Six Lean Core Concepts

Lean is often described as the philosophy that aids the organization in reducing the lead time between a customer's order and its shipment (be it a product or a service). It has been applied to various organizational settings over the past years (including services) and it has successfully created more value-added flows of information, activities, and networks that ultimately led organizations to become "leaner" (as the name implies). The journey of LEAN starts by the understanding of its core concepts. Some things to keep in mind as you start your journey towards operational excellence through Lean:

1. Low tech / low cost. Lean is about creativity before capital. It utilizes people's experiences, insights, skills and brainpower to tackle small and/or complex issues. The order here is to avoid the organization's funds and use teamwork and Lean principles to minimize waste and optimize processes.

2. Lean works today! A "perfect" solution in 6 months is not necessarily better than a good solution today. A Kaizen Rapid Improvement Event (aka RIE) is an excellent way of starting your resolution towards eliminating non-value added activities in your process flow.

3. Inventory hurts. It is not necessarily an asset (from a Lean viewpoint). The "pull" system (knowingly utilized successfully by Toyota) avoids the build up of inventory that costs money while sitting in the warehouse.

4. The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle is the lead carrier of a well implemented Lean approach. PDCA will help your organization to constantly look at new improvement opportunities as there will never be a "perfectly perfect" process.

5. Based on item 4 above, once started, Lean is a continuous effort. Be it through a Kaizen Rapid Improvement Event or by tackling major issues in your entire functional processes, the effort must go on, and on and on. Spinning the PDCA cycle is the best way to guarantee continuous success in eliminating waste and improving your operational activities.

6. Always remember: there is often more non-value added activities to any given process than value-added activities. The customer is not willing to pay for non-value added activities and someone has to pay for it. You can incur that cost (and lower your competitive advantage) or you can eliminate it by creating an environment of constant improvement towards every single aspect of your organization's operations.

EZSigma Group is the leading consulting firm in Lean, Six Sigma, and Process Improvement in Canada. Contact us to discuss how we can help your organization to become world class in process excellence.