A flowchart shows the progression of an entity (product, person, information, etc.) through a process.
A flowchart can depict a formal process in the workplace, or something informal, like how a person decides where to go to dinner.
The degree of detail of a flowchart can vary from an overview to detailed, step-by-step guide about the process.
Making operations flow is the ultimate goal of Lean. When all the waste is reduced, every process is improved, and the excess inventory is eliminated, you are left with work that effortlessly glides through operations. Flow is often talked about reverently. The senseis I worked with from a premiere Japanese consulting group frequently talked about flow. Next to “waste”, “flow” was one of the few words they would speak in English, to stress its importance. Read more…
Process flexibility applies both to the ability to rapidly change model mix as well as to change layouts of your facility. As continuous improvement speeds up its pace, you will find that your production areas enter a state of constant flux. Build process flexibility into your workstations. Suspend power and air lines from the ceiling and attach them to the top of your workstations with quick disconnects. Put your stations on wheels. Make them small Read more…
Fatigue is the physical and mental state of tiredness that results in diminished capacity to perform a task or function. Because it increases the likelihood of errors, quality problems, and rework, employee fatigue is an often unrecognized form of waste that can impact the safety of the workplace. Lean, if it is implemented correctly, can reduce fatigue. But often the side effects of Lean go unnoticed and untreated, and as a result Lean can actually Read more…
Enforcement is the act of compelling someone to follow a standard. Think of enforcement as the strong arm of discipline. With good discipline, people are inspired to follow rules and meet standards. But, as in all things, there are long tails on the discipline bell curve—some people naturally do the right things (especially engaged employees). Others need a push in that direction now and again. That’s where enforcement comes in. Generally, enforcement occurs during, or Read more…
Document your process flow to get the most out of your Lean efforts. Recording your processes helps provide consistency in your output and spurs productivity improvements. It also promotes teamwork through knowledge sharing, and makes job rotation and cross-training possible. Documentation is simply the act of recording your process steps in some fixed format. The term “fixed” here doesn’t mean it can’t change. It just means that it is actually written down or digitally recorded Read more…
Disputes are disagreements or differences of opinion and can get heated. Disputes at work are frequently about the way a process should be performed. In Lean companies, the challenge is that processes are always changing. This provides multiple opportunities for disputes to arise. The good news is that most companies also have standardization and metrics in place. This provides a backdrop against which to compare both sides of a dispute. In this type of environments, Read more…
Deadlines are, simply put, the date something is due. Deadlines may be externally dictated, such as the Internal Revenue Service’s April 15th deadline. They may also be internally set. You may establish March 15th as the date you want all of your tax records gathered. External deadlines tend to carry far more weight than self-imposed due dates because there are often sanctions associated with missing other people’s requirements. The basic concept of a deadline is Read more…
Customer behavior is the way the average customer, in a specific target group, will act in a given situation. Customer behavior depends on a host of factors—economic class, psychology, region, culture. Like-minded customers tend to behave in similar ways. That is why ads are targeted to specific groups. In the short term, customer behavior is fairly stable. Though individual customers have their own personalities, groups of customers typically behave in a certain way (i.e. the Read more…
Frequently, people will have their teams sign a contract of change that clarifies what their role is in whatever project or initiative they are taking part in. For some reason, when people sign their names to something, they are more likely to follow through on it. These contracts generally include actual behaviors, as well as attitudes. The biggest benefit of having someone sign a contract is to make them realize that they are committing to Read more…
A compromise involves mutual concessions by both sides during a disagreement. A compromise is characterized by each party getting less than they originally wanted in order to reach an agreement. Compare compromise to collaboration and cooperation where two parties work together to achieve common (or overlapping) goals. In those types of arrangements, unlike in a compromise, both parties can come out ahead of where they originally were. There are many side effects to Lean, one Read more…
A work cell is an area in a Lean company organized around the production of a specific product or product group. A work cell should be designed to promote flow and reduce waste. One of the biggest benefits that a work cell offers is proximity. When downstream processes are located immediately next to the upstream process, as they are in a work cell, there is no need to batch products for transportation. A single product Read more…
