Page 55 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

36 Cha pte r T w o

the execution of a football team during their two-minute drill. That is a very special
application of driving out the wastes in the “process to score a touchdown.” Another
outstanding example is a NASCAR team while it is undergoing a pit stop. Where else
can you see four tires changed, a car fueled up, the windshield washed, and the driver
get a drink in just seconds? Here, every wasted motion is eliminated in the drive to
create the shortest pit stop possible. Or, just because a professional football team is not
a Lean enterprise that doesn’t mean you can’t get a good quality hot dog, with a
minimum wait at the concession stand when you attend the game, even if it costs you
a 500 percent premium. Likewise, just because your hospital is more interested in your
insurance company than they are in you does not mean they can‘t serve their patients a
good meal, on time, or get you to your MRI on time.
Remember that “wherever there is a value stream, Lean principles will apply.” Even
if the top levels of the business of government are driven by large businesses and PACs,
that doesn’t mean you can’t get your driver’s license renewed using a Lean process. In
government, as in all the other examples given, Lean principles may work at some
level—these applications are just limited.
What I am saying, and will repeat to avoid confusion, is that those entities that are
not customer-focused, without a survival motive and without a concerted effort to
reduce waste and provide value to the customer—those entities that do not embrace a
long-term philosophy of growth and service can’t become Lean enterprises, and cannot
become candidates for Lean as a guiding business philosophy until they change. They,
however, can still utilize some of the process management tools of Lean for some of
their internal, particularly lower-level, processes.
However, if the business does meet these criteria, is competitive with a clear cus-
tomer focus on supplying value by driving out waste, and is in it for the long term, does
that mean Lean as a business philosophy will necessarily work for it?
The answer to that question is yes, but to a varying degree due to three basic condi-
tions of the product. Those conditions, when combined, are known as the Lean Stereo-
type. Specifically, the more the business fits the Lean Stereotype, the more it will be able
to utilize the Lean tools in its battle to survive and become more profitable. The Lean
Stereotype is the specific type of business for which the strategies, tactics, and skills of
Lean Manufacturing were developed. Consequently, the more a business approaches
this stereotype, the more the business will be able to directly apply the strategy, tactics,
and skills of the House of Lean.

The Lean Stereotype is a business in:

• Manufacturing
• Discrete parts
• Stable product demand

Lean Applicability: Continuous Process Industries
The first and smallest negative effect on the applicability of Lean is the shift from
discrete parts manufacturing to the continuous process industry. This would include
industries such as petroleum and chemicals manufacturing, food processing, and