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04/09/2012 11:04 AM
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I work in a courier business where there are no Continuous Improvement activities. There is constant fire fighting and parcels accumulate in the shop floor. Neither the leadership nor shop floor personnel have exposure to Continuous improvement activities. They are just busy with their day to day fire fighting. What would be a good starting point to implement Lean in such an environment?
Sandeep Mohan
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04/09/2012 02:50 PM
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What is your target condition?
You need to "paint a picture" of how your process is working today and compare that to what it should look like. This can be done by using the A3 method or by creating a Value Stream Map. Either one will help expose the chaos that you are living with every day.
5S is another good starting point. This will begin by organizing the work place and ultimately helping you to create Standard Work. Ohno said "Where there is no standard, there can be no Kaizen".
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04/09/2012 02:50 PM
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Sandeep,
The very first step in solving a problem is for somebody - hopefully in management - to admit they actually have a problem.
Tom
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04/10/2012 02:35 PM
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Sandeep, the assumption appears to be that there is or are one or more problems that someone, such as supervisors or department management or top management, would like to see corrected ASAP (As Soon As Possible). Somebody in supervision or middle or top management should recognize that these problems exist and then assign responsibility to one or more individuals to resolve them, otherwise it willl never happen.
This situation sounds more like a typical problem solving exercise rather than a Lean application. For example, the situation is that too many parcels accumulate in the shop floor which results in problems such as lost or missplaced items, possible product damage through excess handling, delays in locating items and delivering them on time, extra storage space required, customer complaints on poor deliveries, etc.
Once the specific problems to be resolved have been identified and personnel selected to be responsibe for resolving them, then typical problem solving procedures can be used. It doesn't require a Lean approach although a few Lean tools and techniques can be used if appropriate.
My suggestion is to not blow the problem out of proportion to what it is by indicating that a Lean program is required to solve it. Simple problem solving techniques can solve this problem very easily I suspect.
Sam Tomas
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04/10/2012 02:35 PM
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Tom,
Very well said. I was actually just a minute ago having the exact same conversation with my manager.
Sandeep,
There are many methods you can use to prove there is a problem but the best method is to 'help' the management to see the problem. If you tell them there is a problem they are likely to become defensive and see you as challenging them.
What is your position in the company?
Jason.
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04/11/2012 11:36 AM
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Don't forget that every problem is really an opportunity. I don't know if trying to convince your management that they have a problem is a very good idea. If you can explain/show them that there is tremendous opportunity, however, you may have a chance. You need to show them the low hanging fruit and explain to them what removing the low hanging fruit would mean to their bottom line. Then I think you actually have to put your own reputation on the line and volunteer to make change happen yourself. You need to be able to show him/her progress in an area in order to make your manager a believer.
If you can see the waste (and it sounds like you can), the only way to show the waste to management is to document its existence and then eliminate it. The results should explain themselves.
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08/28/2012 11:36 AM
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Find the source of problem and try to find the reason behind it. You must form a strategy to implement Kaizen in the company and measure them at regular interval and force people to accept those strategies.
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