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Lean Tools
Gemba Walk: Mangement by Walking Around (MBWA)
What is a Gemba Walk? Gemba walk , in simple words is a form of “Management by Walking Around” (MBWA). This is a very powerful tool as it is based on the fundamental principles of lean known as the ” 3G’s of lean ” as listed below. Gemba walk provides a first-hand unpolluted information... »
Learning to see the change
As a person who is leading a lean transformation project it is very likely you will sometimes be frustrated thinking nothing is working and people are not changing. Change is a process so subtle sometimes you need skill beyond normal to detect progress. Inability of detecting it and worse being frustrated is but only... »
How do we Learn?- The process and tools of Learning
Actually a post “Learning to Learn” by Evan Durant inspired me to write this. This topic has always intrigued me and have read my share blogs posts, books to satisfy my curiosity. I would like to share my experiences and experiments on this process and learn what others have done. I will briefly explain... »
Task Standard Work
This is a simple tool that we used initially for the purpose of documenting sustaining the processes we had setup. It can also be used for aligning processes to the top level strategy of the company. Most organizations will have following basic processes: Operations Supply Management Customer Relation Product Development These are any processes... »
Lean Management – Driving force of Lean Transformation
How many times have you sucessfully implemented change using lean tools only to realize, after few weeks or months, that the manager and other people have either reverted back to the old methods or have found ways to circumvent the newly established methods. We learned the hard way that lean transformation cannot be supported... »
Leader Standard work – A bite a day keeps audit away!
I was reading “Audit Vs. leader Standard Work” by Mark Rosenthal and I suddenly realized what potential we have created at our work place. Over the course of the year we have grown very fond of the audits. Especially for 5S and we are developing audits for maintaining other lean management systems put in... »
5S- The Foundation of Lean Manufacturing
5S is often misunderstood as just a mere housekeeping tool. Impact of having a successful 5S system is more profound than just keeping the place clean. 5S is the starting point of any lean transformation and forms a catalyst for culture of change. Due to the very visible results it makes the process of... »
Realigning
As we organize our shop floor and start identifying issues that interrupt the flow of products, we will need to be very organized to efficiently solve them. As I had mentioned in my previous post Scientific Thinking is very much required. But now what is a more significant issue ,which most of us had... »
The First Wave of Change
It has been very beneficial to organize the plant using 5S. The basic goal of this program was to achieve stability and standardization. We used tools like 5S and Standard Work and educated ourselves as how they form the foundation for any Improvement in the future. The System that was setup, not only identify... »
Leader Standard Work
After almost a year after writing the job descriptions we realised it was not sufficient to manage process as our shop floor evolved with lean implementation. It just did not provide the information of what needs to be done and when on day to day basis. Effectiveness at a particular job was more dependant... »
