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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
August 1st, 2016 #09205 Page #58
The Critical Link Between Lean Thinking and Production Problem-Solving for LBM and Component Manufacturers Use lean to expose issues, find the root of problems, and improve your business
By Ben Hershey, Coach & Mentor, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC Sometimes people give me a variety of answers when I ask them to describe lean: tightening the belt; doing more with less; reducing inventory; cost-savings program; waste elimination; quality program; reducing head count; and turnaround tool. The word has meaning to many different people – it even has a different meaning in other industries, as I know from the work I do. Most people know lean as a manufacturing-focused set of tools sometimes based on the “Toyota Manufacturing” model. But it’s important to know that lean is about problem-solving. Everything about lean is solving problems. Tools were created to solve some sort of problem that someone had at some point along the way in a lean system. Lean. Problem is not a dirty word We all know those days when someone comes up to us and says, “I have a problem.” Typically the first thing we think is, “Now what?” On a lean journey, you need to ask yourself, “How does the word problem make you feel?” A problem is a chance, an opportunity, for you to improve your business. Problems are a way to get at the root of what is really going on. We do not have operations in a bubble, and thus we have opportunities for improvement which are sometimes called problems. Back to Lean Many people think of lean as 5S or “sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep.” Well, if you have time to lean (as in relax), then you have time to clean. While that’s using a completely different definition of lean, the adage is appropriate. Walk through your operation, your lumber yard, as if you are the customer. Would you to buy components or lumber from a place that is messy and with things all over the place? Look at your own operation and ask yourself, “Does this place look like it can be relied on to deliver a quality product?” When you look at it from the customer’s viewpoint, a nice, clean, organized, well-lit operation with people working all day long helps build trust. The customer is more confident that he will receive the quality and service he needs. At its base, this is really what 5S is all about, and this is how Lean Thinking and Production Problem-Solving can work together: 5S – Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, Sustain • Sort: when in doubt, sort it out. If you did not know this already, people get emotionally attached to the things we have in our businesses. Just try to take something away from them. I have done multiple lean projects over the years where we took garbage cans or bins full of stuff out of a facility. The next day an owner, a manager, an employee, a driver, someone… It is the same every time, it doesn’t matter that there was an enormous layer of dust on the item, they cry out, “I might use that sometime.” Items need to go, we need to sort it out and rid ourselves of the clutter. Our operations will be more efficient, and you really will be able to get along without that item you have not touched since, well, 1990. • Set: a place for everything and everything in its place. Look at the shelf. Are your employees putting tools and items on a shelf without regard for what should be there, so it just keeps getting stacked up higher and higher? Watch, when they need something, then they’ll have to hunt and move things around to find what they need. A better approach is to eliminate waste, waittime, search-time, and motion from the system. Put items so everybody knows where they are.
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