Lean fundamentals in practice
Lean in a nutshell
If I was to summarise what lean is, in practice its all about removing friction. That means reaching your goal quickly and without waste. Your goal will depend on the process you are working with. In a factory, the goal is usually the creation of a quality product to the point at which it can be sold to a customer. For a mortgage advisor, the the goal is an agreed loan to allow the purchase of a property. In these scenarios, friction can take many different forms. A couple of examples include mistakes: product made wrong, information missing from forms, or delays: product sat in inventory or waiting for a signature.
Lean in Practice
Let me take a really simple example of a lean improvement. I’m now at the stage in my life where I need reading glasses (it comes to us all). I used to spend an inordinate amount of time looking for my reading glasses - it seemed like I’d always left them in another room. Looking for my reading glasses was wasted time in my day, it was something I needed to do quite often, and so the time (and frustration) added up. There are a number of solutions to the problem. I thought about vari-focals, applying 6S (always leaving them in the same place), even laser eye surgery. But considering both cost and impact, one solution looked the best. Reading glasses are pretty cheap - the cheapest and simplest option was to buy a pair of reading glasses for every room I used them in (office, living room, kitchen, bedroom & a pair for my handbag). It cost me about £20, but I always know I can find my grey pair in the kitchen. Friction AND frustration removed at minimal cost.
Lean In your Process
In your process its likely that the problem statement won’t be the removal of friction, improvement will probably be driven from other KPIs. In the case of the factory, it might be the need to reduce inventory or improve customer service. For the mortgage advisor it might be about closing the deal before the provider withdraws it or reducing the amount of time consumed by completing paperwork.
Start your lean journey
Lean starts with defining value in the eyes of the customer. Is it a quality product, fast service, a new home or a great deal? Then you map the process. Process mapping is a great way to align everyone around the current state, and depending on the type of map(s) you use, you can include cycle times at each stage, ownership for tasks, information and physical flow and distance travelled. From here you and your team can spot opportunities to remove friction. In the factory it might be the implementation of a faster change over, allowing for increasing the number of variants manufactured in a week, a kanban, a redesign of a workstation or a form. For the mortgage advisor it could be a move to an electronic signature on forms, a portal for documentation or a single sign on. If I list all the possibilities I’ll still be writing this next week. Take all your ideas for improvement, score them against ease of implementation and impact, and then start at the top. Enjoy your lean journey.
