Lean Thinking

Lean Thinking was one of the first books written in America where the term´Lean´ was used. The authors Womack and Jones described 5 principles of Lean (Value, value Stream, Flow, Pull and Perfection) and made some suggestions for implementing these principles.

Value

The Lean approach begins with a detailed understanding of what value the customer assigns to product and services.

Lean organizations constantly review their product and service from the eyes of the customer. How does the product help the customer do his job, accomplish his mission, improve his position? This helps them determine the unique value their product or service provides.

Guiding questions: What does our customer need? Why and when do they need it? What are we producing that fulfills that need? How and when are we getting it to them?

Establishing value allows organizations to create a top-down target price. The cost to produce the products and services is then determined. The organizations can focus on eliminating waste so that they can deliver the value the customer expects at the highest level of profitability.

The Value Stream

A Value Stream is the set of all steps and all processes from the start of your value creation process all the way through the delivery of the end result to your customer. Understanding what your offer’s value stream looks like is critically important if you want to be able to deliver value to your customers quickly, reliably, and consistently.

Once you determine the unique value they provide (what you’re making, why, and for whom), your can team evaluate each process that leads toward that end goal, moving into the next of the 5 principles of Lean: Map the Value Stream. Value stream mapping enables Lean teams to understand how value flows through the organization — and more importantly, where it gets stuck. The product of a value stream mapping exercise is a physical ‘map’ of the organization, which outlines every step of the process for each part of the business: HR, R&D, production,marketing ,etc. in order to eliminate waste.

Flow

After the waste has been removed from the value stream, the next step is to be sure the remaining steps flow smoothly with no interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks.

“The first visible effect of converting from departments and batches to product teams and flow is that the time required to go from concept to launch, sale to delivery, and raw material to the customer falls dramatically.” — Lean Thinking

Pull

With improved flow, time to market (or time to customer) can be dramatically improved. This makes it much easier to deliver products as needed, as in “just in time” manufacturing or delivery. This means the customer can “pull” the product from you as needed (often in weeks, instead of months). As a result, products don’t need to be built in advance or materials stockpiled, creating expensive inventory that needs to be managed, saving money for both the manufacturer/provider and the customer.

Perfection

The march toward perfect process happens step by step as continuous improvements address root causes of quality problems and production waste. The relentless pursuit of perfection is what drives users of the approach to dig deeper, measure more, and change more often than their competitors.

Lean Thinking ideas form the foundation of the Lean approach that has transformed countless corporations, giving them a leg up on the competition and a clear path to both profitability and delighted customers.

References

“Lean Thinking” and the 5 Principles of Lean Manufacturing

Womack JP, Jones DT, Roos D (1990) The Machine that Changed the World, Harper Perennial, New York.

5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should Know:
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/manufacturing-design/5-lean-principles-every-should-know