Page 315 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

CHAPTER 19

Assessment Tools

ased on our experiences, which cover over 35 years of implementation efforts, I
have catalogued a number of problems we have encountered in assisting various
Bcompanies in their Lean initiative efforts. I have documented the key issues in
four attachments:
• The Five Tests of Management Commitment to Lean Manufacturing
• The Ten Most Common Reasons Lean Initiatives Fail (in Part or Totally)
• The Five Precursors to Implementing a Lean Initiative
• Process Maturity
My hope is that facilities wishing to implement a Lean initiative will read, digest,
and be guided by these documents. To this end, I hope our experiences will be helpful
to others.

The Five Tests of Management Commitment to Lean Manufacturing
1. Are you actively studying about, and working at, making your facility Leaner
and, hence, more flexible, more responsive, and more competitive? (We must
be intellectually engaged. All must continue to learn. No spectators allowed!)
2. Are you willing to listen to critiques of your facility and then understand and
change those areas in your facility that are not Lean? (We must be intellectually
open.)
3. Do you honestly and accurately assess your responsiveness and competitiveness
on a global basis? (We must be intellectually honest.)
4. Are you totally engaged in the Lean transition with your:
• Time
• Presence
• Management attention
• Support (including manpower, capital, and emotional support)

(We must be engaged at the behavioral level ; we must be doing it. We must be

on the floor, observing and talking to people, and imagining how to do it better.
Lean implementation is not a spectator sport.)

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