Page 24 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

What Is the Perspective of This Book? 5

inventory, and attacking waste of all kinds. Furthermore, he displays myriad charts,
tables, and graphs that make the TPS truly sound like the formula for reaching the
promised land of manufacturing. He speaks of management commitment, employee
involvement, employee empowerment, and quality of work life, including a renewed
emphasis on training and leadership, and goes on and on and on. Everyone is enthralled
not only by the presentation but also by the energy with which it is delivered.
And then one salty old engineer in the back row raises his hand and asks a question.
“I have read a little about Lean, and as I see it, the effort is about making better products
using fewer resources. Is that it?”
The moderator is pleased and responds with an energetic “Yes!”
The salty old engineer then says, “Well, the thought of being more involved and
more empowered is quite appealing. However, I have a problem with this effort since
you are asking me to be more empowered and more involved in reducing the company’s
resources—of which I am one. So I am not sure why I should be too excited.”
This is usually followed by some clearing of the throats and some really good danc-
ing around the subject by the LIC. But once on the table, the topic sits there like the
Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland, until it gets resolved. And if your history includes
prior “improvement programs” that led to layoffs, there is some serious explaining to
do. Quite frankly, there are ways to deal with this issue, but they are not easy or kind.
They are just less mean than continuing to misrepresent the truth.
So now the problem is out in the open and the question is, “How do you get the
support of these people to make changes when the changes will involve some of them
losing their jobs?” The answer is, if that is all you do, you cannot get their support and
you are now in real trouble.
Contrast this typical culture to the culture of an already Lean facility like Toyota.
They simply do not have this problem because they have worked on their culture for as
long as they have existed as a company. It was part of the genius of the Toyoda family
(founders of the Toyota Industries Corporation) that they understood the importance of
the culture and worked to mold it from the beginning. In addition, they recognized the
need to provide job security and almost guarantee employees a job for life. With this
history and the emphasis on job security, no one in Toyota need ask the question posed
by the salty old engineer. So, for the Toyota manager, creating change is not such an
antagonistic issue. To reach this point in your own Lean facility is possible, but the road
is neither easy nor short. However, beyond a doubt, developing a culture like Toyota’s
is a worthwhile task.
Nevertheless, do not underestimate the need to manage these issues in a typical
culture here. When it comes to cultural change, reshaping the culture to not only toler-
ate but support and promote change is the biggest issue of all in the area of cultural
change and is often the place to start if you want to
begin making conscious changes to the culture.
All of these cultural skills (which are apparent
Point of Clarity The things
within the TPS) are, in the final analysis, the aspects
that separate the TPS from other manufacturing sys- which make the TPS unique
tems. All these skills require a strong, healthy, and among Lean Companies, are
well-developed culture. This development takes a not technical in nature, rather
great deal of time, effort, and management skill, but it is how Toyota has been able
it does not come quickly or easily. It is these cultural to manage the culture.
aspects that make the TPS almost unique.