is critical. Bring people together who have had experience with the changeover being studied, use their differing opinions and techniques and encourage sharing and learning. By doing this and applying SMED, you should be able to reduce changeover time by more than 50%. You should also be able to improve the safety of the changeover for everyone.

STEP 1 – Identify All Elements of the Existing Changeover

The first step in SMED is to identify all elements of the existing changeover. This is done by observing the changeover as it occurs. Use a changeover that is typical for the process. Teams use tools such as a stop watch, video, and spaghetti diagram to truly understand everything that is happening during the changeover. Rather than just discussing things, they observe the changeover and then discuss it to better understand the current situation. It is also not unusual for team members to mimic the steps of the changeover so they can see the impact and difficulty of the changeover for themselves.

The spaghetti diagram is a paper exercise that shows everywhere a person travels during the changeover, whether it is to get tools, information, or do work on equipment. To use it, you should have a general layout of the area being worked on, then place a pen or pencil on the layout, moving it to the places that the worker moves during the changeover. Don’t lift the pen or pencil. If there is more than one worker performing the changeover, there should be more people creating the spaghetti diagram. At the end of that exercise, the lines on the page tend to look like spaghetti and people are amazed at the amount of travel required to complete the changeover.

STEP 2 – Separate All Elements into External and Internal

The next step in SMED is to identify what steps or elements can be performed while the line is running (External elements) and what steps must be performed while the line is down and waiting (Internal elements). Process Improvement Partners saw an example of this in one of our sessions. After a production run was completed, the press was shut off, a die was removed, the die was returned to storage, and the new die was brought back to the press from the storage area. At that point, every step was Internal, meaning that the line was not running while each step was completed. However, the team soon realized that the retrieving of the new die could have been done in advance of the changeover and the storage of the other die could be done after the line was back up and running. The team identified all of the elements that were external, and this step saved more than 25% of the changeover time.

STEP 3 – Convert Internal Elements to External Elements

The third step challenges the team’s creativity and they start to devise ways of doing some of the changeover steps that originally had to be done while the line is down and finding ways of completing them while the line is still running. A team we worked with created a fixture that allowed parts to be positioned for installation prior to the line stopping. This saved a significant amount of time and the fixture was built with existing materials, so no money was spent. Another example is to connect a tool to the equipment, so that it is immediately accessible to do the work once the line has been stopped. There are so many examples of this that teams can do research through the internet to get ideas, or they can visit other manufacturers to see the ideas in action.

STEP 4 – Streamline All Elements

In this step, the team thinks of ways of shortening time and effort required to do any remaining elements. They prioritize and work on the internal elements first, and then work on any of the external elements that have opportunity for improvement. This is a great time to look at the video and the spaghetti diagram again and see if the amount of travel can be reduced by the repositioning of tools, materials, and equipment, or if another sequence would be more efficient. Trial the new procedure, redraw the spaghetti diagram, and get the input of all team members to ensure that the new steps are truly better for them.

Once all steps of SMED have been completed, the team should observe the new changeover procedure and verify that it is truly an improvement. Time is one measurement, but effort, travel, and the anecdotal input of those performing the new changeover procedure are also important. People need to feel that the new way is better than what they had been doing personally. Because change is difficult, the team needs to develop methods to sustain the improvements that they created. Once they do so, they will realize the benefits of their efforts.

The Pursuit of Creativity

In my years of running Kaizen events, I never saw anything as powerful as a creativity approach called 3P – Production Preparation Process. The goal is to eliminate waste in the design of a new or existing process or product in the maximum way possible, unlocking the creativity of the team in ways most of them have not experienced. In 2016 I was fortunate enough to experience this approach through the eyes of the man who invented it, Chihiro Nakao. Sensei Nakao was a former Toyota employee who was sent out to help other companies at the behest of the originator of the Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno.

There are eleven steps to the approach, and although they may seem simple or counterintuitive on the surface, they are truly deep and complex and can lead to amazing breakthroughs. A short article will not do this justice, but perhaps it will motivate you to learn more about 3P.

A typical 3P Kaizen event takes 4 ½ days. They are long days, extremely engaging and exhausting, but at the end, the team will have a solution to an important problem that they are seeking. They will also have simulated their solution at a scale that will tell them whether or not it is truly viable.

Background – The team needs to understand certain key Lean principles and terms, such as Takt time, just in time, right sized equipment, and 5 whys prior to initiating the 11 steps of 3P. They also need to know how to use certain tools, such as the Standard Work Combination Sheet and the Fishbone Diagram.

Voice of the Customer – The team needs to hear directly from the customer to understand what is expected from them. There should be a direct exchange with the customer, so there can be no doubt about what is needed. Criteria for the solution is shared, so the team can measure their efforts against the criteria during the 3P.

Step 1 – Determine the Function of the Product or Transformational Step. As a first step, the team must identify what the customer would like them to accomplish in the simplest of terms. They will be challenged to describe this in two words, using a noun and a verb only. For example, a lightbulb does many things, but at its essence, it either “gives light” or “provides heat”. What is the product or process that the customer is most interested in? The team must avoid thinking about what is currently happening, but rather the bare essence of what the customer is willing to pay for, no more, no less.

Step 2 – Define the Essence of the Function Using Keywords. What words are the simplest way to describe what the customer is asking for? The team should generate as many key words as possible and then sketch them out on paper or sticky notes for everyone to see. The act of identifying the key words and sketching them is a way to drive the creativity of the participants forward. Some examples of key words are: drill, shear, guide, roll, and fasten.

Step 3 – Look for Examples of Keywords in Nature. In this step, team members do research and find examples in nature of the keywords. No examples should be man-made. Nature has used millions of years to perfect the simplest ways to accomplish tasks. Again, it is better to draw the examples than just list them. For example, if a key word is grip, then an example in nature could be an eagle’s talon gripping its prey. This step takes time and most team members will initially resist putting great effort into it, but with perseverance, they will make important discoveries about simple ways to perform complex tasks. Each team member should draw at least three examples, so that they expand their thinking beyond what they already know.

Step 4 – Sketch Examples and Examine “What is Happening” to Enable the Function. This next step is to examine in greater detail what allows nature to accomplish the keywords. What causes an eagle’s talon to grip its prey? Team members attempt to attain a greater understanding of the mechanism that is being utilized by nature through research and drawing. More examples are encouraged, as team members dig deep into their understanding and creativity.

Step 5 – Sketch Background and Conditions of the Function. This step takes a deeper dive at the function and the surrounding conditions that allow the function to occur in nature. More than just the eagle’s talon gripping the prey, what is happening with the muscles and nerves in the talon that allow it to grip? What interactions are occurring, and how are they able to do so?

Step 6 – Combine Ideas from Nature and Create Sketches. Each team member is challenged to come up with at least seven ways of solving the original problem using what they have learned from nature and other ideas that they may have. People generally have three alternatives in mind, so getting to seven causes them to think beyond their normal approach and have a bit of fun. It is not unusual to hear laughter during this step as people start to relax their creative minds and let go of their paradigms of what is possible.

Step 7 – Rapid Prototyping (Moonshine). This is the step that brings everything together and turns the ideas into reality. By reviewing, grouping, and prioritizing all of the many ideas shared across the team, the team picks two or three ideas to build. The team should break up into sub-teams so that each idea can be worked on simultaneously. The team is encouraged to use any materials available to them to demonstrate their concepts. The team assesses their prototypes against customer criteria and the
Seven Flows: Flow of People, Flow of Material, Flow of Parts, Flow of Products, Flow of Equipment, Flow of Information, and Flow of Engineering. They learn and improve as they go and are expected to make multiple iterations as they build. This build should be in three dimensions, so it is critical to have enough space and materials for team members to work. The term “Moonshine” refers to the historical practice of building stills in the woods by the light of the moon during Prohibition and using any available materials.

Step 8 – Conduct Trials and Gather Real Data. After building prototypes, they must be tested. Data is collected and compared to the customer criteria. As the comparisons are made, improvements are identified but not yet implemented. Often, the team identifies a better way to approach the problem and plans out the improvements for the next round of prototyping and moonshining.

Step 9 – Select the Three Best Designs Based on Criteria. During all of the prototyping and moonshining, it is not unusual to create variations on the original ideas and have many options to choose from. In this step, the team uses the original customer criteria to score all options and narrow down to three best designs to continue working on.

Step 10 – Continue Simulating and Gather and Evaluate Data on the Top Three Proposals. The team continues to do work on their proposals, learning about them, simulating them, and improving them. Any problems that occur are fixed on the spot, with as little discussion as possible. The act of building rather than discussing expands the creative process. At some point in this step, time will run out, so the team should set a target time to get all information and simulate how their idea will work.

Step 11 – Presentation of Solutions. The team demonstrates to the customer how each option works and shares the data and criteria evaluation. It is similar to a high school science fair, in that the customer acts like the judge and delivers constructive criticism and asks deep questions to the team. Rather than a Power Point presentation, this is a demonstration in 3D, with physical activity, so it’s easier to understand what the team is presenting.

The 3P approach is a highly engaging way to drive breakthrough creativity in teams that have the opportunity to participate. It has been shown to save precious project time and drive cost out of the finished product or process. Some teams saved 6 months in their Innovation cycle time by using 3P. Other teams have said that using 3P revealed viable options that they would never have pursued otherwise. I encourage you to consider this approach and learn more about it.

A Simple Way to Think about a Problem You Want to Solve

Many years ago, I was having difficulty getting my mind straight about a problem that I wanted to solve. A co-worker of mine introduced me to a thing he called a “Task Cycle”. Once I understood it, I had a simple way to go about solving problems and executing tasks.

The Task Cycle was developed in the early 1990’s by Paul Boulian and revised by Marlyn Rabenold eight years later. I had the good fortune of meeting Marlyn and was amazed at the simplicity of thinking that can be used to help solve the most complex problems. Now, I want to share it with you.

The Task Cycle has 4 components: Purpose, Products, Process, and Functional Capabilities. It is truly a cycle and can be visualized in this way:

When you are planning a task (or planning to solve a problem), you follow the cycle counter-clockwise, from Purpose to Products, Process, and then Functional Capabilities. When Executing a task, you follow the cycle clockwise and start at the Functional Capabilities and end at Purpose.

Purpose

This is the reason that we are trying to do something, or the problem that we are trying to solve. That seems simple, and it is, but building a clear purpose statement is critical, and should not be taken lightly. As is said, the first step in solving a problem is know that you have one in the first place. When building a clear Purpose statement, consider and communicate why you want to do something, as much or more than what the specific task is. Consider these components of the Purpose statement with this recommended format:

“TO” – describe the task to be done or the problem to be solved

“IN A WAY THAT” – describe the benefit to be realized by the accomplishment of the task. Think in terms of the customer of the task.

“SO THAT” – describe the impact or result the task will have on the organization

Using the experience of writing this article, here’s an example of a Purpose statement:

To write a description of the Task Cycle, in a way that:

-          Exposes the reader to a new way of thinking about a task

-          Provides a simple construct for dealing with a complex problem or effort

-          Engages the reader’s interest

So that this knowledge will help readers in their efforts to solve problems in the future.

Clarity of purpose helps us gain alignment and support from those who will either help us with our task or those who have assigned the task to us.

Now that Purpose has been established, it’s time to move on to Products.

Products

Products are the output or results that we are trying to create when we accomplish the task or solve the problem. A good question to ask is, “If we accomplish the task or solve the problem, what would we see or know that reinforces that the task is complete or the problem is solved?” We aren’t always looking for a physical product, but also non-physical or virtual products. These can be timing, a new way of doing things, or other similar results. Products of the prior example could be:

1.       Ten or more responses or inquiries about the article

2.       Three shares of the article

3.       A phone call to discuss more in detail about the article

Now that the Purpose and Products have been identified, it’s time to move on to Process.

Process

How are we going to get the products that tell us that we have achieved our purpose? What is the methodology or approach that we will use to do this? We can now design a process to specifically accomplish the purpose and deliver the products as stated. Whether we use existing tools and methodologies that we are familiar with, or do research and ask others for their input, we can now test our thinking and approach and see if it delivers the desired results. We want to think through the series of steps and actions that we will take in order to get where we want to go. Because we are clear on purpose and products, we can now design process in a way that has the least amount of effort and waste associated with it.

For the prior example, the process being used is to research the original thinking and documentation on the Task Cycle, consider my personal experiences with it, and try to describe it in a way that the reader can utilize practically. Time will tell if my process was properly thought out.

Functional Capabilities

Do you need people to help you accomplish your task or solve the problem? Do you need tools for this? Are there skills that need to be acquired? What else do you need to solve the problem or complete the task? These are the questions that should be answered in order to identify the functional capabilities needed.

When all four components of the Task Cycle are put together, they should be the foundation for the effort. You should share your thinking with others to see if you have missed any vital elements, always improving as you go. You might even need funding, and that is why it is critical to have alignment around your task cycle.

Earlier in the article, I stated that when you are executing a task or solving a problem, you now go through the task cycle in the opposite direction. What I mean is that you use the functional capabilities to follow the process, which delivers the products and ultimately achieves the purpose.

Although this is not new thinking, I believe that many have forgotten about the Task Cycle and are missing out on this simple way of solving problems and accomplishing critical tasks. I will be interested to see if I accomplished my task in providing you with information that you can use. Your feedback will let me know if I have done so.

What Happens in a Cost Reduction Session?

Most companies want to reduce costs in their operations. There are many ways to do this. Some companies choose to reduce their workforce, others decide to sell off under performing businesses. Companies that use this approach are just avoiding the problems and inefficiencies of their business practices and are not targeting the root cause of their problems.

At Process Improvement Partners LLC, we believe that the best way to reduce cost is to optimize your business to the benefit of your customers. Using that premise, we have developed an approach to leverage your team’s creativity to drive waste and inefficiencies out of your process, thereby reducing cost. In a 2 to 4-day session, teams will identify and build plans to take millions of dollars out of their operating costs, often greatly exceeding their cost reduction targets. The following summarizes how this can be accomplished.

Create Leadership Alignment

The first step in the process is to meet with Operations Leadership to gain their alignment and support for the approach that is being recommended. They have to stand by it, show their support for it, and supply dedicated resources that will participate fully in the cost reduction session(s). They should communicate with all potential participants and their managers well in advance, showing their support for the effort.

Event Preparation

Once Leadership is aligned, the event is scoped out, with a clear problem statement and objectives. When the scope of the event is known, we then plan the amount of time necessary for the team to achieve their cost reduction goal. Critical team members are identified who can help meet the goal, and then the event can be scheduled. All facilities should be reserved well in advance of the event, as meeting rooms come at a premium in most companies. There should be adequate space to move around and enough wall space to display information and ideas on. Typical supplies include flip chart easels, flip chart paper, sticky notes, pens, and a way to project presentations and information.

Session Kickoff

On the first morning of the session, an executive sponsor or key member of the leadership team kicks off the session, reinforcing the importance of the session and the targeted cost reduction that is to be realized. The sponsor should encourage team members to be as creative as possible and not limited by what has or has not worked in the past. It is not unusual for team members to be skeptical that their efforts will not be implemented, so the sponsor should meet that skepticism head on.

Voice of the Customer

Those who will be impacted by any cost reduction efforts must share what is most important to them and their customers. Often, Marketing will represent the customer’s interests, but other areas can do this as well, such as Operations, Research and Development, Sales, and Distribution. Some companies will bring in direct customers and this can be quite powerful. In the end, the team cannot and should not implement any cost reduction ideas that will negatively impact the customer. But, in some sessions that Process Improvement Partners has facilitated, cost reduction ideas created a positive customer experience.

Ideation

This is a free-wheeling exercise. In the early stages of ideation, it is more important to get as many ideas out as possible, regardless of their likelihood of success. Many team members will come to the session with ideas to share, so let’s get them all out on the table. When the team starts running out of ideas to share, facilitators will suggest topics and ask questions to encourage more ideas from the group.

Prioritization

Now that all of the ideas have been shared, the team needs to prioritize the ones that will make the most positive impact on cost, without negatively impacting the customer. There are many ways to do this, but we have used these in most sessions: Group rotation and review of all ideas, grouping of similar ideas, multi-voting with criteria, and a 9-block Impact/Difficulty matrix. The goal is to take literally hundreds of potential cost reduction opportunities and narrow them down to 20 to 30 of the best ones for the team to work on.

Concept Shaping

The team is divided into small groups of 3 or 4 people and asked to build more detail on the top priority cost reduction ideas. A focused, one-page concept sheet template is given to all team members, and they are required to answer all of the questions to the best of their ability. There isn’t a lot of time available, so team members are told that they should take one hour per concept. If they need additional information, they may phone a friend, or make their best educated guess. In all cases, they are encouraged to list their assumptions, so that others will understand their thought process. All concepts are audited for completeness and listing of assumptions, with the view that others who may not have been in the room may be assigned the project later on and must understand the initial thinking behind the cost reduction idea.

Managing System Development

Some teams work on the way that they will manage the cost reduction efforts after the session is over. This can include project communication, resource assignment, project visualization and management, and regular meetings to review status. Other teams just hand off their efforts to the session leader to take the work forward. In all cases, the results of the session should be communicated back to the sponsor and other stakeholders.

Reducing costs in your operation doesn’t have to be difficult or painful. When using people’s creativity and engagement and focusing on ideas that will benefit the customer, opportunities become apparent and a path to realize those opportunities can be identified. Then, everybody wins.

Who is Your Customer?

We are all customers. We want what we want, when we want it, at the level of quality we expect, in the proper quantity. We are the final say as to whether a business will thrive, survive, flounder, or die. The business must deliver to our expectations, or we will not continue to purchase products or services that they offer. 

It’s surprising how many businesses wrongly believe shareholders are their customer, rather than those who actually derive benefit from what they offer.

A key principle of Lean is that everything should be optimized to the benefit of the customer, and anything that doesn’t deliver value is considered waste and should be eliminated. 

It is therefore critical that you understand who your customer is, what is most important to them, and what they perceive as value.  

Identify Your Customer

Questions to consider to identify your customer(s):

1. Do they pay for your product or service?

2. Do they provide feedback about your product or service, and how it affects them directly?

3. Do your actions directly influence their behaviors?

4. Do they depend on you for the product or service that you deliver?

Sometimes, we need to look internally to identify our customer(s). For example, in a manufacturing plant, one department receives a product from another department. The receiving department is the customer of the delivering department, and requires the product to be the proper quantity, quality, and to arrive on schedule. Anything that deviates from this is waste and should be eliminated.

Likewise, the workers in the same manufacturing plant are the customers of the Leadership Team, who makes decisions on their behalf. Their families are also customers as strong business decisions keep paychecks rolling in.

What is Most Important to Your Customer

Once you have identified your customer(s), you then need to understand what they truly want from you or another provider. To find out, you can analyze market trends, speak to your Sales and Marketing departments, host focus groups, and/or go directly to your customers and find out. Oftentimes, customers may not be able to directly identify everything that they want, but with the proper questions, you should be able to get the heart of their issues. Consider these questions:

1. What do you like about the product or service that we provide?

2. What don’t you like about the product or service that we provide?

3. What issue or need are you trying to solve with the product or service that we provide?

4. What are we not providing that you wish we would provide?

5. What changes would you make to our product or service that would make things better for you?

6. What do you wish you could say to our CEO about the product or service that we provide?

It’s surprising how effective face to face communication can be with customers. It’s also surprising how few of us use this method to extract critical information from them. Most people appreciate the opportunity to have these conversations. Now let’s talk about value.

A Question of Value

If you have identified your customer and reviewed what’s most important to them, you should be close to answer how they define value. Value isn’t necessarily a monetary thing, but can be thought of as something that enhances the customer experience. Some examples include:

1. Reduces time and/or effort

2. Simplifies a task

3. Enhances quality of life

4. Makes them happy

5. Keeps them safe and secure

6. And the list goes on

Once you have identified your customer, what is most important to them, and how they define value, you are ready to attack and eliminate waste in your business. To understand more about waste, read the blog entitled, “The Eight Deadly Wastes.”

Use Standardized Work to Unleash Creativity

Most people don’t like being told what to do. They definitely don’t want to be told how to do it. But, with proper standardized work, we can show people the right way to do things and free their minds to work on more complex problems that they face. The key is to develop standardized work that engages people, speaks to them at the appropriate level, and captures the routine aspects of a task in a way that ensures everyone follows it properly and easily. Once that occurs, they can concentrate on solving problems that aren’t covered by the standardized work.

When I was very young, I was told, “Don’t touch the stove top. It’s hot!” Naturally, that sparked my curiosity. I wanted to know how hot, so I had to touch it. Unfortunately, I got burned and learned a lesson. I should have asked “How hot?” or, “What happens if I touch it?” If I understood what and why and the implications, I may not have received a boo-boo. This was a valuable personal lesson, but it also provides a good structure for standardized work. Now that I didn’t have to touch the stove anymore, I was freed up to use my creativity to create other mischief.

How to Engage Your People to Develop Standardized Work

People tend to do things the way they are taught, the way they observe, or the way that feels right to them. Unfortunately, they may be doing things improperly, unsafely, or inefficiently. So, it is incumbent on you to help them see the better way to do their work. The best way is to engage them in the development of the work. I have found that you should engage at least three people who are currently doing the work so they can share experiences, approaches, and break the tie, if a final decision on how to proceed is needed. You should set the expectations that work must be accomplished safely and productively, but give them the freedom to use their experiences to guide them in the process.

What To Do

The first part of standardized work is to define what to do and the order in which the work must be done. Once you have engaged people who do the work to participate in this effort, have each one of them demonstrate their approach to the work. Those who are watching should provide feedback and ideas that would make the work safer and more efficient. Once all ideas are shared, help bring the group to consensus around the final procedure. Once they have done this, they should practice the new procedure and see if they have missed any vital elements. Following that, document the procedures with pictures, videos, and/or written process steps. The more visual the better, as you want to be able to explain the procedure to anyone in a short amount of time, and you want them to be able to demonstrate their understanding without much effort. Once they have reached consensus, you must gain agreement that the procedure will be followed the same way by everyone who does the work. 

Why To Do It

You can’t guarantee people will follow the new procedure, just because it is safer and more efficient. They may not realize this is the case. Most people are willing to try something different than what they are used to if they understand why it will be a benefit to them. Therefore, the group that develops the new procedure should incorporate the “why” or benefits behind the steps in the new procedure. If they’re unable to do so, it probably means there aren’t real benefits and the procedure needs improvement. Keep working and improving the procedure until you have something that delivers a benefit. Once you have done that, it will be easier to sell the new procedure to others.

The Implications of the Work

The best standardized work results in safety and efficiency gains. These should be clear and measurable. After all, how do you know you’re winning if you’re not keeping score. So, the team should be able to identify and incorporate clear measures of the standardized work. For example, the procedure now takes six steps and 30 minutes, while in the past it took 12 steps and 48 minutes. Another example is the new procedure results in a higher yield rate than the old procedure. It is not uncommon to reduce the time required to accomplish a task by 30% to 50%, just by gaining alignment and simplifying process steps.

Using these three elements – what to do, why to do it, and the implications of the work should convince people to try this new way of operating. Once they are convinced, they should also see that by following this new process, their minds are freed-up to work on more complex problems, thus unleashing their creativity.  

Here’s a real-world example: A production line was shutting down erratically.  In the past, people would be blamed for not following procedures. With clear standardized work, the time to troubleshoot was reduced dramatically, as the human variables were eliminated. The team could focus on other reasons and quickly found the root cause of the problem, which was a switch that was shorting out.

We want people to be creative and improve things and solve complex problems. By creating clear standardized work that is consistently followed, we give people the opportunity to use their creative minds and drive positive results.

The 8 Deadly Wastes

The customer defines value for any product or service.  If they aren’t willing to pay for something, it has no value to them. In the terminology of Lean, anything that doesn’t directly provide value to the customer is called “waste”. Further, there are eight specific types of waste. Once you know what they are, you can begin to spot them, and then work diligently to reduce or eliminate them. If you do, the customer experience will be improved and so will your operating results.

These are the eight deadly wastes:

Transportation
The movement of anything from place to place is considered waste, because it adds no value to the product or service being provided. It only adds time, and the potential for loss or damage. It may seem necessary to move things around in a process – putting things in trucks, putting things away on shelves, sending electronic data from one server to the next, but there is no change to the form or function of the thing being produced. The question to ask is, “how can we reduce or eliminate transportation in the process?”

Inventory
Ideally, the only product you should produce is the product that your customer wants; no more, no less.  More production creates inventory. Less production creates a shortage. The risk of having too much inventory is that it may spoil, become obsolete, or never leave the shelf. Think about computer chips. Once the new version of computer chip comes out, who is buying the older version? Typically, nobody, or if they do, they are receiving a sizable discount.  Another problem with inventory is that the thing you need may get lost behind the thing you don’t need. So, you end up producing more inventory that can hide the next thing, and the cycle continues.

Motion
This waste addresses the effort required to complete a task. If you must reach over your head, or grab something from the ground, you are using extra motion. If you must go away from your area to track something down and retrieve something, you are using extra motion. Ergonomics, which is the study of people’s efficiency in their work environment, is a method to identify and reduce excess motion.

Waiting
Time lost while waiting for an answer, a return email, an earlier process step, booting up your computer, or general waiting around is considered waste. It can be frustrating, time consuming and adds to the overall time in the process, which delays delivery to the customer. The key is to find the things that force you to wait and strive to eliminate them. Empowering people to make decisions is a quick way to drive waiting time down.

Overproduction
Have you ever noticed people who print out every email that they receive? This is an example of overproduction. How about a production line that is running really well and the managers want to keep things running? While the current product gets produced, the next product waits. There is a risk there will be a shortage of the raw materials to make the next product, or that there will be a delay in shipping the next product to the customer.

Overprocessing
This waste refers to the complexity in the process. If there are more steps than needed, or if the product or service is delivering beyond the requirements of the customer, this can be thought of as overprocessing. In the 1930’s, there was a cartoonist named Rube Goldberg, who devised the most complex ways of completing simple tasks. It was entertaining and creative, but not the ideal way of accomplishing work.

Defects
When the product or service doesn’t deliver to the required level of quality, this is considered a defect. When something has to be reworked, this is considered a defect. Many companies try to instill a culture of “Doing it right the first time.” They want to ensure that each process step will continue adding value to the benefit of the customer.

Unused Employee Creativity
The people who do the work generally have ideas to make their work simpler and safer. The best companies listen to their employees to get improvement ideas. Other companies think they know all of the answers and ignore suggestions by their employees. We don’t want people to shut their minds off when they come through the door, or we will be responsible for the worst waste of all.

In order to reduce or eliminate waste, you must be able to identify it. These eight wastes are easy to find in any process, if you are willing to look. If you make it a habit to reduce or eliminate these wastes, your customers will benefit. If your customers benefit, so will you.

What Process Improvement Partners Can Do for Your Team

Process Improvement Partners LLC offers a variety of services that help teams achieve breakthrough results. Some are narrow in scope, while others are strategic in nature. Some are quite simple, and others are extremely complex. In all cases, we strive to apply the right service to our customer’s needs, providing hands-on assistance, where needed. Here is a summary of our services, and when you might want to consider using them:

Site Assessment
If you want to see what opportunities are available to you, or don’t know where to start, take this 5 to 6-hour test drive with us. Everyone learns something new in this session. Together, we will identify the highest value opportunities and develop the plan to realize those opportunities. Some teams decide to take on the work themselves, others choose to engage us. Either way, it’s time well spent.

Cost Reduction Ideation, Prioritization, and Implementation
If you need to drive out costs in your business without negatively impacting your customers, this session is for you. Team members are challenged to come up with new and more efficient ways to do what they do, focusing on the cost impact to the organization. Once they have heard from their customers, they creatively brainstorm cost reduction opportunities, prioritize those opportunities, and then more fully develop and analyze those opportunities for customer and cost impact. At the end of the session, the team has a roadmap to drive significant costs out of the business.

Strategic Planning (VSM)
The first step in any continuous improvement journey. This session opens the eyes of all participants to the wastes and inefficiencies in their current processes and provides a roadmap to improvement that will be a direct benefit to their customers. Often, the team identifies simple and quick changes (6 – 12 months) that will reduce lead time to their customers by more than 50%, free up space, reduce the need for inventory, and improve quality and safety performance. This session also changes how people manage and lead in their processes moving forward. The benefits are felt immediately by those who work in the process, as well as customers of the process.

Workplace Organization (5S)
This session makes an immediate, visible and measurable impact on safety and productivity in a work space. It’s fun and fast paced, as team members learn how removing clutter, organizing items into optimal locations, maintaining resources in top condition, and implementing audits of the area can improve the lives of the people working in the space. Team members may get emotional at the end of the session, as they are positively impacted by the experience.

Breakthrough Creativity (3P)
Based on the proven 11-step Nakao method, this session is designed to drive teams to places they never dreamed possible in a 4 ½ day session. It is extremely challenging and exciting, as team members find solutions to problems that eluded them previously. This session is not for the faint of heart, as team members will work at a rapid pace and for long hours. When the session is over, it’s not unusual to have reduced project time by 6 months or more.

Changeover Reduction (SMED)
If you find that you are constantly expediting orders due to long product changeover times, this is the session you need. Using Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methodology, teams typically reduce changeover times by half or more by the end of the session. Your customers will see the benefits of this session too, as lead times will be reduced as well. Teams will be trained so that they can apply the approach to other areas of their business in the future.

Process Optimization (Standard Work)
This session brings people together to determine the safest, most productive way to accomplish critical tasks. The team is guided through this session to create the new standard work for the improved process and develop the managing systems to ensure that everyone follows it once implemented. 

Failure Prevention (FMEA)
An industry standard approach to stopping problems before they happen through the identification, prioritization, development, and implementation of preventative actions. This session stretches team member thinking as they are challenged to identify all of the ways a process could fail, whether the process has been implemented or not. Through a standard scoring system, these failure modes are prioritized for greatest negative impact to employees and customers. Once the session is over, the team will have a strong plan of action to keep these potential problems from occurring.

Plant Reliability Improvement (OEE)
This ongoing effort to drive to World Class Reliability utilizes Standard Work, Visual Management, Changeover Reduction, Shop Floor participation, Best Practice maintenance, and Continuous Improvement events. The team will build a road map of actions and strategies to improve Plant Reliability, and then they will be given assistance with any or all of their identified actions. We step back when the organization is ready to take full ownership of the improvement efforts.

Cultural Transformation
What does it take to drive an organization to a culture of continuous improvement? This ongoing effort utilizes leadership coaching, mentoring, demonstrations, and implementation of the key drivers of cultural transformation. The team starts with their vision and mission, and then designs all of their actions around them. Assistance is provided until the organization has shown that it owns the change that it seeks.

Visual Management and Shop Floor Participation (Gemba Walks)
The people who work in the process know what’s going on and are just waiting for an opportunity to share their ideas for improvement. This session engages the shop floor work force and improves accountability for daily results. The team builds a plan and leadership actions that will drive shop floor performance to higher levels and improve workforce engagement. Once the team implements visual management, there will be alignment and accountability for the most important results.

Best Practice Facilitation
How is that the best facilitators look like they aren’t doing anything at all, while the teams they are working with are making breakthroughs? This ½ day training session will provide the tools, methods, and hands-on practice to improve skills of the participants. The result will be more productive meetings and events.

If you don’t know which of these services to choose, just contact Process Improvement Partners LLC, and we’ll help you determine your best course of action. We are totally committed to your success. These sessions can drive your operating results to new heights.

Value Stream Mapping: The First Step on Your Continuous Improvement Journey

You can’t reach your destination if you don’t know how to get there. Maps, or in our technology-driven world, GPS systems, are critical resources for guiding you from point A to B. The same is true for your continuous improvement journey. Unlike your GPS, however, you must build your map through learning. The best way to build it is with Value Stream Mapping.

Value Stream Mapping views everything from the eyes of the customer. Anything that the customer would not pay for is considered Non-Value Added and is waste. The key to Value Stream Mapping is to see the waste in the current process and then develop strategies to remove as much waste as possible, delivering maximum value for the customer.

There are the 8 key components of Value Stream Mapping:

Identify the Value Stream to Map
What is the family of products or services that the customer is willing to pay for? Often, companies will pick a product or service that represents a significant portion of their overall demand or represents most of the process steps. It is better to pick a simpler process the first time Value Stream Mapping is attempted, increasing the complexity of processes to map as experience grows.

Build the Team
The members of the team are critical, as they will learn together and become supporters of the work going forward. The team should be diverse, comprised of people in the process, people who manage the process, customers of the process, and suppliers to the process. It can be beneficial to add a few team members who have no relationship with the process, as they provide “outsider” thinking and can challenge the team during the session.

Voice of the Customer
What is most important to the customer, from their point of view? Often, companies will engage Sales and/or Marketing to represent the customer, based on interactions they have had while dealing directly with customers. It is more powerful to invite direct customers to these sessions, but it can also be risky, as they will see some of the waste or inefficiencies in the current process. Most customers appreciate the opportunity to participate in these sessions, and the rewards far outweigh the risks.

Walk the Current State Value Stream
This is typically the most “eye-opening” part of Value Stream Mapping. The team should leave the meeting room and physically walk the process from the last step to the first. If they are mapping a physical product transformation, the team starts at the shipping dock, and then works their way back to the receiving dock. Start with the customer and what they are expecting to be delivered, then work your way back to the beginning of the process. All the while, the team is looking for waste and inefficiencies. They should be taking notes, pictures, and engaging with each other and others working in the process to fully understand what is going on and why things are working or not working as expected. If the process is virtual, the team should be demonstrating the steps of the process as they occur. Do not discuss the process in a meeting room. Go see what’s actually happening. 

Gather data for the Current State Value Stream
How long does each process take? How many resources are needed for each step? How much inventory or waiting occurs at each step? How is information communicated to each step? How long does it take to change from one product or service to the next? How much space is required by each step? There is so much data that can be gathered, that you have to be careful not to do too much and miss the simplest and most impactful opportunities in the Current State.

Map the Current State Value Stream
Once the team returns to the meeting room, they map out all steps and interactions between steps of the process. This is a team activity, so don’t let just one person do all of the work. Each team member can take a pack of sticky notes and write down steps, placing them in order on a wall or something similar. Next, the team should measure the total time it takes for the product or service to get through the Value Stream, measuring the value-added time, non-value-added time, and lead time. Don’t use a computer, this is a visual activity, and most “A-ha” moments occur while placing steps on a wall and seeing how inefficient the current process is. Don’t be surprised if less than 10% of the time is value-added. In many manufacturing plants, that number drops below 1%. One key point is to map the process as it is, not how you want it to be.

Build the Future State Map
The team develops a vision of what they want the process to be in the future, for the benefit of the customer. By seeing the waste and inefficiencies in the Current State Map, the team imagines what the process would look like if they minimized or eliminated non-value-added steps, inefficiencies, defects, safety issues, and other waste in the current process. After the map is created, the team recalculates the value-added time, non-value-added time, and lead time in the future state. It is not unusual to drop the overall lead time to the customer by 50% or more. It’s also not unusual to identify quick, simple activities to accomplish this lead time reduction.

Create a Plan to Achieve the Future State
The team builds a roadmap of activities and strategies to make the changes required to drive to the Future State. These activities are typically low-cost and quick to implement, but some activities require an entirely new way of leading and managing the process. The team develops the action plan, with owners, due dates, and the managing systems to ensure that the work gets done.

A typical Value Stream mapping session takes between 3 and 4 days. When it’s over, everyone knows their new destination and how they intend to get there. Now, leadership has identified what is necessary to take the journey. Just like any journey, you must take the first step. Value Stream mapping is that first step.