EASING INTO LEAN
THE PROCESS ISN'T NEW AND ITS IDEAS ARE WELL ESTABLISHED, BUT LEAN PRINCIPLES CAN MEET RESISTANCE FROM EMPLOYEES WHO MAY BE SET IN THEIR WAYS.
By Sean Riley
As with any company wide initiative, the move to lean does not come without hurdles, including one that is often overlooked: how will my workforce react to drastic changes in the way “things have always been done” and can we afford to battle through the growing pains?
HELP IS AVAILABLE
For the uninitiated, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Productions System Design Laboratory defines lean production as “The elimination of waste in every area of production including customer relations, product design, supplier networks and factory management. Its goal is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop products and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing top quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible.”
As a proponent of lean, PMMI began a targeted campaign at its 2005 Annual Meeting inWashington, D.C., to better prepare its members for the evolving global marketplace. PMMI established the Packaging Solutions Initiative (PSI) that included assistance in becoming lean. In 2006, the PSI evolved into the MachinePLUS philosophy, offering the tenet that lean manufacturing will play a critical role in its members’ success.
To ease the transition of companies thinking of lean, PMMI established a Lean PMMI Member Network (LPMN). The LPMN consists of members with successful lean track records who are willing to serve as contacts for questions on the benefits of lean.
PMT surveyed the members of the LPMN as well as some of their customers who practice lean—including Vosges Haut-Chocolat, Chicago, Ill.; Osram Sylvania, Danvers, Mass.; ConAgra Foods, Omaha, Neb., and McCormick Foods, Hunt Valley, Md.—in an effort to offer readers some tips to ease the transition to the lean philosophy.
WHY GO LEAN?
Lean practices have long been a staple of efficient production in Japan, Europe and some North American industries. Now more than ever, however, the process is growing to a point where becoming lean may no longer only be a smart business choice, but a tool for economic survival. Every member of the LPMN repeatedly cited lean as a necessity to remaining competitive and growing in today’s world.
“Any company that wants to reach its full potential with regard to productivity per employee, as well as be better equipped to deal with global competition, should use lean as a tool to grow and prosper,” says Mark Jacobson, vice president of ECONOCORP, Inc. of Randolph, Mass.
Jim Fields, manufacturing manager for Shuttleworth, Inc., Huntington, Ind., echoes Jacobson’s sentiments but takes them a step further calling a move to lean “a must” if a company wants to survive against the competition.
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FIVE PRINCIPLES OF LEAN PRODUCTION
James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones| |
Nordson Corporation, Norcross, Ga., saw its move to lean sparked by changes to senior management in 2000, explains Mel Brannen, manager, commercial effectiveness. The changes caused the company to take a step back and specifically target how it would grow and thrive in the changing economy. Senior managers studied other successful companies, those companies excelling in customer loyalty as well as growth in revenue and profits, in order to determine a new path to excellence. “They concluded that implementing lean philosophies at Nordson would be key to future growth and financial success,” Brannen says.
In addition to bottom line enhancers like shorter ship schedules, reduced inventory and increased margins the LPMN cites a more empowered workforce. Seeing projects completed sooner and with lower cost than previous projects, fighting fewer quality and late-delivery fires and telling customers you can deliver the product when they want it, all makes work less stressful and enjoyable. It is human nature for employees to want to eliminate those things that cause them problems at work.
“The focus on lean has allowed us to change the company culture from employees doing a job to the employees deciding what should be done and how,” explains Nick Wilson, president, Morrison Container Handling Solutions, Glenwood, Ill. “The employees actively lead and participate in cross training and move to level work loads in different locations as the need arises.”
AVOIDING OBSTACLES
In many cases the hiccups with lean involve resistance from employees who are not eager to constantly change the way “things have always been done.”
By speaking about their trials and tribulations, the LPMN and their customers offer insight on avoiding or adapting to similar situations.
Morrison started looking at lean in 2004. From the beginning, they had a difficult time getting a full internal commitment due to trust and communication issues, explains Wilson. The supplier used an outside consultant to facilitate the growth of its various lean teams. (They now have nine different lean teams throughout the company.)
“The facilitator has been key to our success,” says Wilson. “[The facilitator] chaired meetings with the teams, helped them to establish goals and dashboards (ways to measure performance) and assisted the team in removing communication barriers.”
In addition, top team members at Morrison took courses in communication and coaching to help employees develop tools for leading and participating in teams. Wilson adds that top management backing of team decisions was also highly critical in developing a solid level of trust.
When looking back on his company’s lean beginnings, Jay Scher, director of operations for Vosges, believes they were their own worst enemy. Instead of starting small and having workers begin lean practices, the gourmet chocolate company first tried to analyze and think through every possible outcome of potential actions.
“We tried to convince everyone who was going to have to do the work why it was better to do it this ‘new’ way,” he explains. “Now we just roll out a change and see if it works. The positive or negative impact of a [lean] change is apparant right away so we can adjust our strategy very quickly if need be.”
Another reason Scher feels it is better to act rather than theorize is that most of the people who are going to benefit from lean work flows are people that generally act and do for a living. Asking them to buy into a theory that in many ways is counter-intuitive to the way they are used to doing their jobs can create unnecessary conflict and impose obstacles.
Nordson handled the culture change by preparing its employees right away to recognize that lean is a journey and not a quick fix.
“Six years ago, change was a four-letter word to some people,” says Brannen. “The journey is in how we approach the transformation of work processes, each individual’s ability to cope with these new concepts and the organization’s ability to make new processes a standard part of how we do business.”
Nordson developed a Lean 101 course with specific factory-floor examples to introduce its associates to lean. All manufacturing employees attended the half-day course, followed by managers in non-manufacturing roles. Another course was developed for all non-manufacturing associates that used a purchasing process to demonstrate results.
Those surveyed essentially offered a checklist for management to ensure a successful transition to a continuous improvement culture. Managers must lead by example, accepting and applauding change. They must reinforce accountability and the disciplined approach of lean principles and they should present positive results to employees.
“It took us a while to learn that many small short term improvements in the workplace gets you a much bigger bang than waiting for that big home run that never comes,” says Jacobson. “Positive reinforcement to improvement and empowering the whole workforce to make changes for the better works. It’s contagious.”
But, as he explains, top management must commit to devoting a specific amount of time each week to continuous improvement in methods and processes. Clean, sort and get rid of obsolete items that have not been used in years and won’t ever be used again. An emphasis must also be put on selecting the right supply partners to reduce unnecessary inventory.
Opposition to change is best overcome by showing results. Positive results, such as less frustration with processes, quicker response time and more satisfied external customers and senior executives, helps make future changes easier. Helping associates recognize the benefits of lean in their every day work is also a key to successful implementation.
Brannen sums the transition succinctly. “One of the tenets of lean is the elimination of waste,” she says. “Waste in the factory environment can be described in terms of physical goods, but waste in non-manufacturing environments is best described as headaches and frustration.”
It is easy to show an employee that removing the things that cause their “bad days” will make their workday more effective and thus more gratifying.
Sean Riley is the editor of PMT.
