Hi !
In my experience, there is a big difference between LEAN - the theory & good figures and LEAN - the real situation.
There are a lot of training, workshops, stram value workshops, kanban simulations - and so on - in witch people understand (more or less) what it is about, they do calculation, make simulations with building a robot, etc. But beyond this, there is the day to day production. After comming from a lean class and trying to implement in production - there is the problem.
My opinion is that the solution isn't to take a model and force it over some situation - and, from all the companies I've meet, this is the lean approach. We belive that we have lean, toyota way, kaizen - but in fact we have only models applied without an analysis.
4 relevant & common examples:
1. it's said to be JIT with the supplied materials for production - but for Toyota is JIT because they have the supplier factory near their factory - for us is 1 continent away !
2. Let's implement a line and make U-shape assmelby line - but we have a plant with 2 WRHs - one for incoming, one for delivery - so, here, the lean approach would have been an I-shape line - but no, "U-shape is lean !"
3. "People are the most important resource of the company !" (you will find this mention in every management university, training, MBA, etc.) - in NONE of the companies I've worked with the situation isn't like that ! And this comming from the shareholdres & managers down. And here I mean the real situation, the one beyod the beautiful presentations and power points.
4. We talk and talk about the importance of Quality dept. in plant, we look at Juran's theories and we mention them in presentation, but, when it comes to the situation of the Q dept. in production you will find (in most of the cases, no offence to the exceptions !):
- Q guy with no technical background that makes judgements on production processes
- Q dept. is special and high above the production
- finger pointing
- "it's not my job" atitude
- "you done this before, you do now" - even if is my job to do it
- "I only mention bad things, but I have no responsability"
- "I am PQM (project Q manager), but you must tell me what to do and I don't have any responsability" - even he/she is not a simple resource
, so, for me, the Q dept. is the higher dissapointment from what I've espected ! - within 65-75% of the companies/Q guys I've worked with, this is the situation.
In fact, as a 1st step, I think is more a problem of mentality and how professional are we. After that we can talk about models.
Another thing is: Who sais we must take some other's models and apply them to us ? (And I don't mean this in a "patriotic" way.) Sometimes we must think ourselfes at some models and, if what we use is ergonomic and works with excellent results, why change ?
Also, I think the breakthroughs for higher performance comes when you start thinking in other way the most of the people do. I saw some 6 months ago a approach of a japanese guy (no toyota/lean mentality related !) who started in Cambodgia some manufacturing factories. He had no supervisors, no overtime, no due dates. Only people assigned to doing task and only the mention that they mus work honestly. So, with no preasure, no supervising, no lean, no u-shapes, kaizen, gemba, etc. ! And the guy grew his (or, in fact, his and the peoples - because they also were participants to the profit) business 3-4 times in several years. He built a village for 150 pers. that were working for him, from the profit money, for free. Only for them to have work and earn money. If you would have asked some westerner corporate guy, I'm sour he would not gave him no chance for his business !
I think, with all this models, sometimes we forget we (or the people that works for us) are really humans, not engineers, nor operators, nor machines.
