Month: May 2019

The foundation of improvement

To have a solid foundation for any improvement you need to establish standard work.

Standard work:

The foundation of continuous improvements is standardized work. Any process must be standardized to the best known way of working from where improvements can be made.




SMART

Making relevant objectives when it comes to projects or any improvement initiatives can be very hard. A pnemonic acronym for this is SMART. When used gives clear objectives that are easily verifiable.

SMART:

An acronym giving critera for objectives. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. These give clear guidelines from which to measure success.




Different beginings

To most it is obvious that Lean has it’s roots in a society and culture very different from our own. One sign of this is how Japaneese companies organize to cooperate.

Zaibatsu:

Used to be Japanese family-controlled business conglomerates organized with one bank part and one or several industrial parts. Litteraly “Wealth Group”. Later replaced by Keiretsu.

Keiretsu:

The Keiretsu replaced the Zaibatsu by the mid 2000th century. It is a system of interlocking business relationsships. The companies own small portions of the shares of each other centered around a core bank. The purpose of this is to create a stable marked and protect the companies from hostile action from outsiders.




The opposite to Kaizen

In Lean we often talk about continous improvement, Kaizen. Sometimes we do have to make more radical change to an organization as in restructuring an entire plant or business unit. This is known as Kaikaku.

Kaikaku:

Japanese term for “radical change”. Where Kaizen are small continous improvements Kaikaku are larger bussiness wide changes during a limited time.




Root cause analysis

If there is a problem in your processes it is important to know the correct root cause. There is no use to solve the wrong problem. To assist with this task there are many tools. One commonly used is the Ishikawa Diagram with a 4M or 5M layout. This added to the terminology section.

Ishikawa Diagram:

Also known as fishbone diagrams or cause-and-effect diagram. It is used to map possible causes and narrow them to find the root-cause or the cause of a specific phenomena.

4M:

A systematic approach to root cause analysis. Machine, Man, Method and Material. Often used as an Ishikawa Diagram.

5M:

An expanded version of 4M analysis where a fifth M is added, Measurements. Making it Machine, Man, Method, Material and Measurements. It is a systematic approach to root cause analysis often used as an Ishikawa Diagram.