Page 171 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

How to Implement Lean—The Pr escription for the Lean Pr oject 149

• The educational evaluation of the workforce.
• Specific value stream evaluations, as detailed in Chap. 7.

These evaluations, and the countermeasures, then create a huge list of kaizen activi-
ties that can be included in a Gantt chart or an appropriate project planning and track-
ing tool. We can then evaluate and determine completion dates for kaizen activities in
the project, set specific goals for the value stream, prioritize the activities, and implement
the kaizen activities. Almost always, our first two goals will be to implement finished
goods inventory to protect the supply to the customer and to implement our jidoka con-
cept. Finally, we will present this to management for review, and once reviewed and
accepted, we will begin to immediately eliminate the waste.

Appendix A—The Second Commitment Evaluation
of Management Commitment

The Process of the Second Commitment Evaluation
The second commitment evaluation should be done in a facilitated session, which your
sensei should be capable of facilitating. It is not unusual to take a full day for this evalu-
ation and problem-solving session.
As preparation for this session, make sure each manager has a copy of The Five
Tests of Management Commitment to a Lean Initiative. In addition, ask them to do a
personal evaluation, and also an evaluation of the management group as a whole. When
you ask them to do these evaluations, tell them the results from the tests are personal
and will not be shared.
What you want to do is uncover the issues, frame the issues into problems, and
begin the problem solving to eliminate the issues. Actually, most of the issues will be
known, but most will be difficult for people to discuss and bring out in the open. We
find that once the problems are on the table, 70 percent of them solve themselves. How-
ever, you will also find that some problems are more difficult to solve.
The agenda could be something like:

1. Group icebreaker on teamwork.
2. Break into small groups of five to seven and ask each group to answer the
question, “What is commitment?” You and the sensei should move from group
to group to make sure they are on track. Give them about 15 minutes for this
exercise. This is for the small group’s purpose only.
3. Follow this by bringing everyone together in a group discussion facilitated by
the sensei about “How do we measure commitment?” This must be done in a
“spin-around” brainstorming session using strict brainstorming rules. Document
this discussion and all subsequent steps on flipcharts that you will post on the
walls of the meeting room. Beyond posting the flipcharts, nothing more needs
to be done with this session. Very likely, you will want a break here.
4. Again facilitated by the sensei, do a brainstorm of, “What are our problems with
commitment?”, or tackle a similar question. Document all the comments,
concerns, and issues on flipcharts and post them. Make no effort at this point to
discuss, validate, or reduce the list in any form. Just let it sit there. I cannot