Page 306 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

The Pr ecursors to Lean Not Handled Well 283

appearance. 5S was mature and cells were set up neatly with visual information centers.
Centralized materials handling was in place and, quite frankly, from a visual stand-
point the plant had the appearance of being Lean. However, as can now be seen, the
plant was anything but Lean. When we helped them solve these problems, it uncovered
issues that should not have been lingering in a mature line after four years of Lean
efforts.
Still, the killer issue was that they actually thought
they were Lean.
“In the choice between
Another serious issue should be remembered as
well. The entire plant, especially management, refused changing one’s mind and prov-
ing there’s no reason to do so,
to “see” many of the problems. During our work
there, it was obvious that many of the issues had ear- most people get busy on the
lier been “seen” by a number of staff, but there was a proof. ”
marked reluctance to bring them up, as if by ignor- John Kenneth Galbraith
ing the problem, it would politely stay in the closet.
Unfortunately, these problems have a way of surfac-
“Opportunity is missed
ing and resurfacing. In this case, the problems found
the light of day when an opportunity arose to increase by most people because it is
capacity and make money. dressed in overalls and looks
Like ABC Widgets management, we would all be like work. ”
well advised to listen to the wisdom of those from the Thomas Edison
past. It is the wisdom quoted earlier in the preface:
The lesson of ABC Widgets is that there are no shortcuts to becoming Lean. We
must

• Address the fundamental issues to any cultural change initiative.
• Take care of the foundational issues of quality control.
• Implement quantity control measures.
This must be done to make our facility a securer and better money-making machine.