Lean Enterprise

Implementation of Lean Enterprise applies to transactional and manufacturing processes alike. Who tolerates standing in a queue waiting to check in at the airport or check out at a supermarket or hotel? Who tolerates automated telephone systems with endless menu options, lengthy queues to get to talk to an operator, being transferred from one department to another and to another, supplying considerable information at each step of the way?

The Lean Principles that help solve these situations and prevent them occurring in the first place

• Identify the things that the customer values
• Understand the process by which the good or service get to the customer
• Make the process flow with minimum delays and other wasteful activities
• Pull goods and services through the process to meet the demand of the customer
• Continually improve the process striving for the perfect system

The lean tools and techniques that support these principles include:

• Value Stream mapping a technique for mapping and measuring the process to identify and eliminate wasteful activities in the process
• 7 types of waste
  • Transport – movement of items from one location to another or from one function to another
  • Inventory – storage of a batch of items in the process
  • Motion – human motion moving items or collecting and replacing equipment
  • Waiting – delays in the process often due to inventory
  • Over processing – providing processing or functionality that the customer doesn’t need
  • Over producing – processing items that the customer doesn’t need or hasn’t ordered
  • Defects – things gone wrong that need correcting or redoing
• Task and work balance to balance the work content of operators and/or equipment in the process to meet the demand of the customer. This includes defining standard operations and standard cycle times of activities.
• 5S – a methodology for implementing good standards and disciplines for the organisation of a workplace
  • Sort - organise the work place by identifying and removing items that are not required
  • Store – identify locations for all items that are need to be located in the work place
  • Shine – clean up the work place
  • Standardise – create a standard for the work place
  • Sustain – maintain and continuously improve the standards
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)/ Overall Process Effectiveness (OPE) – a system for measuring and improving the output of a process as a function of its theoretical capacity. OEE comprises availability, performance and quality.
• Pull System – a means of sending a signal to an upstream process to provide goods or services thereby goods and services are pulled through a process only when required
• Kaizen – An activity that involves the operators of a process and aims to improve the process by removing waste from it. Often this is designed as a week long exercise that is preceded by planning the exercise and also requires follow up of improvement actions that are identified
• Quick changeovers or turnarounds – in manufacturing this is sometimes known as SMED, Single Minute Exchange of Dies – This involves reducing the downtime of a process by taking waste out of a changeover or turnaround. It includes removing activities that occur within the changeover into preparation that occurs prior to the changeover while the process is still operating or into post change over activities that are also undertaken when the process is back operating. Examples of quick changeovers include aircraft turnaround at airports and the classic example is the pit-stop in formula one motor racing.