Feature Article

The Lean Principle: What Perfection Meansto Businesses on this Journeyby Christopher D. Chapman, ClMS, RIT

Whether you have been pursuing The Lean Principlefor more than a decade, like myself, or are just get-ting started, you have probably grappled with just

how far to take your continuous improvement program. Howgood is good enough? The answer is Perfection, one of the keyprinciples of Lean.

~ PerfectionMany companies have studied the Toyota Production System (TPS)with the intent of replicating it in their business. However, they findthe principles of Lean are easy to grasp in the classroom but proveto be difficult to implement and sustain in the field, according toTaiichi Ohno, former vice president of manufacturing for Toyota.

To truly understand the principle of perfection, one must under-stand the environment that gave birth to this standard. Lean (i.e.TPS) was born of Toyota'sdesperate attempt to catch up with Amer-ican automotive industries after World War II. Lean was theiranswer to the problem of increasing productivity and reducing cost.More than four decades later, Lean is still a proven practice at Toy-ota that has not only closed the gap but also catapulted it beyondmany of its American automotive competitors.

Perfection, or the belief that there should be unending improve-ment, is deeply ingrained in the Japanese mentality. This mindset isapparent in the slogan for Toyota's flagship Lexus line: "We pursueperfection so you can pursue living:' The line is more than justcatchy marketing; it represents the principle of perfection that per-meates through all functions of Toyota. Part of the difficulty thatcompanies face in trying to duplicate Lean in their businesses is thatmany managers do not understand the principle of perfection andthe mindset required to pursue this elusive ideal.

~(jui~o~nL- _To truly understand this principle is to understand what Jim Wom-ack, the author of Lean Thinking, meant when he said, this journey(toward perfection) never ends.' Before a company embarks on itsLean journey, it is important that the leaders of the organizationponder this notion of perfection and what it truly means. Womackdefined perfection as the complete elimination of "mud a;' or unnec-

essary activities or waste, so that all activities along the value streamcreate value.' The value stream is comprised of all the actionsrequired to bring a product from conception to launch and fromorder to delivery. So what does this mean; complete elimination ofwaste? Envision zero defects, 100 percent on-time delivery, noequipment setups, no work-in-process (WIP) no inventory, and noquality complaints! While reaching such a goal is a never-endingjourney, the Toyotas of the world pursue it anyway.

The late Soichiro Honda of Honda Motors asserted that manage-ment's role is to make a constant effort to provide better products atlower prices.' In essence, not a day should go by without some kindof improvement being made somewhere in the company. The con-tinuous improvement strategy under the Perfection Principle is asystems approach and problem-solving tool aimed at realizing thisgoal. Mature Lean companies foster process-oriented thinking inemployees and develop strategies that assure continuous improve-ment involving people at all levels of the organization.

The journey toward perfection isnever ending.

At Toyota, evidence of this mentality is found in the millions ofemployee suggestions generated every year,with an adoption rate ofover 90 percent.' By contrast, many non-Lean companies' sugges-tion programs are dormant and ineffective.

Christopher O.Chapman is a senior program manager at the Center for Excelience in lean Enterprise atthe Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies at the Rochester Institute ofTechnology. Heearneda bachelor's degree in business administration from Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville,N.C.,and is

a certified Management BlackBelt.

International Imaging Technology Council Imaging Spectrum 39November 2006

Kaizen (Ky'zen)In a Lean culture, a process called "kaizen" drives the continuousimprovement transformation toward perfection. In his book,Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success, Masaaki Imai defineskaizen as "ongoing improvement involving everyone-top manage-ment, managers, and workers:' He also states that "kaizen strategy isthe single most important concept in management-the key tocompetitive success:'

It is important to note many managers often have a very narrow per-spective on kaizen. This myopia is due in part to the view that kaizenis primarily used as an industrial engineering tool. For many, kaizenis a focused event with a cross-functional team, tasked to resolve aspecific problem or to achieve a specific company goal in a shorttimeframe. For example, a typical kaizen event may starton Monday and extend through Wednesdaywith a core team of employees dismantlingand redesigning the workspace. Whilethis limited use can be effective,kaizen is a rich concept that ismuch more than just a short-term, immediate improve-ment tool. Lean companiesdo not talk about kaizen insuch a narrow context.They recognize kaizen asa strategy in the pursuit ofperfection. Imai describes"kaizen as the basic philo-sophical underpinning forthe best in management,"

involved in kaizen. At many companies all kaizen activities anresponsibilities are funneled through one person or group, such asLean manager or a continuous improvement team, who is respon '-ble for getting everyone else on board.

A vast array of forces can reduce the effectiveness of Leprocesses even in committed companies. Lean coordination isimpossible task when the top management does not understanthe ideal of perfection and how to align the rest of the organiza-tion to this vision. In addition, while Lean managers devoteleast 50 percent of their attention to kaizen, their non-Lean coun-terparts are still struggling to do one or two kaizen events eayear. Many new Lean managers view kaizen as an "add -on" to run-ning the business. Consequently, they have difficulty making (

for it and process improvement is very slow. Managewho do not "get it" are not able to effectiv

lead their improvement teams and experi-ence lack-luster results. Furthermore

employees never become engagin the methodology and the-

Lean initiatives usually fizout as just another "program-of-the-month" that has fall-en by the wayside.

~~~h~jf~t _As a teacher, consulta -and student of-Lean atCenter for Excellence

Lean Enterprise at RochesterInstitute of Technology, -

believe that every employee incompany can contribute some-

thing to improve the business,Kaizen builds on this fundamen

truth. But, before top managers can leactheir workers to a higher level of performan

they must first set a higher goal in their own minrecommend perfection. In pursuit of perfection, manage_

should remember their leadership roles in developing a supportiveculture cascading more responsibilities to their workers an-practicing tolerance of minor failures as people try their bestimplement kaizen. Increasingly, employee confidence and tr

will grow to a level that accelerates the transformation towarcperfection. Enjoy the journey! I

References:'M. Rother & J. Shook, "Learning to See;' The Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., 1999.

'J. Womack and D. Jones, "Lean Thinking;' The Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., 1996.

'M. Imai, "Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success:' The Kaizen Institute, Ltd., I

'K. Suzaki, "The New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvemen:The Free Press, 1987.

A Toyota representative onceshared with me that the termkaizen is used as a verb at the com-pany. Everyone in the company isexpected to kaizen. Companies that do notunderstand the kaizan philosophy struggle toallocate time for "kaizen -ing" when it essentially should be the waythey do business.

The Cultural ExcuseSome will argue that the TPS management practice cannot work inWestern companies because of cultural differences. However, I ammore inclined to agree with Imai that the issue is not one of nation-ality but one of mentality.

Lean companies routinely expect managers to devote at least 50 per-cent of their attention to kaizen. At these companies, managers areconstantly looking for ways to improve in-house systems and proce-dures, and their involvement in kaizens extends to fields such aslabor-management relations, marketing practices and supplier rela-tions. Middle managers, supervisors and workers are also actively

40 Imaging Spectrum "'" November 2006 *' International Imaging Technology Council * www.i-itc.org