Lean has its origins in the work of Taiichi Ohno and William Deming to improve production processes in Japan after the Second World War. Since then it has developed alongside six sigma as an important way of organisations developing and managing their activities to respond optimally to their customers. Lean’s emphasis on customer value and the value stream (or the steps needed to deliver value) encourages organisations to focus more clearly on the needs of their customers and think through how well their activities work together as a system to deliver value.
Lean and six sigma draw on many tools and techniques and there is a strong temptation to apply it as a standard ‘Lean’ methodology. In our experience it is important to focus initially on obtaining an understanding of customer requirements, the nature of customer demand, mapping the whole process and gathering some initial data about how well the process is responding to customer needs. Taking a system-wide view before drilling down to particular problems is key.
Continuous improvement should be central to the day-to-day work of front-line staff and managers for it to be a sustainable and an ongoing feature of how the organisation works. External help can be useful in helping to move to a culture of continuous improvement through training and skills transfer or helping address cultural barriers to empowering front-line staff. External assistance can also provide a short-term project resource to evaluate the system, gather the necessary data and facilitate problem-solving workshops.
We use Lean tools and techniques frequently in our assignments, drawing on them as problem-solving tools as required by the assignment and not necessarily badging them as ‘Lean’. We can also offer the services of a Lean practitioner trained to green belt standard.