Page 167 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

How to Implement Lean—The Pr escription for the Lean Pr oject 145

management do really walk the talk, then no large selling effort is required. Either way,
a mega-effort at selling is generally a waste, hence I do not recommend it.
Rather, I recommend you have two types of Lean introductory training sessions, as
described in the following paragraphs.
First and foremost, an introductory session to management will need to be pre-
pared. This group should be the key decisionmakers, usually what is referred to as “top
management.” This first training is the classic “Who, What, Where, When, Why” train-
ing with special emphasis on the: “What,” which is the House of Lean that was created
with the help of your sensei; and the “Why,” which is the motivating force behind the
effort. This training is often more than a one-day event. It could be the basis for a two-
or three-day retreat for the management team. This group needs to especially under-
stand the House of Lean. The training should include exercises on variation reduction
(the dice game in Chap. 19 works nicely), takt calculations, OEE calculations and line
balancing (for these, my Lean Kit is a great tool and is available at my web site: www.
qc-ep.com). This training session should be hands-on and instructional, and it must
take into account both the present state of the facility and the desired state of the facility.
Change, including the types and amounts of changes needed, should be openly and
honestly discussed. At this point, it is unlikely that all four of the systemwide evalua-
tions of the present state have been done, but still your Lean implementation manager
and your sensei will be able to quantify this concept for the purposes of this training.
The second type of training is informational in nature and should be given to all
employees on all shifts. It should first be given to those reporting to top management,
next supervisors, and then to the general plant population. This is typically a Power-
Point presentation describing the House of Lean and the implementation schedule.
Including ample time for a Q&A session, this usually takes about four hours, and groups
can be as large as 40 and still be effective.

Specific Skills Training
The systemwide evaluations almost always create a very large list of needed training to
teach the strategies, tactics, and Lean skills. The composite list will largely follow
directly from the Five Precursors to a Lean Initiative, which have already been added to
your Gantt chart. In addition, as you do the assessment of each value stream, training
topics will almost surely be found. Once combined, these trainings will almost always
include problem-solving training, training on statistical tools, and facilitation training
for all in leadership positions. In addition, Lean-specific trainings are available in skills
such as line balancing, SMED methodology, takt, and kanban calculations, to name just
a few. It will be necessary to inventory the needed skills and teach them as they are
needed to those using the tools.
Just another word on education and training: It should be focused and JIT. For
example, during the implementation, if you choose to change the plant one value stream
at a time, train just those people involved. Often, it is not that simple and some people
may need to be trained prior to the implementation of their product; it is never perfect.
The point here is to avoid the global mass training of individuals that makes good use
of the training resources, yet provides the training either too early or too late. Efficiency
of the training organization is not of paramount importance when compared to training
effectiveness. If there is long time between the training and the implementation of that
training, a large fraction of the learned material is forgotten. Consequently, it will not be
effective and it is then waste, the very item we are trying to eliminate, not create.
At this point, you can also add these introductory training items to your Gantt chart.