More notes from "Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation"...
Pull
The concept of pull represents the idea that no one upstream should produce a work item until the customer downstream requests it. In reality this is not so simple. (p. 67)
Flow should occur only when pulled by the next step. Takt time should become the pacemaker. (p. 70)
Find a kanban, or visual signal, to notify when something should be pulled at each step. The system of pull and visual control can eliminate the need for MRP type systems. (p. 70)
Instead of requiring customers to order work in batches, and then expedite special orders on an exception basis, why not have them order daily and just the amount they currently need? (p. 76)
By introducing the concepts of standard work and visual control, work can be sliced up into chunks of time thus enabling a baseline estimation metric. (p. 78)
By introducing true visual controls that everyone can see, the need for "team leaders" is reduced as progress can be be discerned by everyone. (p. 78)
Visual control along with the use of exact work cycles can make it possible to address the causes of disruptions in work flow. (p. 78)
The reasons that are identified can then become the basis for directing team kaizen activities. (p. 79)
The ability to request in small amounts is key to reducing total inventories in a complex production and supply stream. (p 79)
Favoring level selling over promotions is key to responding to pull. (p. 82)
Changing the way retailers and consumers think about the process of ordering goods and making transactions is essential to doing things a better way. (p. 82)
Value flows down the stream, information regarding the request flows up. (p. 84)
Superlative quality is taken as a given and will continuously improve in response to flow and pull. (p. 85)
Perfection
Every enterprise needs both kaikaku and kaizen activities to pursue perfection. (p. 94) Two techniques are needed for radical and incremental improvement:
First, value stream managers must apply the four lean principles of
value specification
value stream identification
flow
pull
Second, value stream managers must decide which forms of muda to attack first through policy deployment.
No picture of perfection is perfect, rather the concept is like infinity.
The effort to achieve the vision of perfection provides inspiration and direction essential to making progress along the path. (p. 94)
One of the most important things to envision is the type of product designs and operating technologies needed to take the next steps along the path. (p. 95)
Managers need to set a stringent timetable for steps along the path. (p. 95)
Energy must be focused to banish muda (p. 95)
Form a vision, select the two or three most important steps and defer the rest.
The technique of policy deployment is critical to focusing on the vision and goals, this includes establishing numerical improvement targets to be hit at a point in time. (p. 95)
Common to construct an annual policy deployment matrix (p. 96)
Caution must be exercised to deselect improvement projects as enthusiasm develops faster than resources to implement effectively. (p. 97)
The catalytic force is generally applied by an outsider who breaks all the traditional rules, often in a moment of crisis. This is the change agent. (p. 97)
Because lean systems can only flourish if everyone along the value stream believes the new system being created treats everyone fairly and goes the extra mile to deal with human dilemmas, only beneficent despots can succeed.
