Where would I begin today?
I am, as you might have guessed, partway on my journey. So far I have experienced and tried some of the tools of Lean and I have tried my best to live the philosophy of continuous improvement and respect for people (or humanity). My way has been anything but straight and it has taken me longer than I feel it should to get where I am today. But if I where to start again today, where would I start?
I have given this a lot of thought and there are a lot of choices. One way I know many do start is through 5S and it is really the first real hands on contact I had with Lean. But I am not convinced this is the best way to get started.
Setting things in order is always a good thing, but from what I remember the problem for me was that there was no depth to the thinking, and thus it was a bit of a waste. Since understanding was not there it was almost insurmountable to actually maintain this order.
Where I think I would start is with PDCA (Plan-Do-Check Act). It is a beautiful way to do anything and it will give you guidance through having a proper plan, by carrying through and analyse the results, comparing them to what was expected. With this you learn to see a new dimension of what you have done or are about to do. Most important , you can actually turn any situation to a valuable lesson. No matter if you have succeeded or failed there is always something to be learned. Through PDCA you have a framework for this.
With this said, my next step from PDCA would be 5S but done with a proper PDCA dimension. Before you start to remove anything. Make sure you have the full picture. In a factory it might not be as easy as just removing things and put them into a red tag quarantine area. If you remove things used by others but not yourself you are not being respectful and you are not being efficient. This will result in things being removed and returned and maybe removed again. This will be pure waste. Also it will make coworkers to distrust the tool. Doing informed work will get the respect of coworkers and be appreciated by most. Now, I am not saying there should be no red tag area but I am saying it should be used when the team decides and not when a single operator decides so.