Page 57 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

38 Cha pte r T w o

• Second, short lot lead times translate into quicker deliveries with improved
cash flow.
• Third, the ability to quote shorter lead times is a power weapon to acquire
future business.

Lean Applicability: The Service Sector
The third and even larger negative effect that reduces the applicability of Lean is seen
when the business is not manufacturing, but instead is typical service sector work such
as that of a hotel, restaurant, or hospital. Service sector work has at least two very large
problems.

• First, but less important, is the demand instability a typical service sector
business must deal with. Seldom do they have the stability of the tier 1 automobile
supplier. Sometimes doctor’s offices and dentist’s offices have a fairly stable
demand rate, but they are the exception rather than the rule in the service sector.
Compare them to the comings and goings of customers at the typical hotel or
restaurant.
• Second, and more importantly, unlike manufacturing, the service sector has a
paucity of specifications. The time it takes to check in at a hotel, get served at a
restaurant, and get your oil changed have no real specification. Consequently,
the metrics of the service sector are often up for grabs, and it becomes very
difficult to measure the quality. Do not forget that the foundation of Lean
Manufacturing is good quality. It is hard to build on a foundation that barely
exists.

So How Should We Proceed When We Have to Deal with These Effects?
All of this is interesting, at best, and possibly contrary to progress, at worst. Those who
ask about the applicability of Lean are often looking for the “correct formula” to remedy
their ills. All too often, they are trying to find a simple, proven, ready-made solution to
what are often complicated problems. It’s sad to say, but there is no ready-made formula;
there is no “silver bullet” to solve these ills.
By developing the TPS, Ohno obviously found his remedy, and using the same
logic, you too will need to find your solution—and do this by using his logic, which
may or may not mean you will end up using his tools of improvement.
Ohno said the “TPS was developed out of necessity.” My advice to you is this: Find
your own necessity and then develop what you need to, for your unique circumstances.
And keep in mind that although the TPS may not apply totally to your situation, I am
equally sure that some of it will.
However, if you, for the moment, ignore the TPS itself and instead focus on the logic
and method that Ohno used to create the TPS, you will find how to apply his method
to your situation. In other words, you will find “your necessity” and then with some of
the following:

• Good old-fashioned hard work
• Sound logic