Lean Six Sigma Academy

I am helping some fellow lean thinkers out with a short lean related survey.

This survey appeals to me for a few reasons.  First, it’s all about lean and second this survey is SHORT!  You’ll be done in a few minutes.  Thanks in advance for your participation.

Take the Survey Now

Here’s a question for you. When practicing the 3rd step of 5S – often referred to as shine or sweep – how clean is clean enough?

Should the area you’re working in shine as bright as the Texas sun? Should the floor be clean enough to eat off of? Or is “pretty clean” or “cleaner than it was” acceptable?

Clean to Inspect

The answer to the questions above can be summed up with one word – possibly.

But, you see, the key to this third step of 5S is not how sparkling clean the area is.

No, the key to this third step is to clean until you know why the mess is there to begin with. In other words, the true purpose of this step is to clean to inspect.

Why are you sweeping?

Here’s a way to practice. The next time you see someone sweeping or cleaning the floor politely ask them why they’re doing what they’re doing (sweeping or cleaning).

They’ll likely look at you funny while responding, “Cuz it’s dirty bro. Open your eyes.”

This is then your cue to ask why several times until you identify the root cause of the dirt or grime (e.g. dirty filters, machine malfunctioning, etc.) enabling you and your friend to think about a countermeasure.

What do you think?

What do you think? Do you agree with me? If not, why? If so, do you have any stories to share where you’ve done just this… namely identified a root cause that when addressed eliminated the need to shine or sweep altogether?

I recently got an email from American Airlines titled, “Important Reminders About Carry-On Baggage.”

Normally I delete these kinds of emails but for some reason I decided to give this one a quick read.

Click the image thumbnail to the left to read larger version of the email.

45 Inches and Sizers

The basic gist of the email was to remind passengers of the carry-on baggage size policy, namely that the total length + width + height of the carry-on must not exceed 45 inches. They even provide a decent little diagram demonstrating how to measure your bags.

The email goes on to explain how there are also baggage “sizers” available at curbs, check in counters, and security access points to help you check the size of your bag.

I won’t lie… I find these so-called “sizers” highly annoying and of questionable effectiveness but, honestly, I’m not sure of a better solution.

Over to You

So, I turn this challenge over to your brilliant minds. If you were in charge of American Airlines what system would you implement in order to ensure carry-on bags weren’t too large?

I’m thinking of a nice pokayoke (error proofing) device of some sort… but what it is I am not quite sure.

What do you think?

On page 19 of Shigeo Shingo’s masterpiece A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System he writes an extremely strong statement:

“In fact, there is an important blind spot in the concept of economic lot size: the assumption that drastic reductions in setup time are impossible.  The economic lot size lost its entire reason for being when the SMED system was developed.”

Do you agree with him?  If so, why?  If not, why?

I am the father of 4 wonderfully perfect children. I love them more than words can describe and couldn’t imagine my life without them.

And, recently, I’ve been thinking about how much having children helps me to sharpen my lean and six sigma practitioner “saw.”

Of course this isn’t to say that those without kids can’t also sharpen their lean and six sigma saws… but we parents just might have a bit of an advantage if we leverage this gift we’ve been given.

So, with this said, here are some of the ways my children help me to be better at what I do.

Commitment

Raising children takes a tremendous amount of commitment and self sacrifice. No matter what… we know at least one of our kids will be hopping on our bed by 6:00 AM each and every morning.

Likewise, anyone serious about lean or six sigma knows how important it is to stay committed to excellence. In fact, every day you should ask yourself… have I left this place better than it was when I walked in this morning?

Patience

Ah yes, patience. It goes without saying that my kids often get on my nerves and really try my patience. Especially as they learn to ‘test boundaries.’ But I know this is part of growing up so I do my best to persevere.

Likewise, continuous improvement often comes much slower than many expect or desire. In other words, patience is most definitely required!

Continuous Learning

My wife home-schools our children and I often marvel at how much my oldest (6 years old) daughter has learned.

She, if you’ll allow a proud Dad to boast for a moment, is reading at around a 3rd grade level and can work my iPhone better than most adults I know!

But the thing I am most in love with is how hungry all of my children are to learn. I pray they never lose this.

Likewise, all lean and six sigma practitioners must continue to learn. There are many ways to go about this such as reading books, or blogs, or online training that never ends.

Long-term Thinking

As parents my wife and I are constantly thinking long term with respect to our children. We are doing our very best to form their faith while teaching them to be good citizens.

Likewise, many business owners and senior executives would do well to focus on the long term and not on how to simply make Wall Street happy this week.

Why, Why, Why, Why, Why

If there is one lean principle most kids have mastered by the age of 3 or 4 it’s how to ask why over and over.

Sadly most parents – myself included from time to time – often grow tired of hearing so many questions day in and day out which often times beats this amazing gift right out of our most important assets (our kids).

So, it goes without saying that if we grown-ups all learned - or remembered - how we used to ask why over and over… well, the world might just be a better place.

Let’s Hear from More Parents

If you’re a parent or spend a lot of time around children… what have I missed? Are there other things you’ve learned from your little one’s about continuous improvement or life in general?

Just a quick announcement… we’ve recently released a new course over at Gemba Academy called “Dealing with the 7 Deadly Wastes.”

During this 10 module course we go inside Ram Technologies, a custom foam fabricator located in Mukilteo, Washington in order to see, first hand, what each of the 7 wastes looks like – and more importantly – how to defeat them.

Sneak Peak - LSS Academy Readers Only!

I’m pretty excited to say that at the time of me writing this article this first preview video of the course is not available for free anywhere but LSS Academy. So please enjoy!

Please note: if you’re reading this article via email or RSS reader you may need to click through to the website to see the video.

To start the video simply click the arrow in the middle of the player. If you’re on a slow Internet connection please click the button in the top right hand side that says HD IS ON. This will launch a smaller video. Finally, to view the video in “full screen” click the button in the bottom right hand corner of the video player.

Always Expanding

With the release of this third course, we’re now up 32 different learning modules (presented in high definition video) inside the “School of Lean.”

Additionally, students can check their learning with our interactive - Flash based - quizzes, while downloading and using the PDF summary documents, lean calculators, and templates.

And, of course, the forums are there to post questions and learn from other like minded lean thinkers from around the world.

Finally, the best part of all is you can train everyone, and I do mean everyone, in your plant or facility with a single subscription to Gemba Academy.

The cost? $495 for 6 months or $97 per month.

Kind Words About Gemba Academy

Here is what a few folks are saying about their experiences with Gemba Academy.

“With the help of Gemba Academy’s training videos and quizzes, Elbit Systems of America will be able to formally train all of our employees on the different lean principles and have proof of understanding from the instant results of the online quizzes which can be printed out and filed. Gemba Academy also gives us a way to create lean “champions” for those individuals who take and pass all courses and modules.”

Rick Spires
Kaizen Promotion Office (KPO) Manager
Elbit Systems of America

–

“The Gemba Academy workshops are going extremely well and we’re seeing a great improvement very early, which is a good sign.”

Richard Dunn – Msc. Manufacturing Management
Managing Director
Drurys Engineering Ltd
United Kingdom

–

“Gemba Academy is the real workplace where experience is in a teacher student-situation. It is simply put and direct, easy to understand. I have asked my directors and two other workmates to join the Gemba Academy and this has enabled me to reassure top management that Lean Manufacturing is the answer to our organisation’s challenges.”

Alex Kubi
Bombolulu, Kenya

Learn more about Gemba Academy!

By: Michael Lombard

As the saying goes, I wasn’t born in Texas, but I ran here as fast as I could. When I arrived, I found that the Lone Star State produces some fine beer, specifically, Shiner beer…

While I could go on all day about the merits of Shiner Hefeweizen compared to the original Shiner Bock, that’s not really the point of this photo.

What I want to discuss is how folks on large-scale construction jobs view the relationships between the prime contractors, secondary contractors, sub-contractors, and so on.

Typical Construction Industry Approach

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the construction industry typically views sub-contractor relations like this photo… with each contractor dominating the one below it and being subservient to the one above it.

An old-school rigid, vertical hierarchy. This is based on standard construction practice, which typically involves a contractor doling out aspects of the work to sub-contractors. In this arrangement, the contractor is viewed as the customer and the sub-contractor is viewed as the provider of the product or service.

This is an external customer relationship, and it’s repeated over and over again at each level of the hierarchy, so you can have dozens of external customer relationships on a job site. How fun! A bunch of people showing “respect” for their boss man above them. Old school mentality.

The Lean Approach

From a Lean perspective, I would say a collaborative model would be more effective than a rigid vertical hierarchy.

If you’ve read Gemba Kaizen, then you know about the inverted pyramid that places management below the gemba (the place where the real work is done) in a support role. Essentially, the gemba is viewed as the internal customer of management, and I would say that prime contractors should view their sub-contractors as their internal customers.

They should support them, not threaten them with punitive actions. They should identify and solve problems, not pass the buck just because the contract says they can.

Your thoughts?

I’d be interested in learning if other traditional industries are as “old-school” in their relationships with vendors/suppliers. How would you rank your industry’s level of collaboration on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a rigid, vertical arrangement and 10 being a progressive, Gemba Kaizen-like approach?

All I know is that until the construction industry embraces Lean thinking and begins working more collaboratively, we’ll be doomed to mindless obedience and endless frustration. Thank goodness we have beer.

About the author: Michael Lombard is a Lean advocate and project manager at Palm Harbor Homes, Inc., based in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. He’s currently working on large-scale military construction projects, studying his master’s in project management at UT Dallas, and blogging about Lean construction management. You can view Michael’s profile here and e-mail him at mlombardjr at gmail dot com.

“Knowledge is what keeps the momentum going between dreams and reality.” -Author Unknown

I am a firm believer that the “thinking” that occurs while practicing lean manufacturing and six sigma is extremely important.

I was reminded of this by, well, myself when I re-read an answer I gave Kevin Meyer a month or so ago for a blog series he’s running.

And I won’t back away from this since I truly believe that learning how to think is far more important than any single “tool” or “technique” one can learn.

But does this mean the tools and techniques of continuous improvement aren’t important? Of course not.

In fact, I’d be willing to wager that the more tools and techniques you know the better you’ll be able to think and solve problems. Allow me to explain.

Continuous Improvement Snobs

There are some folks so in love with either lean or six sigma they snub their nose at the other.

Some ‘lean purists’ will attempt to say, for example, how six sigma is no good and that they wouldn’t be caught dead using “it” as if it (six sigma) were some type of disease.

Likewise there are ‘six sigma purists’ who think lean is a second class continuous improvement citizen due to what they feel to be a simple set of tools.

With all due respect, I find both sets of people highly ignorant… but that’s just me.

Learn it all

My approach has always been to learn as much as I can about all facets of continuous improvement. You see, I could really care less if something is labeled lean, six sigma, lean six sigma, TOC, etc.

All I want to know is how to solve problems no matter the situation. And time has taught me that sometimes a so-called six sigma toolset might be of better use than a so-called lean toolset.

For example, I am not sure I’ve ever read Dr. James Womack or Dr. Jeffrey Liker (two leading ‘lean’ experts) ever write about the benefits or importance of a repeatable and reproducible measurement system.

Likewise, I am not sure I’ve ever read George Box (a leading statistical expert) write about the greatness of an andon system. But does this mean six sigma ‘belts’ should not learn about what an andon system is? Of course not.

Morale of the story

So, the morale of my rant is this. I truly believe the more you learn the more you’ll be able to think. And the more you’re able to think the better you’ll be at solving problems. And, in the end, isn’t that what continuous improvement is really about?

Do you agree with me? Have you ever heard a ‘lean’ guru bash six sigma or perhaps a ‘six sigma’ guru bash lean? What is your response when they do?

By Jeff Hajek, author of Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean?

A while back, Ron asked a question about how standard work is applied to leadership.

Think of it like this. You wouldn’t create standard work for ‘manufacturing.’ You’d create it for the assembly of the WidgetMax3000, designed based on the voice of the customer and produced at a rate to match customer demand. You have to know your customer.

Know the Purpose

Likewise, you have to know the purpose of your leadership. What are you trying to accomplish? Without having clear objectives, it doesn’t matter what you standardize. You won’t get good results if you don’t define the results you want.

Once you see the big picture, learn to recognize the processes that you do in support of your goals. Keep this in mind. You don’t do ‘Leadership’. You do a series of smaller tasks. Everything is a process. You inspect equipment. You set expectations. You audit performance. You improve processes. You do the coaching process.

Some of these things can be more easily standardized than others.

Standardization in the Army

I’ve got a military background. The Army is really good at standardizing repetitive tasks so people can do them in harsh environments with little sleep. We had standard reports for many of these common tasks—for example, a sitrep (situation report) came in a specific format. We had structured procedures for maintaining equipment. We even had ‘battle drills’ that we practiced in case of specific enemy ‘inputs.’

What about you?

The leadership processes in a manufacturing plant, in a hospital, or a customer call center can all be standardized as well. Do you have a standard way you:

• Prepare for the day? Make sure your staff is present and your equipment is functional at the start of the shift?
• Create a production plan? How do you determine the takt time for each production area today, based on current customer demand? How do you adjust?
• Inspect your areas of responsibility so you don’t miss anything important?
• Evaluate your team? Do you record information throughout the year so you are not scrambling at evaluation time? More importantly, how do you make sure people know where they stand on a daily basis?
• Keep your desk clean? Far too many leaders fail to set a high standard of 5S yet ask their teams to do it.

What do you think?

The more you can standardize the routine processes of leadership, the more you can use your time for the high impact things leaders want to do.  Do you agree?

I was recently going through the drive through at McDonald’s and saw something very peculiar.

The line was quite long but I decided to stick it out.  As I sat waiting to get to the board where you speak your order I noticed a McDonald’s worker holding some electronic clip board thingy.

A few minutes later she was at my window to take my order.  Of course I knew what I wanted (I’m a Big Mac meal guy all the way) so I was able to tell her without reading their menu.

It worked out, I guess?

A few minutes later I was at the window to pay and then shortly thereafter I had my food.

I’m thinking this added process may have actually improved my overall experience… but I’m really torn as to whether this is the best way to go about things.  I mean they’re obviously addressing some “line balancing” issues by sending this poor lady out with her electronic clip board, right?

What would you do?

What do you think?  What should they do to address the root cause?