Lean on the lean manufacturing basics

Life has thrown us some wild twists and turns. Regardless of the size of your company or the focus of your industry, you have had to and probably will continue to change and adapt. Amid the disruptions and turmoil, it is comforting to know there are certain sources of stability and consistency.

Among those are the lean and Six Sigma bodies of knowledge that provide the basics of solid and effective operations. And now is a vital time to lean on these basics, no pun intended.

Stability During Tumultuous Times

Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma are both philosophy and a collection of methods and tools to run a business. They have something for everyone, from top floor to shop floor. The lean philosophy helps guide the decisions leaders make and instills the idea that all employees have the capability to assess and improve their jobs.

Lean and Six Sigma have weathered previous storms like market downturns, financial crises, major fires, international political turmoil … and now the virus. They help you deal with disruption by creating stability as you think objectively about the business, its operations and processes, and the resulting changes.

Knowing the basics of lean and Six Sigma helps your employees operate in a disciplined way. They know all about effective flow, running at takt time, and managing variation. That discipline extends to your suppliers, customers, and all players in the value chain, helping everyone understand each other’s capabilities and expectations.

Emotion can be a huge distractor when you’re dealing with a major problem. Data and facts can drive out, or at least tamp down, that emotion—and lean and Six Sigma are all about data and facts. You might not like all the facts, especially if they reveal major challenges. But basing decisions on data and facts gives you a sense of discipline and stability, as well as a baseline to use for addressing those challenges.

One of the beautiful things about lean and Six Sigma is that they require judgment for effective use. They don’t provide cookie-cutter recipes. You have to think and understand, then apply the philosophy, methods, and tools to the problem at hand. You can tailor your approach to lean and Six Sigma without compromising their integrity.

Improvement Is Still Relevant

Did business change so drastically that lean and Six Sigma are no longer relevant? Of course not. If anything, they are more relevant than ever.

Employees who understand lean will serve you well in the immediate future. They understand their upstream and downstream customers and suppliers. They recognize that takt time sets the pace. And their knowledge helps create an efficient, effective operation.

Instead of only a few people dictating how processes will be executed, everyone from all levels of the company has something to contribute. When people are involved in improvement, they’re more likely to accept and even embrace change.

And there’s no shortage of change, especially now. The virus has changed so much in the shop, now with Plexiglas barriers and other elements to encourage social distancing. Crowded meetings in small conference rooms have moved to Zoom meetings and teleworking. The U-shaped cell with employees in close proximity has been altered to mitigate risks.

Social distancing and facemasks affect the way you apply lean. You’ll need to establish greater distance between workers, which will introduce wasted motion and transportation. So you look for the best way to maintain distance and still be as effective as possible. Maybe you can use a short conveyance device or a kanban square between stations to define the space and keep the pace. You’ll need visual management to clearly communicate how employees can work safely, whether that’s by proper distancing, minimizing the handling of materials and equipment, or changing the use of break rooms and common areas. The lean basics will help you get through the “not business as usual.”

Are Flexibility and Consistency at Odds?

Lean and Six Sigma promote consistency. They also promote flexibility. Aren’t these statements at odds with one another? Absolutely not.

Their underlying objectives are consistent regardless of industry and the time they’re used, be it before, during, or after a crisis. At the highest level, lean manufacturing is about eliminating waste and creating flow, while Six Sigma is about reducing variation and improving quality.

Dig a bit deeper and you’ll find the objectives behind individual methods and tools are still consistent. Consider flow, one of lean manufacturing’s big ideas. Regardless of the demands imposed by external influences, flow is about understanding how goods and information move through your value streams. You design work to flow as a continuous logical path with as few disruptions as possible. That’s the big picture.

The flexibility of lean and Six Sigma comes in how they’re applied. Pre-virus, you would have sought ways to safely minimize consumption of resources, increase velocity, and drive out non-value-added work. In the current environment, you have to increase distances, add steps, use resources in a different way, and ensure you create a safe workplace for employees. You change how you address the lean details. Some of the work that was non-value-added before is now value-added, so you adjust. The intent is to still be as efficient and effective as possible given the new demands.

Life Goes On

Although you’re now dealing with disruptions and facing demands you could not have imagined just several months ago, life in manufacturing goes on. You develop new processes that are safe for your employees, customers, suppliers, and communities while still having efficient and effective operations and a profitable business.

Lean and Six Sigma should remain front-and-center as you adapt and keep everyone safe. Don’t let your investment in improvement backslide. Keeping your focus on the basics will help you weather the storm.