Lean Production, Lean Process

Lean methods for business process

Lean production methods have been evolving since the beginning of the industrial revolution.  Examples include Henry Ford’s creation of the first production line for the automobile industry, and in World War II where a B24 was rolling of the assembly line every 56 minutes.  Lean methods have been further improved by Toyota, and other forward thinking companies with undeniable results. Toyota has been rated #1 in auto manufacturing quality for the past five years.

Lean methods include:

• 5S Programs
• Theory of Constraints
• The 7 Wastes
• Toyota Production Systems, (TPS)
• Demand Flow
• Just in Time
• Value Stream Mapping
• Transactional Mapping
• TQC
• Re-engineering

In all cases the expected outcome remains the same:

• Focus on Customer, their expectations and what they perceive as value
• A passion for Continuous Improvement in the elimination of waste
• Identification of where an organization adds value and the identification of non-value activities to enable the successful implementation of the future state vision
• Creating the ability for products or activities, (transactions) to flow through a process map in shortest amount of time possible
• Establishing disciplines to link Customer Demand directly to processes, transactions, resource, or material.

There is a strong case that can be made for a partnership between Six Sigma, which fixes processes, and lean, which fixes the connections between processes. By combining Six Sigma and Lean you will gain a broad perspective on your people, processes, and results that will yield powerful data driven solutions and grow your business.

Many companies will latch onto one or two lean methods and realize short term improvements. This is where a comprehensive Six Sigma program then steps in to assess process variation and manage the continuous improvement of expected outcomes for the long term.

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