Page 105 - Lean six sigma demystified

84 Lean Six Sigma DemystifieD

Less space, less time, less inventory, fewer defects. Is it any wonder Toyota
makes more profit than the big three automakers combined?

Lean Organization

The truly Lean plant has two key organizational features.
1. It transfers the maximum number of tasks and responsibilities to the work-
ers actually adding value to the product.
2. It has in place a system for detecting defects that quickly traces every
problem once discovered, to its ultimate cause.

The authors state “Lean production is a superior way for humans to make
things. It provides better products in wider variety at lower cost. Equally
important, it provides more challenging and fulfilling work for employees at
every level, from the factory to headquarters. The whole world should adopt
Lean production, and as quickly as possible.”
GM and the other mass-production automobile manufacturers in the world
have had decades to pick up this ball and run with it. Unfortunately, when you
fall behind in the Lean Six Sigma game, it’s hard to catch up. A recent issue of
the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) newsletter, Actionline, has an
article that argues that Embracing Heavy-Truck “Boutique” model could lure buy-
ers back to showrooms. Has this guy checked out the rising cost of gasoline?
The main barrier to Lean Six Sigma, as far as I can tell, isn’t the methods or
tools, but the thickness of the human skull. As one prospect told me at a recent
trade show, “We won’t do it [Lean Six Sigma] until they force us to do it.” Jobs
continue to migrate offshore and downsized employees continue to whine, but
they don’t seem to realize that this culture of incompetence is a huge part of
the problem.
It Won’t Work for Me

In the beginning, everyone resisted kanban [Lean], because it seemed to contradict
conventional wisdom. It took 10 years to establish kanban at Toyota.
—Taiichi Ohno

Eighty percent of U.S. workers are employed in services, 19% in manufacturing,
and 1% in agriculture. Maybe this is why so many people tell me that Lean Six
Sigma is just for manufacturing. It doesn’t work for services. Hospital workers
tell me it works for inpatients, but not outpatients. No matter who I talk to,