It appears that Lean principles are simple and yet many manufacturers are failing to realise the potential benefits of their lean implementation in the long term. Too often, the focus is on implementing the tools, driving them into disparate parts of the organisation, creating islands of excellence which ultimately fail to deliver benefit through the entire value chain. And this approach does not lead to sustainability; lean requires a culture shift, a change in the way the business approaches its operations, driven from the top, delivered through empowered people.
At PA, we know how you can realise the benefits quickly and ensure the results are sustained. Those that have been successful at lean implementation have typically followed a simple set of principles:
Lean is more than just a set of tools
Too often, Lean is viewed as a series of tools and techniques that can be simply implemented within part of the business to provide a sustainable change to performance. Whilst the focused implementation of tools and techniques can create swift and radical benefits, all too often the benefits are not sustained and performance slips back to previous levels or worse. To realise the true potential of Lean, a more complex set of factors needs to be considered.
’Good enough’ is not acceptable - the top team must lead the quest for perfection
Organisational implementation of Lean requires the leadership team to have a ruthless passion for perfection. It is not enough for business leaders to kick-start an improvement programme and to sit back and wait for the benefits to come rolling in. They must be visible and hands-on to provide a clear and ongoing focus, ensuring that activity is directed in the most appropriate place and that the resources required are available.
Organisational buy-in will make or break the programme
The implementation of a new improvement philosophy can be extremely traumatic and, if done badly, highly demotivating. Often, the effort required for real long-term success stretches the resources and capability of the organisation. This makes organisation buy-in critical to success. Organisational buy-in includes not only clear links to business strategy but also but also clear individual performance expectations, linked rewards and exemplary behaviour.
Empowerment and discipline need to go hand-in-hand
Empowerment is a key element of any Lean implementation but it cannot be a soft approach. The rigorous application and enforcement of the right systems, processes, controls and measures are necessary for long-term success. Inappropriate systems, controls and measures will reduce the benefits of lean implementation and if wrongly applied drive the opposite behaviour.
“Would my customer pay for this?” should be everyone’s guiding principle
It is rare for an organisation to already have a culture conducive to Lean. An ongoing drive for efficiency usually presides over effectiveness; ineffective processes and command and control are counter to the Lean approach of focusing on customer value. They also encourage organisations to focus on aggregates rather than a value-providing process in its entirety.
The painful and long process of culture change is an inevitable requirement during the implementation of Lean.
Our industry-experienced consultants combine Lean expertise, sector knowledge and change management to successfully deliver sustainable results through your people.
