Lean Thinking - Customer Pull Value

We are continuing into the fourth step of our Lean Office transformation journey by linking customer demand to our start signal.

4. As flow is introduced, let customers pull value from the next upstream activity.






Let's look where the Lean Journey has taken us so far. We have chosen one of the information products we create, map out how it flows, identified and eliminated the waste and variation in the flow, and now moving toward a predictable and repeatable process.  A method to help control quality, inventory costs, and throughput is to link input of work to customer demand, or a concept called one-piece flow.

One-piece flow is movement through the system, of the things we create, one at a time as opposed to moving in batches. Batch production is a concept from mass production where products move through the system with lots of friends. One-piece flow is cheaper because there is less Work-In-Process (WIP) in the system and WIP can represent the dollar value of labor and material used in the things we create.

This reduction in WIP also creates the ability for us to see problems in the flow.  Problems like to hide behind massive amounts of material, old processes that don't work, teams that feel trapped and have no hope, and metrics that don't tell us the real story.  Reduce the waste and variation and you will reduce the time from order to deliver.

Linking to customer demand requires a signal to start.  We don't create reports and analysis without that delivery being linked to a customer.  This signal may be on a visual management board, a work flow control system, or the boss drops a thick file on your desk.

Visual management is a method that helps us see what work is where, what is the priority, where are there problems, or if we're winning.  The concept of level loading can be applied here with the team and point to areas in the process flow that may need help.  While you are evaluating your condition, think about how extensive you are setup in little kingdoms or rice bowls and remember the examples of transportation and motion wastes.

The books "Learning to See" and "Seeing the Whole" are spot on with methods to think strategically about seeing flow and ability to see the representation of the relationship with us, our suppliers, and our customers.

Office Kaizen Leadership Kickoff

Have you been asked to kickoff a kaizen event?  You're may be thinking, "Say something at the kickoff?  I can't even say kaizen without someone correcting me!"  Take a deep breath, I'm going to make this easy for you.  Your job in this situation is to set the Vision and Direction of the event.

You need to express the following:
1) Your support for change, but not "The" change.
2) Your own words why this event/project/kaizen/etc is important.
3) Your confidence in the team member's ability to succeed.

You may even want to go over the important parts of the charter such as Goals and Deliverables.  Remember you are setting the Vision and Direction, and instilling your confidence in the team.

Lean Thinking - Make Value Flow

We are continuing into the third step of our Lean Office transformation journey by finding the waste and variation in how we transform our products.

3. Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so the product will flow smoothly toward the customer.





Our team has the process map on the wall showing how we currently create the product with Red, Yellow, and Green dots, Cycle Times, Touch Time, Inputs and Outputs, Rework Loops, and Handoffs.  As you stand back and look at this map you may ask yourself, "How do we get anything done around here with processes like that!".  And you would be right to ask that.... silently in your head, we are not pointing fingers here.

We now have some decisions to make, do we first attack the steps with the Red dots, or the high cycle times, or the rework loops?  This is a decision that could be based on the goals in the charter.  Fixing the quality of your work would be a good place to start to remove the Rework Loops.  Remember that the team is removing waste, not making the waste flow faster by high-speeding the product through a Rework cycle.  Again, we are not institutionalizing Rework.

This is the phase where we put our definition of Organization Optimization into practice.  How do we look at our relationships in the Value Stream.  Do we think our suppliers and contractors are greedy and are just out to steal our profits?  Or are they partners where open communication and shared problem solving is encouraged?  Do you have the same type of relationship with your customers?

Professional working relationships across our enterprise and overhead costs are also greatly enhanced by removing the other seven wastes.  This creates the ability to accurately predict performance and reduce the price point to increase demand.  As demand increases, so does our ability to meet it as removing waste increases capacity.

Another concept in our Lean Office is that of 5S.  This is not a housekeeping or cleaning methodology, but  a framework of standard practices that supports the organization.  This attempts to have us answer the following questions; 1) Do we need the things we have, and 2) Do we have the things we need, and 3) Can we see where flow is stopped, and 4) Are our teams performing at a consistently high level?  Think about the supplies kept in the copy room, the break room, at our desks, or even on our servers and computer desktops.

There are several improvement models that can be applied during this phase; PDCA, A3, 8-D, DMAIC, DMADV, AFSO21 8 Steps, and many more.  Ultimately these models contain tools to identify root causes, improve the results, and implement standard work to keep from backsliding.

As we move through the opportunities we will come across waste we have forced upon ourselves in our "ISO" type documentation or find waste linked to unfunded government regulations.  These are classified as Business Non-Value added activities and these are the steps on the process map with Yellow dots.  They are not impossible to remove, but it requires more work and a Leadership team that is fully engaged that is not afraid to show some courage.

Remember that Flow Is King, and a stop in the flow of what our customers desire from us is a stop in our ability to satisfy those desires.  Always involve the Smart People when we are eliminating waste.  One person typically will not have the solution, but each team member has a piece of the puzzle and all we have to do is snap the pieces together.

Lean Thinking - Identify the Value Stream

We are continuing our Lean Office transformation journey by seeing how we are currently adding value to our products.

Step 2. Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family







Our team has spent some time talking to their customers about the important characteristics of the reports and analysis they provide and have talked to the boss about the performance levels required of the team.  Armed with this future state information the team is ready to move to the next step.

Starting the Lean Journey begins with knowing where we are right now and our knowing is based on can we really see what is going on.  Now is the time to break out your toolbox full of black permanent markers, canary yellow stickies, and tape some paper on the wall.  Step one is the most important, title and date your map.  Find your charter and tell the team the scope of the project as these will be the beginning and ending of the process flow.

Gather your team around the wall and arm them with the pens and stickies, and they will write the steps down that describes how the product flows through the process.  Make sure the steps on the stickies are written at the desktop level, not at the executive 50000ft.  This does a couple of things for us.  First the team has a sense of ownership of the flow, not just the map.  Second is the team, with internal customers and suppliers, have a true understanding of what is going on from step to step as the product is transformed from data into information.

The type of process map I have found most helpful is the swimlane map.  Imagine an Olympic style pool where each swimmer has their own lane.  This is exactly what your process map will look like, and each person, team, or function will have their own lane.  In these lanes you add the stickie notes in time order of how the product transforms.  Make sure you get all the hand-offs and rework loops.

Write down the cycle time for each step and the touch time, we will use this information to help calculate the total time and baseline process cost.  By now the team is loosened up, loaded with coffee, and has a common understanding of the flow.  Enter the Bad Cop...

It's time for Value Analysis.  Break out your Red, Yellow, and Green dots and ask the three questions (not from the old man from scene 24).  If we can answer "Yes" to all 3 at the same time, that stickie will get a Green dot.  They are; 1) Does the step change fit, form, or function of the product, AND 2) Is it a step that matters to the internal customer OR is it a step the customer would be willing to pay for, AND 3) Can we perform that step correctly the first time.  There is usually some amount of weeping and gnashing of teeth to get through the first two steps, but is faster the remaining steps.  No one wants to be thought of as "Non-Value-Added".

A step will receive a Red dot if any of the 3 questions are answered with "No" and there is no requirement, law, mandate, regulation, or rule forcing us to perform that step.  If there is something making us perform that step, then it receives a Yellow dot.  There may be other analysis you perform on the map, but this is the basic.

The map will be ugly, but it's yours to change.