{"id":1080,"date":"2014-11-12T16:16:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T21:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2014-11-12T16:37:25","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T21:37:25","slug":"why-lean-initiatives-fail-in-a-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/why-lean-initiatives-fail-in-a-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Lean Initiatives Fail in a Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note from the Editor: This is the first of a series of articles written by Charles\u00a0Intrieri related to Lean Initiatives. \u00a0In the next article,\u00a0Charles\u00a0will review\u00a0Kaizen, Kanban, and Lean\u00a0Six Sigma, along with the benefits of implementing a Lean\u00a0culture. \u00a0You can read his other articles here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

\"121216_statue_fail\"Lean\u00a0initiatives are thought of as the use of tools: 5S, Kaizen\/Continuous Improvement, Kanban, and Lean\u00a0Six Sigma. Some companies march ahead and just teach these tools, certify employees, and implement them.<\/p>\n

Therein lies the big mistake. \u00a0Lean\u00a0is the implementation of a new culture<\/strong>. A new<\/strong> way of life for the company<\/strong>. It has to be in the hearts and minds of everyone in the company, from top management to associates on the shop floor. Top management can\u2019t just finance Lean\u00a0and walk away; and hand it over to Lean\u00a0tool implementers or Master Black Belts to lead the way. Top management has to be educated, get involved, and walk the walk, not talk the talk.<\/p>\n

If top management does not immerse themselves in Lean\u00a0and doesn\u2019t lead the way to a new company culture change, Lean\u00a0will fail.<\/p>\n

How else can Lean\u00a0fail?<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>If you do not have genuine teamwork in the company, Lean\u00a0can also fail. Cross-functional teams are very effective in problem solving, if set up correctly. With Kaizen\/Continuous Improvement, you need cross-functional teams analyzing problems in the company that are constraints for getting value to the customer. Teams use Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA) to answer the why, what, and how questions. They identify the problem, analyze it, ask why it is occurring, implement a solution, check the solution and act by sustaining the elimination of that problem. They write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to eliminate the problem from occurring again.<\/p>\n

Top management begins the Lean\u00a0journey by leading it, attending classes, and getting involved with the implementation of Lean. They re-write their mission statement to focus on Lean, the elimination of all waste in the company, including the office, and bringing value to their customers.<\/p>\n

The seven (7) wastes of LEAN are: Defects, Overproduction, Transportation, Waiting, Inventory, Motion and Processing. But, these are not the most dangerous wastes. Do you know what the <\/em>most dangerous waste is?<\/em> It is the waste that is not found,<\/strong> or not uncovered. Lean\u00a0will fail if you don\u2019t find all the wastes.<\/p>\n

One of the founders of LEAN created the \u201cmagic circle.\u201d<\/strong> He put managers in a circle for one hour or more and they could not leave until they found waste somewhere in the operation. With proper focus they each found waste somewhere. Eliminating waste (called \u201cmuda\u201d) gives you more throughput or velocity to bring value to your customers.<\/p>\n

So where do the tools begin once the culture change is underway, management leads the way, and teamwork versus individualism takes over as a focus in a company?<\/p>\n

The best way to start is by building a structure or organizing. This means starting with implementing 5S. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What is 5S? <\/strong><\/em>It is Sort<\/strong> (sort needed versus unneeded), Straighten<\/strong> (the needed), Shine<\/strong> (Keep the area clean continuously), Standardize<\/strong> (write Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)) and Sustain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Peruse our wide selection of\u00a050+ Lean Methodology frameworks<\/strong><\/a> offered by OEConsulting<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0OEC<\/a>. \u00a0 Topics range from\u00a05S<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Kaizen<\/a> to\u00a0PDCA<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Which 5S segment is more important than the other? Sustain. Why? You don\u2019t want to fall back to your old ways of the informal, unorganized system. It is easy to go back to the old ways of doing things. That is not an option in Lean\u00a0initiatives. \u00a0There is a red tag that you use to point out waste. Use this red tag to mark waste versus non-waste both in the operating floor and in the office. Clear out this waste and dispose of it. Safety will also improve with less waste…<\/p>\n

Another reason Lean\u00a0fails is lack of discipline,<\/strong> or sustaining what you have implemented. Discipline means continuous re-education on Lean, positive and negative reinforcement by management, and continued, cohesive cross-functional teamwork.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Audience participation<\/strong>:<\/span> Do you have any additions\/comments on this first LEAN article? \u00a0Please reply in the comment section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note from the Editor: This is the first of a series of articles written by Charles\u00a0Intrieri related to Lean Initiatives. \u00a0In the next article,\u00a0Charles\u00a0will review\u00a0Kaizen, Kanban, and Lean\u00a0Six Sigma, along with the benefits of implementing a Lean\u00a0culture. \u00a0You can read his other articles here. * * * * Lean\u00a0initiatives are thought of as the use… Why Lean Initiatives Fail in a Company<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[19,31,29,511,514,12,515,159,516],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-operations","tag-5s","tag-continuous-improvement","tag-kaizen","tag-kanban","tag-lean-initiatives","tag-lean-management","tag-lean-six-sigma","tag-management","tag-pdca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1085,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}