Lean Manufacturing Solutions http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com The primary objective of LMS is to support manufacturers who have a desire to implement the Toyota Production System within their company. Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:56:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Genchi Genbutsu – Go see the problem. http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/03/genchi-genbutsu-go-see-the-problem/ http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/03/genchi-genbutsu-go-see-the-problem/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:37:45 +0000 George McDonald http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/?p=362 Continue reading →]]> This is the belief that practical experience is valued over theoretical knowledge. You must see the problem to know the problem.

Below are some examples of site and cell boards (at some of my past and present projects). Their intent is to show baseline metrics and begin the first iteration of problem solving.

While these are good tools for understanding baseline metrics and issues, it’s not enough to just review the findings and hope for a better day tomorrow.

Many of the readers reviewing this article, who use these types of boards, will no doubt believe that they are going to floor and seeing the problem. If you stop at the boards and do not proceed to the problem areas (the board is pointing out), you might as well have been elsewhere.

The ultimate intent of the boards is to assist in pointing out problems. The best way to fix problems is to go and see. While you can’t always address everything on the spot, you have to at least address what the customer cares about now.

At the end of the day, it’s always going to be about the customer. What does the customer care about?

Quality, Cost and Delivery

You should be asking these basics questions throughout the day.

  1. Are we making a quality product?
  2. (The cost piece is pre-negotiated and something your site has to manage)
  3. Will we deliver it on time?

Value Stream Board Example

Site Board Example

Site Glass Wall Example

Putting boards up at your site is the easy part – many companies are doing this today. Addressing the issues (now) is very hard and something very few companies are good at.

]]> http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/03/genchi-genbutsu-go-see-the-problem/feed/ 1 Your 2012 Business “New Year’s Resolution” – Hoshin Kanri http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/01/your-2012-business-new-years-resolution-hoshin-kanri/ http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/01/your-2012-business-new-years-resolution-hoshin-kanri/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:19:01 +0000 George McDonald http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/?p=335 Continue reading →]]> Just as you are getting ready to set your personal goals for the coming year, now is also a good time to set goals for your company. At Toyota, we used Hoshin Kanri to accomplish just that. Hoshin Kanri is a method used to identify and document strategic goals as well as insight about the future, and develop the means to bring these into reality. Also called “Hoshin Planning” or “Policy Deployment”, it is designed to use the collective thinking power of all employees.

Overview of Hoshin Methods:

  1. Establish a Hoshin plan summary – identify core objectives
  2. Establish a Hoshin action plan – links core objective to an action summary
  3. Establish a Hoshin implementation plan –  a document to record action items
  4. Establish a Hoshin implementation review – a document located in one place which illustrates progress being made as it relates to core objectives

In Japanese, Hoshin means compass or pointing the direction, kanri means management or control. The name suggests how companies can use Hoshin to align employees to reach company objectives.

Companies that use Hoshin:

  • Toyota
  • Bank of America
  • Merck Pharmaceutical
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Bridgestone Tire
]]> http://leanmanufacturing-lms.com/2012/01/your-2012-business-new-years-resolution-hoshin-kanri/feed/ 2