| Imagine a world where you could take the Lean Tools | | | | 3. Manage the Change: |
| and simplify them for the common man. So many | | | | Spend your time engaging people. Do not go for the |
| Lean Practitioners are quick to tell you how many | | | | big bang, organization wide communication strategy, |
| years they have studied Lean and how important it is | | | | where you blanket every wall and toilet door with a |
| to only utilize experienced consultants. But what if you | | | | change poster but rather implement a low key change |
| don't work for a company that is rolling out an | | | | management approach where you get results first and |
| Enterprise Wide Lean Deployment? What if your | | | | then convert people along the way. |
| business doesn't have a culture or philosophy of | | | | 4. Focus on the biggest problems using the FOCUS |
| improvement? Can you still implement the principles of | | | | methodology. |
| Lean? | | | | Use your Lean Experts to Value Stream the Business, |
| The answer is YES YES and YES if you FOCUS. | | | | but train the Lean Project Managers in FOCUS. A |
| This article will demonstrate how to experience | | | | structured approach to Lean that takes the Lean |
| pockets of excellence using the FOCUS methodology | | | | Tools and simplifies them for the regular project |
| for Lean. A method aimed at simplifying lean and | | | | manager. Let your Project Managers run Lean |
| making it palatable to the new practitioner. | | | | FOCUS projects to solve the problems identified within |
| None of us operate in a perfect environment. As we | | | | the Value Stream. |
| have seen from the latest crisis, even Toyota makes | | | | In the FOCUS method the acronym stands for Focus, |
| mistakes. It doesn't mean that as an individual or an | | | | Operate, Create, Utilize, and Sustain. |
| organization you should miss out on the power of | | | | Based on your working knowledge of the problem you |
| utilizing lean to streamline your business processes. | | | | begin in Focus where you initiate your charter and |
| THE FOCUS METHODOLOGY | | | | business case. Then you move into Operate where |
| The FOCUS™ Methodology gives a structured | | | | you go to the source of the problem and collect |
| approach to initiating and managing Lean projects in a | | | | relevant information, map the current state and |
| transactional and manufacturing environment. Where | | | | diagnose the problem. In Create you look for |
| Six Sigma focuses on reducing defects, Lean looks at | | | | opportunities to reduce waste and develop the future |
| reducing waste and improving flow in an organization. | | | | state and in UTILIZE, you utilize the solution, assessing |
| A Lean business produces just what is needed, when | | | | the risks, and tweaking the process. SUSTAIN is about |
| it is needed with no additional labor, costs or time, | | | | sustaining the gains, error proofing the process and |
| resulting in bottom line savings. Many manufacturing | | | | managing process performance. |
| organizations have embraced this Lean process | | | | To demonstrate these four principles let me tell you |
| philosophy while their transactional processes remain | | | | about implementing Lean in a huge Parastatal. A |
| inefficient. | | | | company with many challenges yet they were able to |
| Here are the key elements to implementing Lean on a | | | | achieve results in pockets of the business where the |
| small scale. | | | | conditions were right. |
| 1. Find Pockets of Excellence: | | | | The approach was to find pockets of excellence. The |
| Find the golden nuggets of opportunity, where people | | | | Lean Team ran Value Stream Mapping Exercises in |
| are frustrated with the way things are working. Value | | | | the business to identify the areas of greatest need |
| Stream Map the High Level Process and identify the | | | | and opportunity. Certain Leaders were amazed at the |
| constraints and areas requiring improvement. | | | | results and engaged in the process. The Lean Project |
| Demonstrate Results and soon you will have people | | | | Managers were trained first on Change Management |
| wanting what you have created. | | | | and then on the FOCUS Methodology for Lean. This |
| 2. Get the Leadership Involved: | | | | enabled them to approach the projects in a structured |
| Work with the Leaders to Value Stream the business. | | | | and effective manner. In the first 3 months, the |
| They will be so shocked and impressed at this novel | | | | company realized over $3 M of savings. |
| view of their business that it will create buy in. Where it | | | | Lean is to Business what the Internet is to computing. If |
| does not create buy in or gain support of the Leaders | | | | you are not on it, you are missing the boat. So you |
| - MOVE ON. You will be banging your head against a | | | | may not be Henry Ford or Edwards Deming but you |
| brick wall and the solutions will not be sustainable | | | | can get results with Lean FOCUS. |
| without the Leaders involvement. | | | | |