David Harkin MBA discusses the challenges and methodologies to deliver a sustainable Lean transformation
Much has been written on the benefits of Lean in terms of its achievements in organisational productivity. Although being labelled with an unfortunate name, quantum leaps in the levels of operational efficiency and equally high gains in delivery and backorder improvement have been heralded by organisation's Lean practitioners and consultants alike. In fact, many companies are so impressed by what it achieves that they have created their own specialist Lean teams in the modern organisational structure. Their existence justified by the expected financial returns of a Lean continuous improvement programme.
From a high-level view, Lean when applied to internal processes is an enabler that helps organisations reduce the time between order entry to order delivery without adding additional costs The use of the value adding key lean tools including work study, process mapping, value stream etc. are becoming very common in Irish Management circles but few unfortunately can execute effectively. Whether it is in the office, the workshop or even the boardroom what is clear is lean thinking is simple in nature and recognises process improvements can be achieved by removing non-value work regardless of culture, leadership styles, or organisational strategy. So why is it then that these Lean techniques aren't more widely accommodated and used to tackle the inefficiencies in the Irish work place? Of course, advocating the use of lean tools on the one hand and implementing a change programme on the other as practitioners will be quick to acknowledge, presents entirely different skills sets. After kicking off a Lean improvement programme, experienced practitioners usually conduct a diagnostic and analyse the current organisational state to establish and prioritise the areas for improvement focusing on the low hanging fruit initially. These discoveries lead the Lean practitioner to proclaiming how Lean or alternatively how fat the organisation has become in its current state, A sort of obesity test. With the road map formulated, the Lean team set about the task of bringing the Lean tools and techniques to bear on the problems identified but unfortunately as evidence grows cracks start to appear when the tyre hits the road and the leadership skills required to manage the necessary changes are challenged dealing with in particular the various stakeholders and their own agendas. Could it be that managing a Lean programme was more complex than the 'Lean Thinkers' had anticipated? In an annual Lean Enterprise Institute web survey of the 'Lean Community' sustainability is being declared as a leading problem. 'Lean Thinkers' noted their improvement efforts were "backsliding to old ways of working" after initial progress. In this instance it would appear the lean practitioners are finding their tool box empty of a solution. When people issues start surfacing regrettably the blame sometimes is pointed at the lean transformation programme itself. Ignoring the fact that Lean is essentially a people-process coupled with the use of tried and tested technical tools and techniques may fundamentally be the cause. As with any change programme "soft side" issues can be difficult to overcome depending on the level of environmental forces that hold the organisation in its current state. Failure to recognise that strategic HR plays a key role and to equip the CI team with the soft side skills as well as the technical from the outset can be high risk. The Lean leader must handle the softer side with equal vigour to successfully deliver the Lean programme changes. Job re-design changes by their very nature raise emotive issues and many Lean practitioners find themselves in uncharted waters devoid of the required skills to deal with conflicts. Sometimes Lean change can mean enlargement or even job enrichment but it usually can mean more specialisation with mechanic designs to meet the market Takt time demand. Enlightened Leadership is a prerequisite for the challenges ahead and failure to recognise and sponsor the change management side will likely lead to those same problems highlighted by the Lean Community.
Next blog will discuss Lean in context and the role of Strategic HR
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