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292 Cha pte r Ni netee n
5. Are you willing to ask, answer, and act on the question: “How can I make this
facility more flexible, more responsive, and more competitive? (We must be
inquisitive, and be willing to listen to all personnel, including peers, superiors,
and subordinates alike, no matter how painful it may be, and then be willing
and able to make the needed changes.)
A “Yes” to all five questions means you have passed the commitment tests. Any “No”
answer means there is an opportunity for management improvement.
The Ten Most Common Reasons Lean Initiatives Fail (in Part or Totally)
1. The facility really does not understand what a Lean initiative is—and more
specifically, they do not understand the concepts of quantity control.
2. Management has not developed a rational, experience-based, sequential plan
for implementation.
3. The company does not have facilitywide goals that properly promote Lean.
4. Management is not really committed to making it successful—in other words,
they cannot pass the five questions in the Commitment Test.
5. Unreliable raw materials suppliers.
6. Inadequate understanding of process management, especially process stability,
process capability, process bottlenecks, and machinery availability.
7. They underestimate the effort required.
8. There is an inadequate understanding of variation and its effects.
9. The planning model for production, usually MRP or something like it, is not
properly managed.
10. The five precursors to Lean are not properly addressed!
The Five Precursors to Implementing a Lean Initiative
There are five major precursors to implementing a Lean initiative. These precursors are
foundational issues that must be in place to make a Lean initiative successful. If they are
not in place at the kickoff of the Lean initiative, it can still proceed; however, these pre-
cursors must be recognized and they must be built into the Lean initiative plan in the
proper sequence (See Table 19-1).
1. High levels of stability and quality in both the product and the processes
2. Excellent machine availability
3. Talented problem solvers, with a deep understanding of variation
4. Mature continuous improvement philosophy
5. Strong proven techniques to standardize