Lean Enterprise Implementation  
       

Step 1: Top Management Gains Understanding and Commits

Top management needs to understand what “Lean” is and what it is not. “Lean” often carries with it the false connotations of working harder, doing more with less, shrinking the workforce, flavor of the month, etc. In fact, Lean is all about working smarter and more effectively, in part by identifying and eliminating unnecessary work otherwise known as waste. TCIE's 4-hour “Lean Overview” course provides top management with the understanding of Lean that permits the setting of realistic expectations of benefits to be derived and the resources that need to be committed for its successful implementation. .
 

Step 2: Workforce Gains Broad Understanding and Sees Value

No implementation of Lean will be successful without the understanding and buy-in of the organization's workforce. This is accomplished by imparting knowledge about Lean through participation in TCIE's 8-hour introductory course, “Lean Concepts Improve Work.” Frequent, clear, and forthright communications from management need to be an integral strategy throughout the process so the members of the workforce can understand how they benefit.
 
Step 3: Finding the “Pockets of Opportunity”
Management may be feeling the pain of lost business, shrinking margins, and late deliveries, but how and where can application of Lean help to solve those issues? Where are the real pockets of opportunity in which a focused improvement effort using Lean tools will pay off? A very powerful objective method for identifying the real areas of opportunity can be learned by attending TCIE's 16-hour course in “Value Stream Mapping.” This approach qualifies and quantifies the material and information flows of existing work process, brings out areas of waste and inefficiency, and permits the design of a future work stream that maximizes value to the customer.
 
Step 4: Learn and Apply the Appropriate Lean Tools

Universally applicable Lean tools include the “5-S Methodology”, an 8-hour TCIE course that emphasizes visual management of the work process and Lean implementation techniques of planning, problem solving, and motivation in TCIE's 16-hour “Lean Production Level Scheduling” course.
Other powerful, but more specific opportunities include a 16-hour course in “Pull/Kanban Systems”, a 16-hour course in “Cellular Flow”, and a 24-hour course in “Set Up Reduction.” Let your TCIE Business Development representative help you to prepare a customized Lean Implementation plan for your organization.

 
   
The Center for Industrial Effectiveness · 1576 Sweet Home Road · Amherst · New York · 14228
· Suite 212 · Phone: 716-636-2568 · Fax: 716-636-5921 · www.tcie.buffalo.edu
 
   

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