Share thisLearn what being Lean means and how it was successfully implemented at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Comparative Medicine.
Organisations are hierarchical; processes flow horizontally. It isn’t surprising that process flows get interrupted. -Matt Zayko
Becoming Lean is an increasingly popular way to streamline service delivery and cut costs in a variety of industries. Lean is a set of analytic practices and problem-solving tools that help you identify and repair process breakdowns, just as you would use diagnostics to find out why a car is using too much gasoline and then use the right tools make adjustments, fine tune, or replace parts. Keys to success are that staff at every level participate in diagnostics and problem solving, and that improvements to the system are managed visually.
The change to Lean is a three-legged stool. First, it is a culture change, from one of fault and blame to one of problem solving. Secondly, it is a psychological change, from one of fear—where people fear being blamed for mistakes or caught for lack of required knowledge or skill—to one of opportunity for improvement, innovation, creativity, learning, and growth. Lastly, it is a practical change, from one of managing problems to one of measurement and continuous improvement.
In this article, I’ll set out the steps one takes on the way to becoming Lean—from ways of thinking through finding problems to designing solutions.
GETTING READY: LEAN THINKING
Think of your system as the way you deliver value to your customers, rather than as a set of internal processes.
Lean takes a dynamic system perspective rather than a jigsaw view of interconnected parts. “The system is a set of process flows from customer request to fulfilment”, Jon Miller of Kaizen Institute/Gemba Panta Rei who has worked directly with Lean leaders in Japan, explains. “In a research facility, it may be from start of a research project to data collection”.
Michael Pitcher, Managing Director of The Lean Laboratory, explains why a system approach is vital to Lean success. “Most approaches to continuous process improvement will bring initial results. However, a single approach to process improvement rarely produces sustainable organisational level results. For example, lab layout can be improved only to move a bottleneck further downstream”. In other words, if you keep the engine finely tuned and the car clean and waxed, but don’t change the oil on time, you risk an engine failure.
GETTING STARTED: LEAN PRACTICES
Mapping the System
Obstacles to service delivery fall into three groups: waste—such as downtime, over-production, waiting, inventory excess, and extra processing; unevenness in operations; and, overburdening of people and equipment. You find obstacles in all three groups by first mapping the system and then the processes within it.
“Lean practitioners call this type of flow diagram a Value Stream Map (VSM). It reveals Flow and Waste in your current state”, Herman Ranpuria, Principal at eVSM software, says.
“Creating a Value Stream Map allows everyone— staff, suppliers, customers, and managers—to recognise and understand how the system works. And, the map acts as a common reference point for many to take part in devising, assessing, and agreeing on improvements”.
“A typical Value Stream crosses many departments and functions”, Jon Miller says. “So the Value Stream is a mix of value—the service the customer wants to receive—and wasted time or effort such as errors and waiting, which no customer wants”. A full Value Stream Map shows your Current State—and a picture of where you want to be, called Future State.