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Lessons from a Lean Consultant: Avoiding Lean Implementation Failures on the Shop Floor
Making Lean Work: "In-the-Trenches" Help from a World-Class Expert
Lean manufacturing can improve productivity and quality, shorten lead times, reduce costs, and improve competitiveness. However, succeeding with lean is not easy. Chris A. Ortiz, one of the country's most respected lean implementers, shows you exactly how to overcome obstacles, drive value from lean, and sustain success for the long term.
Ortiz draws on his experience leading many successful lean transitions and more than 150 kaizen events. He shows you how to prepare for a lean shop floor environment, implement best practice procedures and standards, build executive support, lead kaizen within the factory, and deal with the ups and downs you will inevitably encounter.
Forget theory: This is a step-by-step, what-to-do guide for professionals in the trenches--plant and engineering managers, lean managers and directors, Six Sigma practitioners, and working engineers.
Topics covered include
Seven reasons lean can fail--and how to overcome them Establishing successful kaizen programs: champions, events, teams, goals, tracking, and scheduling Avoiding early stumbling blocks in data collection, waste removal, and process design Getting your operators and supervisors to "buy into" lean Training managers, engineers, and new employees Promoting flexibility and cross-training Using lean to drive growth, not just save money Lean leadership made simple: twelve practical techniques, five simple rules--and ten things not to do Sample audit, tracking, and time study forms
Lean manufacturing can improve productivity and quality, shorten lead times, reduce costs, and improve competitiveness. However, succeeding with lean is not easy. Chris A. Ortiz, one of the country's most respected lean implementers, shows you exactly how to overcome obstacles, drive value from lean, and sustain success for the long term.
Ortiz draws on his experience leading many successful lean transitions and more than 150 kaizen events. He shows you how to prepare for a lean shop floor environment, implement best practice procedures and standards, build executive support, lead kaizen within the factory, and deal with the ups and downs you will inevitably encounter.
Forget theory: This is a step-by-step, what-to-do guide for professionals in the trenches--plant and engineering managers, lean managers and directors, Six Sigma practitioners, and working engineers.
Topics covered include
Seven reasons lean can fail--and how to overcome them Establishing successful kaizen programs: champions, events, teams, goals, tracking, and scheduling Avoiding early stumbling blocks in data collection, waste removal, and process design Getting your operators and supervisors to "buy into" lean Training managers, engineers, and new employees Promoting flexibility and cross-training Using lean to drive growth, not just save money Lean leadership made simple: twelve practical techniques, five simple rules--and ten things not to do Sample audit, tracking, and time study forms
176 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 6, 2022
Increasing global competition has led many business leaders to implement Lean methodologies to drive operational improvement and deliver increased customer satisfaction. However, not all business leaders have been successful in sustaining Lean implementation with the majority failing within the first three years. In addition, the challenge related to implementing Lean in multi-national companies is exacerbated by the cultural differences associated with the various business units involved. Recent research has suggested that business leaders who have sustained their Lean implementations have utilized specific behaviors to do so. This book shows us a small portion of these behaviors in deep detail with the root causes of teeny things that lead to unsuccessful of the lean journey in the operation.
A high percentage of companies have failed to sustain their Lean implementation. An inherent challenge in implementing these programs domestically and internationally is that every location is different with variations in culture, language, size, history, technology, labor situation, and other circumstances. These variations can become a barrier to the effective implementation of Lean and may greatly limit its effectiveness This is especially true in multi-national companies where efforts to effectively communicate and standardize are exacerbated by the variation in culture, language, and social norms. This inability to sustain the Lean implementation represents an important gap in current business practices. This challenge is made more difficult within multinational companies when leaders failed to adjust their implementation strategies and tactics to account for cultural differences. Several potential solutions for closing this business practice gap identified in the literature involve the behaviors of the organizational leader. effective leadership is critical to the
successful implementation of Lean methodologies and several key functions must be well understood by leaders. A few of the fundamental leadership behaviors include communication of the need for change, clear and consistent communication of the organization’s vision, and long-term commitment, leaders must recognize and accommodate differences in competence levels and time pressure tolerance to successfully manage in a multi-national company.
Sustained Lean implementation is largely dependent upon the behaviors of the associated leaders. leadership is not only important but is the most critical factor in the implementation of Lean. This proposition was based on several supporting factors: Lean implementation must be driven by the organization's leadership team as they provide a sense of purpose; set and communicate the vision, strategy, and continuous improvement goals; encourage and facilitate the integration of all infrastructure and people within the organization; assign resources; and inspire an organization to bring out the best in its people. Leadership that fails to lead and embrace the Lean implementation would inevitably interrupt or derail the effort.
The most important behaviors for leaders implementing Lean are those that support management commitment, cultural change, linking Lean to business strategy, and empowerment. Additionally, management support and communication are the two most important behavior categories affecting the success of a Lean implementation. Overall, the five most consistently referenced categories of leadership behavior were management commitment, cultural change, empowerment, communication, and linkage to business strategy.
The book stat a lot of technical tools and shows the missing and the misused of some tools that lead to improper lean implementation.
I like the book too much it reflects realistic arguments that cause all resources to be lost without result.
Change management also was part of the difficult stage that need to flow and sustain.
A high percentage of companies have failed to sustain their Lean implementation. An inherent challenge in implementing these programs domestically and internationally is that every location is different with variations in culture, language, size, history, technology, labor situation, and other circumstances. These variations can become a barrier to the effective implementation of Lean and may greatly limit its effectiveness This is especially true in multi-national companies where efforts to effectively communicate and standardize are exacerbated by the variation in culture, language, and social norms. This inability to sustain the Lean implementation represents an important gap in current business practices. This challenge is made more difficult within multinational companies when leaders failed to adjust their implementation strategies and tactics to account for cultural differences. Several potential solutions for closing this business practice gap identified in the literature involve the behaviors of the organizational leader. effective leadership is critical to the
successful implementation of Lean methodologies and several key functions must be well understood by leaders. A few of the fundamental leadership behaviors include communication of the need for change, clear and consistent communication of the organization’s vision, and long-term commitment, leaders must recognize and accommodate differences in competence levels and time pressure tolerance to successfully manage in a multi-national company.
Sustained Lean implementation is largely dependent upon the behaviors of the associated leaders. leadership is not only important but is the most critical factor in the implementation of Lean. This proposition was based on several supporting factors: Lean implementation must be driven by the organization's leadership team as they provide a sense of purpose; set and communicate the vision, strategy, and continuous improvement goals; encourage and facilitate the integration of all infrastructure and people within the organization; assign resources; and inspire an organization to bring out the best in its people. Leadership that fails to lead and embrace the Lean implementation would inevitably interrupt or derail the effort.
The most important behaviors for leaders implementing Lean are those that support management commitment, cultural change, linking Lean to business strategy, and empowerment. Additionally, management support and communication are the two most important behavior categories affecting the success of a Lean implementation. Overall, the five most consistently referenced categories of leadership behavior were management commitment, cultural change, empowerment, communication, and linkage to business strategy.
The book stat a lot of technical tools and shows the missing and the misused of some tools that lead to improper lean implementation.
I like the book too much it reflects realistic arguments that cause all resources to be lost without result.
Change management also was part of the difficult stage that need to flow and sustain.
February 12, 2009
Interesting read, though since I want to apply lean to software development and not to manufacturing, I probably would have been better off sticking with software-development books, even if they were about agile rather than specifically about lean.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews