After a hiatus of focused university studies combined with full time work. I am back to working on my own development in the area of lean and thus this site.
Today I have added a few phrases connected to measuring throughput in an operation. There is of course more to come and I hope to write a few articles in the coming weeks to dig deeper into some juicy subject.
Hope you are all doing well, see you around!
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – John Quincy Adams
Also, as I get on with my journey I strive to grow and learn, to take the next step on my journey. This have become my passion. As part of this I am experiencing that coaching other is an excellent way to develop my own skills.“The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.” – Aristotle
Happy New Year to you all!“Well begun is half done.” – Aristotle
Within Lean we often try to bring out problems to the forefront, showcase our opportunities for improvement and illustrate the bottlenecks of our processes. This is important, but how we move on from these discoveries is where we find success.“It is of no use to discover out own faults and infirmities unless the discovery prompts up to amendment.” – John Quincy Adams
It is easy to get stuck in one mode of thinking. With the myriad different challenges it is important to be flexible and to adapt thinking to the problem and not trying to adapt the problem to the solutions you prefer.“We can’t solve the problem by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
The more I know, the more I stand by the creed of Plan, Do, Check and Act. Preparation is the key for a successful execution.“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
Always stay curious!I am on my second week of summer vacation, being away from work sets your mind free to wander. To focus my mind I go back to some inspirational quotes of ancient and recent wisdom.
First we have something from antiquity that I truly live by and have most of my life.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotele
Next we have two Deming quotes. Quite different but very important when it comes to leadership and Lean. The first one is straight forward, if people fear showing results they think will displease their managers they will find a way to make the numbers more pleasing.
“Whenever there is fear, you will get wrong figures.” – W. Edwards Deming
Then we have the role of a leader, some think it is important to have all the answers and stand tall with having all the facts. You can never have all the facts and if you think you do you will close your mind from further expansion from learning more. One very important role of the leader is to ask the right questions but also to coach the people in your charge to ask the right questions thenselves.
“If you do not know how to ask the right questions, you discover nothing.” – W. Edwards Deming
And the last one today is something I struggle with but something I strive to improve every day.
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection, and then from the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter Drucker
I hope you all are having a good summer!
Added 3 new entrys and 2 abbreviations. Slowly but surely building the list, but there is still so much to learn.
5S is a workplace organization (WPO) method in five steps, first conceived in japan as part of Just-in-Time (JIT). Sort (seiri), Set in order (seiton), Shine (seiso), Standardize (seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke).
A method of handling stock. It becomes particularly useful when the product handled has a expirationdate. Eg. rubber o-rings.
Indicating a product passing through all stages of production without any corrective meassures along its course. It is used as a meassure of built in quality. Often described as a percent eg. “FTT last week was 97%”
Todays new inspiration in the quotes section.
“Where there is no standard, there can be no improvement. For these reasons, standards are the basis for both maintenance and improvement.” – Masaaki Imai
To go on a journey need two things, you need to know in what direction to but for this you also need to know where you are. The standard represent where you are now, and between now and your goal you have the direction you must travel.
“Experience is not what you’ve been through, it’s what you take from it.” – Frank Tyger
In everything, good or bad, lies the oportunity to learn something. To further your knowledge and understanding of the issues at hand or the world at large. With reflection you can greatly increase what you are able to take from any experience and it will empower you in the long run.
“If you don’t have time to do it right in the first place, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden
This is so obvious but still, time and time again this gets us into trouble. If we could just step back, breath and contemplate a proper solution rather than set up firewall upon firewall and all temporary patches and solution we would spend a lot less time and energy in the long run.
Through my journey in life and through my journey in Lean I have found that good habits makes for a solid foundation of every day life. This is true both at work and at home. Presently I am reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. This has gotten me thinking a lot about my own habits.
The other day I saw a commencement speech by a Navy Seal admiral. He listed ten thing to help guide you through life. The first thing he listed was making your bed in the morning. I think most people has seen this in movies about military life at some point. What he did however is expand of why this practice is used through training. The idea is that if you start of your day with finishing a task to a high standard you always know that you have accomplished something that day and you are ready for the next task of the day. A habit of productivity and excellence.
Now this is very interesting and what I have found is that it is a point of contention. Some say it is powerful habit that even though it in itself is useless, the mindset it creates is the true value of this habit. Other people see it as a waste and they might do it occasionally not as a habit. These people might have other habits to the same effect but this I don’t know for sure.
I am thinking that it is different for everyone. What habits you use for creating and maintaining a productive mindset may differ from person to person but I am convinced that it is something everyone would benefit from. Habits also create structure and order in life which might help you focus on what is most important.
On my own part I am struggling to make good habits a part of my daily routine. I tend to get stuck when it comes to going from task to habit. Maybe I should just start making my bed and build from there.
Whether something is old or new says nothing of its value to us today. Among quotes from ancient thinkers this become very self-evident. Today I present three quotes that I find very inspiring.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotele
For me this is the essence of Lean. If we create good habits with respects to the work of continuous improvement it will become a natural part of our lives and it will feel less like chore.
“Do nothing that is of no use” – Musashi, Miyamoto, 1645
This quote really made me laugh, it is so direct but through the veils of time we have the reduction of waste, muda, in a nutshell. The less you do of that of no use the more focused you become on what is important.
“You can only fight the way you practice” – Musashi, Miyamoto, 1645
Not that we should see every day as a struggle or a battle. But this is really the Aristotele quote above from the viewpoint of a samurai. The modern truism we hear to this effect would be “Practice makes perfect”.
Visual feedback system for the plant floor that indicates production status, alerts when assistance is needed, and empowers operators to stop the production process. Literally “Paper Lantern”
An informal process of getting support from coworkers and others before starting a project in order to increase the chances of success.
Toyota Production System. A manufacturing strategy developed by Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan over a period of many years. TPS focuses on the complete elimination of waste from the manufacturing process, and is the progenitor of lean manufacturing.
Stacked bar chart used to balance the workload of different operators/stations in a production line. Sometimes also called Yamazumi board.
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.
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“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
– Zig Ziglar
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
– Mark Twain
