Lean Six Sigma Academy

I recently had the pleasure of having lunch with Rick Foreman. Rick frequently comments on this blog and many others.

Rick is also extremely passionate about lean… he’s the sort of fellow that gets you all pumped up and ready to make things better after a few minutes of conversation!

Anyhow, during our lunch conversation Rick shared some examples of how he goes about making lean “real” to the people he works with.

In other words, instead of blabbering away like he’s reading a text book he works hard to find ways to relate lean to things folks are familiar with.

Meeting Resistance

The example he shared with me was related to visual management. Specifically, Rick was discussing the importance of the production board where things such as plan versus actual output are documented.

As he explained it, initially, the operators weren’t thrilled with the idea of writing down what they produced on a daily basis. They didn’t see the point.

But rather than pummel them with lean philosophy and words they’d never heard before Rick went back to his desk, thought about the situation, and then got an idea.

Who’s Winning?

His idea was to find an image of a basketball scoreboard as shown above. After printing this image out Rick went back to the gemba, or the place the work is done, and showed the same operator the picture.

Rick then asked the person a simple question, “Who’s winning the game – the home team or the visiting team?” The operator gave him a funny look and replied the home team was winning.

Rick asked the operator if he was sure. The operator insisted the home team was winning.

Rick asked, “How do you know?”

The operator replied, “Because it clearly says they are winning 113 to 99 on the scoreboard.”

Rick then asked the operator how important it is for basketball teams to know the score. The operator replied, “Very important as it will dictate the strategy used during the game.”

Are We Winning?

Rick then asked the operator, “Are we (their company) winning or losing?”

The operator grinned and finally began to see Rick’s point of why keeping track of plan versus actual is so very important.

The thing about this story that truly inspires me is how Rick works so hard to reach his co-workers on a personal level rather than pummeling them as if he were some outsider with no interest in them or the company.

Well done, Rick. Well done.

What do you think?

What do you think of Rick’s approach? Do you do something similar?

My life changed – more than I could have ever imagined – Sunday evening, January 14, 2007.

You see it was on this day that I wrote my first blog article. I remember wondering if anyone would read it?

I actually just re-read that first article and had to chuckle… I mean it wasn’t the most insightful thing I’ve ever written… but, hey, it was a start!

A Brand New World

Well, as it turns out starting LSS Academy opened up a brand new world to me.

First, it’s allowed me to share my thoughts with thousands upon thousands of valued readers across the world. We now have more 9,500 subscribers to LSS Academy. Wow! That, in itself, is truly mind blowing.

Second, I have personally met many new lean and six sigma acquaintances… many of whom I now consider good friends.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

And, third, LSS Academy opened the doors to entrepreneurship in a big way as it connected me with my valued Gemba Academy business partners – Jon Miller of Gemba Panta Rei and Kevin Meyer of Evolving Excellence.

Those following this blog know that we started Gemba Academy in March of 2009. We’ve managed to steadily grow the business by reaching a wide variety of customers ranging from individuals looking to learn more about lean manufacturing to Fortune 100 companies using Gemba Academy to train thousands of employees across multiple facilities.

My Big Announcement

With this all said I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve now wrapped up all my prior professional obligations. As such, I’m now able to focus 100% of my efforts on expanding both LSS Academy and Gemba Academy.

This means I’ll be far more consistent posting LSS Academy articles. My plan is to release new articles at least 3 times a week while also introducing additional LSS Academy authors in the future.

This also means Gemba Academy courses will be developed at a much faster pace while also allowing me and the Gemba Academy team to interact far more effectively with existing and future customers.

So, since this journey all started here on LSS Academy, I wanted you to be the first to know the news.

LSS Academy Promotion (25% off any Gemba Academy purchase)

Next, and I hate it that this is going to sound like a sales pitch, because everything I’ve written above has indeed come from the bottom of my heart…

But as small token of my deep appreciation for all LSS Academy readers, I want to extend a LSS Academy ONLY promotion for the month of September.

Simply enter the coupon code LSS as shown to the left (click to enlarge) at the checkout process for any Gemba Academy online or DVD product and you’ll receive a 25% discount.  This promotion will run through September 30, 2010.

Thank You

Finally, I want to close with one last thank you. I would have never been able to write this article without your active support of both LSS Academy and Gemba Academy.

Have you ever heard the stories of how the air conditioning repair man often has air conditioning problems at home?

Or how the plumber’s wife is constantly after him to fix the leak under the sink?

Well, I can relate.

You see, if I am being honest, I must confess to having many personal weaknesses as it relates to living the lean thinking life.

Messy Computer Desktop

One of the most annoying weaknesses I have long battled is a messy computer desktop.  You see, I will go through phases were I keep my computer’s desktop neat and tidy… then, in all my daily haste, I will save files to it… pictures I have “snagged” from the Internet to it, etc.  Then, eventually, I have a mess.  A big mess!

Junk Files Killing Me!

Well, I finally decided that enough was enough.  And after doing some hansei I realized that the primary root cause to my messy desktop problem was the junk file.

You see, many times I will download files to read once or look at once.  They aren’t worth filing into a folder… so I just drop them on my desktop.  These files are essentially junk.

The “delete” folder

So, to counter this problem I created a new folder called “delete” and placed it on my desktop.  Now, when I need to save a junk file or picture I save it to the delete folder. Click the image above to see a larger view of  the delete folder in action.

Then, at the end of the week I open the delete folder and clean it out.

Now,  I thought about saving these junk files directly to the Trash folder… but decided to create a bit of a “grave yard” before completely discarding the file.

So far it’s working like a dream.  I had a few hiccups the first few days… but it’s now becoming habit and I’m confident my desktop will remain clutter free for years to come.

What about you?

What do you think of this solution?  Do you do something similar?  If not, how do you keep your computer desktop clutter free?

If you are an iPhone user you’re going to want to download the 100% free Lean Daily app.

It’s extremely cool as it consolidates the latest posts from your favorite lean blogs into one convenient app.

Here is a summary of the blogs and free lean videos you’ll be able to access with the Lean Daily app.

• Jamie Flinchbaugh (Lean Learning Center)
• Matt May (In Pursuit of Elegance)
• Kevin Meyer (Evolving Excellence)
• Jon Miller (Gemba Panta Rei)
• John Hunter (Curious Cat)
• Ron Pereria (LSS Academy)
• Mark Graban (Lean Blog)

You’ll also be able to watch all the free Gemba Academy lean training videos we release with this app.

My good friend, and fellow Texas lean blogger, Mark Graban was the brains behind this project… so extra kudos to him for all his hard work.

Gemba Academy is looking to possibly implement a Learning Management System (LMS) that would allow our customers to track what videos have been watched as well as what quizzes have been taken.

So, to help us understand how value added a LMS is to our current and future customers we’ve created a short 4 question survey that will take less than 45 seconds to complete.

15% Off Discount Code

And as our way of thanking you for your feedback a special coupon code will be displayed at the end of the survey.

This coupon code, when entered during the checkout process, will give you 15% off any purchase… no matter if you buy a single online course for $149 or go for the Wamma Jamma 1 Year Premium Package for $995.

Thanks in advance for your valuable input.  Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JX6QGYN.

Lot, a reader of LSS Academy, recently sent the following question in.

“We are actually starting lean six sigma in our bank and I am in charge of the central processing unit of the HO. I am getting a bit confused as to who I should satisfy first and foremost. Should it be the client’s desire or my company’s desire to improve cost and efficiency?”

First, I am always excited to hear of non manufacturing organization’s taking the leap, so to speak, into the world of continuous improvement.

Whom shall we serve?

Now then… whom shall we serve? The customer or the company? The immediate response most probably expect me to say is, “Um, the customer.” I mean the customer pays the bills, right?

And, in the purest sense, I stand by this advice of serving the customer first and foremost.

Of course, this is easy for me to write even though most reading this also have a boss to please, objectives to meet, and a family to feed.  Right or wrong this is reality and those lost in text book theory need to crawl out from under their rock.

Going blind

<rant> Being blunt, I get annoyed with many of my fellow lean thinking pals who are so far removed from the “real world” that they forget life is more than PowerPoint training slides and 3 month consulting deals. </rant>

My advice

All this said… my recommendation is to – of course – ensure everything we do improves the customer experience. Doing anything else will do nothing but harm.

But we must also remember most Continuous Improvement practitioners also need to help their company prosper… even survive in some business climates.  This means cutting costs, reducing defects, etc.  Of course, one can argue this in turn helps the customer, right?

So, in the end, my advice is to never forget about the customer, as they ultimately keep you employed.

But, at the same time we must also ensure our efforts are also contributing to the long term success of the organization.

Both should work in harmony when done correctly.

What do you think?

This is my advice for Lot. Do you agree with it?  If so, why?  If not, why?

I was recently asked the following question by a continuous improvement practitioner:

“Should we make safety the 6th S, thus calling it 6S instead of 5S?”

I offered my two cents but rather than sharing my thoughts at this time I am more interested in what you think.

So, two questions.

1. Does your company call it 5S or 6S?
2. Do you think adding safety to the list makes sense? If so, why? If not, why?

I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of classroom training the last few weeks. As an aside, if you’re interested in having me or one of my colleagues conduct in person training (lean or six sigma) please contact us.

Anyhow, over the last 14 days I’ve taught more than 40 people everything from hypothesis testing to the different types of pull systems used during lean implementations.

The students have been fabulous and a true joy to teach… but that’s not the point of this article.

You see, while teaching these classes I was reminded of how important it is to just chill out and have some fun. Allow me to explain.

Teaching Stats is Boring

Teaching statistics to a bunch of Black Belts is not always exhilarating. There’s some math and, for some, that isn’t much fun.

Well, during one of the harder lessons on Advanced DOE (Response Surface Optimization) I decided to shake things up a bit… and by shake I really do mean shake.

Half way through this lesson we were transitioning into the teeth of the concept and I knew some students would be intimidated.

Getting’ Jiggy With It!

To counter this, I inserted a funny slide with the picture of a crazy dog dancing summarizing how we were going to take things to the next level. In other words we were about to “get jiggy with it!”

I also had Will Smith’s song “Getting’ Jiggy with It” automatically play when the dog picture appear. To add additional shock factor I asked one of my colleagues to come to the front of the room before the slide (and music) played.

Once he and I were in position I transitioned to the slide… as the music started to play we both started to dance like true fools for about 15 seconds.

My colleague attempted a form of the “sprinkler” and only the good Lord knows what my little dance moves should be called. As an aside, I’m the guy on the right in the picture above… and to protect the innocent I’ve blurred out my colleagues face so he doesn’t shoot me. Ha!

Total Engagement

But here’s the thing… once the class got over the shock of what was happening they exploded into applause. And I really mean exploded!

And most importantly… the class was totally engaged and ready to learn. They were having a tremendous amount of fun and things went far better than I ever expected with the teaching of Response Surface Designs.

The True Lesson

The true lesson for me was to never forget how powerful a little shock and extreme laughter can be.

If you are a consultant or trainer of any kind I strongly encourage you to stop taking yourself so seriously. You’re not a professor attempting to make people fall asleep. And chances are good that the material you’re presenting is pretty boring. Sorry, but it’s true.

So, don’t be afraid to shake things up a bit. And don’t be afraid to act like a fool for 15 seconds. It just might engage your students like never before!

Do you agree?

Vaibhav, a reader of LSS Academy, emailed us the following question.

Can you please help me understand the definitions for the following terms?

1) Cycle Time
2) Manufacturing Lead Time
3) TAKT Time
4) Inventory Turns

Your help to clear the definitions & formulas for the above is highly appreciated.

Depending on who you talk to you may hear these terms defined differently.

For example, what some people call cycle time others call production lead time, etc.

The key is to understand the concepts of the terms… that way when someone describes a term you’ll know what they mean no matter what they call it.

In any event, here’s my take on these popular terms.  If you have a different twist you’d like to share give us a shout out in the comments section below.

Cycle Time

Cycle time describes how long it takes to complete a specific task from start to finish. This task may be to assemble a widget or answer a customer service phone call.

Now, you can get fancy and segregate value added cycle time from non-value added cycle time if you’d like.

Cycle time can be measured with a stop watch.

Manufacturing Lead Time

I actually prefer to call this Production Lead Time or PLT for short.

The PLT represents the total time – value added and non value added – it takes a product to make it through an entire value stream.

This is often called the “call to cash” time since it helps us understand the time between taking the order and receiving payment for the delivered goods.

Value stream maps are excellent tools for determining the Production Lead Time.

Takt Time

The word takt is German and literally means pace or rhythm. When we speak of takt time we’re attempting to understand the rate at which we need to produce our product in order to satisfy customer demand.

To calculate takt time think touchdown, or T/D, since we simply divide the net available time by the customer demand.

So, if our customer wants 240 toaster ovens and we have 480 minutes to produce these toaster ovens, our takt time is 2 minutes per toaster oven (480/240).

Takt time cannot be measured with a stop watch. It can only be calculated.

Inventory Turns

Finally, inventory turns help us understand how frequently our inventory “turns over” or is used after it’s been purchased.

There are actually a few different ways to calculate inventory turns but the most common method is to divide the Cost of Goods Sold by the Average Inventory Level.

The key is to use the cost of goods sold, or COGS, meaning what we paid for the material, not what we sold the material for.

So, for example, if we have an annual cost of goods sold of $50,000,000 and our average inventory during this same time frame is $5,000,000 our inventory turns would be 10. In other words, our average inventory “turned over” 10 times.

Now, as lean thinkers, we do need to tread carefully with this metric as our friends over at Evolving Excellence mention in this article.

As an aside, you’ll notice that Bill actually uses the term cycle time to describe what we’re calling Production Lead Time (PLT) above. But it’s all good since we know what he means.

Quick question for you… what’s the true purpose of 5S (or 6S)? Go ahead and answer in your head or out loud.

Now, if you’re close enough to some colleagues ask them the same question. Go on, I’ll wait.

Great. Now that we have some “data” let’s see how your answers align with my ideas of what 5S is all about.

It’s not about cleaning up or labels

First of all, 5S is not about cleaning up. It’s not about sticking labels to everything in sight. It’s not about painting floors, machines, or walls. Nope, that’s not what 5S is about at all.

It’s not about straightening

Furthermore, 5S is not about straightening the items in your office or work area. It’s not about placing diagonal tape on books to keep them in the same place.

It’s not about standardization

Finally, 5S is not about standardizing the way our work is done. It’s not about audit forms or check sheets or fancy radar charts. No, sorry, that’s not the true reason for 5S.

It’s about Identifying Abnormalities

Of course, all the things mentioned above are important aspects of 5S and – obviously – things like sorting, straightening, and sweeping are crucial if you hope to standardize and sustain things.

But, you see, these are only the means to the true end of 5S.

And, you see, the true reason of 5S is to be able to immediately identify abnormalities. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Done right, 5S will allow you and anyone in your organization to spot when something is not right within seconds. As such, once an abnormality is identified, immediate countermeasures can be put into place before serious issues arise.

What do you think?

That’s my two cents. Do you agree?

Want to learn more about 5S?

If you’re interested in learning more about 5S – what it is, how to do it, and how to make it stick – check out the Gemba Academy 5S Workplace Productivity online course,  also available on DVD.