Lean Values & Behaviours - afivictoria.org.au · Complete Lean Solutions Lean Values & Behaviours. 1 ... (the gemba) is the only place ... form or function of material or information

© Complete Lean Solutions October 2016

CLSComplete Lean Solutions

Lean Values & Behaviours

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Exposure

Tools

Eve

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Res

ults

Tool-basedArchitecture

Event-basedDeployment

Result-basedOrientation

What we’ve learned from the past

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This is not bad or wrong…

IT’S JUST NOT ENOUGH!

What we’ve learned from the past

Res

ults

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Exposure

Tools

Eve

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• You start with the tools, tools give you quick wins and quick results

• So you deploy more tools…• Over time, benefits wane and momentum declines…

• So you look for something else… the next fad.

impr

ovem

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time

+ Embedded values and behaviours

Tools alone

+ Systems • But when tools are interwoven into purposeful systems…

• and ultimately anchored in core values, everyday behaviours and lean mindsets …

Lean tools alone – a typical story

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PRINCIPLES SYSTEMS TOOLS

To create an empowered and involved culture of continuous process improvement:1st focus on the guiding principles, the organisation’s mission/vision – how it serves customers,2nd deploy the values and behaviours that give daily structure to the guiding principles, and3rd strategically select appropriate tools that enable systems to create the desired outcome.

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Understanding the deeper reasoning of creating the systems… creating value for customers. This drives the question of do you ‘know why’ you are doing it this way? Are we questioning what is needed?

A system is developed by having comprehensive knowledge of how and why to apply the tools, and integrating their use across multiple areas/functions.

Understanding the functional use of tools and techniques enables using specific methods to create point solutions and to support desired behaviours.



Organisation Vision

FlexibleMotivatedMembers

5STPM

VisualMgmt.Heijunka TAKT

Standardisation

QCO

Kanban

Andon

PokaYoke

SinglePieceFlow

Managedbuffers

CompanyGrowth

JUST

IN

TI

ME

JIDOKAKaizen

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The Vision is the “where?,” as in “where are we going?”

The Values and Behaviours provide the “how? and why?” behind the “what?” (the tools)

Not having a deep understanding of the Values and Behaviours is often the reason why the tools are used incorrectly and/or use of the tools fades over time

Organisation Vision, Values, Behaviours and Tools



5. Always look to the long term.4. Level out all activities across the available time.3. Pull material and work as it is needed.2. Never pass on poor quality to the next process.

Lean Company Values1. Work in a standardised and safe way.

Lean Behaviours

5. Kaizen (continuous improvement).4. Work as a team.3. Respect the individual. 2. Challenge the status quo. 1. Go, see and study.

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Work in a standardised and safe say

• No one will argue that safety is THE key requirement, every day. Duh.

• With standardisation:– Yesterday’s outcomes = today’s outcomes = tomorrow’s outcomes

– New team member = seasoned team member

• Without standardisation there can be no improvement:– Each person’s “better way” is actually just another way

– Actual equipment and team member capacity requirements are unknown

– Have fun tracking down root causes when quality escapes make it to customers.

• If standards aren’t frequently verified, “better ways” will grow back:

– “Better ways” are usually improvements

– Capturing, updating, re-standardising and re-training “better way” improvements is

the ‘journey’ half of ‘lean journey.’



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Never pass on poor quality to the next process

• Conventional thinking: “people make mistakes”

• Lean thinking: “errors occur because the process allows them to”

• What does quality actually mean to downstream processes?– Do your team members know? How?

– What is your cost of poor quality? How/is it actually measured?

• Constant change requires constant quality vigilance

• Team members need to have the ability to stop, call and wait:– This gives leaders the ability to see errors, immediately, forcing them to be fixed as

they occur,

– Which in turn enables creation of error detection techniques,

– Which then leads to designing error-proof work methods.

• COPQ = 15% to 25% of sales, cost of error prevention = 0.5% to 5%



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Pull material and work as it is needed

• The downstream process pulls just what it needs, only when it needs it

• Pull triggers are simple; cards, rectangles on the floor, empty bins, etc.:– They highlight work imbalances, bottlenecks and overproduction, in real time

– Yes, they are fragile, and they’re a pain to reset when problems occur

• Push systems are complex:– ERP systems trigger replenishment with complex algorithms that few understand

– They (often) assume infinite internal capacity, supplier adherence to targets, etc.

– They can be fragile too. How did your last stocktake go?

• The other main differences between them:– Pull systems give order responsibility to users. Push systems take it away

– Problems with pull systems are immediately visible to all users. Problems with push

systems are invisible to all but a handful of people

– Pull systems cost practically nothing, and ~80% of the savings arising from their

deployment come from reduced overheads to babysit inventory



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Level out all activities across the available time

• The bad news: pull systems don’t work well until activities are balanced

• The good news: single-piece flow can’t happen without it

• Every activity in every organisation has a natural ‘pulse’:– The trick is to find it. For production, it’s the pace of customer demand, in minutes

– Once the ‘pulse’ is understood, it can be levelled

– Levelling the ‘pulse’ highlights missed beats, and therefore opportunities to eliminate

them

• Without a ‘pulse’ everyone has their own pace:– …some of which may actually satisfy customer demand

– An hour lost on a bottleneck operation is an hour lost across the entire value stream

• Every Part Every Day (EPED) and single-piece flow force all the right

actions and lean tool usage, but not vice-versa.



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Always look to the long term

• Duh– BUT, this is not a ‘catch all’ in case the rest of the Values and Behaviours don’t

apparently apply

• In a lean organisation, long term vision ≠ sustainability, new market

development, trend capitalisation, etc.– These don’t resonate much with value-adding team members

• Focus deeply on the process, not on the destination, or the outcome

• Constant attention must be on value-adding activities:– Map and profoundly understand the value stream at least once per quarter

– “Wash your hands three times every day”

– ‘Just for now’ is how most waste gets created in the first place

– Celebrate gains!



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Go, see and study

• The coalface (the gemba) is the only place where value is created:– Improvement can never take place in a boardroom, or a classroom

– Changing the fit, form or function of material or information is what customers pay for

– Everything else is non-value-adding waste

• Actual facts cannot be known until you’ve been to the gemba

• So problems cannot be solved until you’ve been to the gemba

• How often are leaders/managers spotted at the gemba?– How long are they spending there? Are they observing what’s actually happening?

– Are they asking patient, intelligent and humble questions so that they can learn about

the operation they’re actually in charge of?

– Are they documenting key findings for reference or future tangible actions that will

help reduce or eliminate waste?



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Challenge the status quo

• If it ain’t broke, go find out why, because it’s probably hiding waste

• Processes not consciously developed simply ‘come together’ over time:– They generally start off simple and quick; they get the immediate job done

– But when problems occur, as they do, bandages are applied ‘just for now’

– Promises/threats to permanently countermeasure the problem go unfulfilled

– As the ‘problem/bandage’ cycle continues to repeat, processes get slower each time

– Process documentation = “the way we’ve always done it” = sacred cows.

• Ask “why?” five times to get to the true root cause

• Sacred cows make the best burgers.



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Respect the individual

• People want to do the right thing

• Unfortunately, they’re stuck working in broken or non-existent processes– Always blame the process (or lack thereof), NEVER the person

– It’s always the 5 Whys?, NEVER the 5 Whos?

– This can be painful!

• Don’t forget that managers and leaders are people too:– They also want to do the right thing, but they may need to change their approach -

– Asking “how many more could you make in an hour” does not give or get respect

– Asking “what about your job irritates you?,” and actually fixing those irritations, does.



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Work as a team

• Teamwork is the only way a lean organisation works

• “No one of us can ever be any smarter than all of us”– You, your engineers and supervisors are NOT the experts. Your team members are

– Focus on coalface problems and irritations to get the most benefit

– Teams need to be truly cross-functional

– Attack every problem every day with teams, banish solo artists

• Teams should communicate progress status daily

• A structured problem solving methodology needs to be in place first!



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Kaizen (continuous improvement)

• Zen = ‘good,’ kai = ‘change’

• Every person, every day. Because things can always be better

• Small, laser-focussed improvement efforts:– Making work life just $10 easier, every day

– Duration: 15 minutes to 3 days each

– Cost: $10 to $250 each (not including labour)

• It’s a volume game; a suggestion box in the canteen won’t work!

• Don’t waste time or effort evaluating kaizen before implementation – all

kaizen are chances to improve, and more importantly, to learn

• Carrots + sticks + time + standardisation = kaizen.



5. Always look to the long term.4. Level out all activities across the available time.3. Pull material and work as it is needed.2. Never pass on poor quality to the next process.

Lean Company Values1. Work in a standardised and safe way.

Lean Behaviours

5. Kaizen (continuous improvement).4. Work as a team.3. Respect the individual. 2. Challenge the status quo. 1. Go, see and study.

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Values & Behaviours vs. Lean Tools

• Yes, there are specific lean tools to help us pull material and work as we

need it, as well as to prevent passing on poor quality

• But there are NO lean tools, however, to help or force us to work as a

team, to respect individuals or to look to the long term. There are none

that make us undertake kaizen or challenge the status quo

• This is the crucial difference between lean Values and Behaviours and

lean tools; the Values and Behaviours provide the “how?” and “why?”

The lean tools are simply the “what”

• The lean toolbox isn’t full yet

• Don’t go picking up spanners to pound in screws!



First, understand ‘why,’ then ‘how’ and finally ‘what’:

Where we can go from here

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OrganisationVision

OrganisationVisionWHY?

Values

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Values

Beh

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HOW?

Tool

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Tool

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WHAT?

Notice, however, that the stick figure isn’t whistling. It’s still a lot of work. But the way forward will always be clear when Values and Behavioursguide every decision every day.



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Thank You

Q&A

Documents

Lean Values & Behaviours - afivictoria.org.au · Complete Lean Solutions Lean Values & Behaviours. 1 ... (the gemba) is the only place ... form or function of material or information