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MiMfg Magazine
October 2019
All or Nothing: Leadership, Lean and
Organizational Learning and Improvement
By Bernie Adams • ProcessPro™
Strong leadership. Lean practices. Continuous
learning and improvement. Michigan manufacturers
know the value of these three things as well as anyone.
Leadership
Where would we be without Henry Ford’s strength,
vision and passion? Today’s manufacturing leaders
must possess Ford’s creativity as well as the charisma
and leadership skills to lead diverse workforces.
They are leaders of men and women, inspiring them
every day to be their best, even as market forces
them to adjust and adapt.
Without strong leaders, the backbone of our
nation — the manufacturing industry — would struggle.
Lean
Ford drastically reduced waste using his assembly
line system, but the 1990s Toyota Production System
truly perfected the concept of “lean.” Changing how
we think about workplace waste was a big business
challenge for us before the turn of the century, but is
a lesson more and more Michigan manufacturers
understand today.
Tour almost any facility today and you’ll see
production cells, “5S” workspaces, and teams taking
problem solving to the “gemba.” We eliminate waste at
a rate saving us hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Continuous Improvement
The idea of making regular improvements goes
by many names —continual improvement, process
improvement, process design, quality improvement —
but the message is clear; workplace improvements
shouldn’t be a one-time thing. It’s not a “flavor of
the month.” It’s something constantly happening in a
healthy workplace and everyone should be involved.
Why am I not getting better results?
Each component is valuable, but they are not
meant to be stand-alone practices:
• Manufacturing is full of examples of leaders
with superior vision and leadership skills who led
businesses filled with waste. Often, these leaders are
very popular with staff but don’t “move the needle.”
• Lean experts are more common than ever, but
without their work being supported by leadership
they can easily grow frustrated.
० ० Does your organization resort to layoffs/cuts
when sales are down?
० ० Is measuring “productivity” the most common
way to identify cost issues?
• Continuous improvement should be something
everyone can get behind.
० ० Is it embraced by all, or viewed as a disruption?
० ० Is it a part of everyone’s daily work, or treated
as “optional?”
Make the Most of Your Systems
You may have one or a combination of these three
components, but without connecting them and building
them into the culture, you can miss your potential.
Leaders should view these as three components
of the same system. Lean strategies without a
supportive culture can only go so far, and they go
nowhere without leadership support. Embed lean
into your daily culture and treat it like the business
lifeblood that it is.
Remember:
• Engage your team daily.
• Incorporate lean tools into their standard work.
• Learn the forms of waste and embrace the power
of standardization.
• Give your staff time to make improvements and
remove the political barriers that often prevent
lasting improvement.
• Don’t let excuses like, “we are too busy” or “that’s
not my job” to stall the culture change.
Your staff is the fuel. Lean can be the engine.
Put your team in position to succeed and you’ll be
on your way to maximizing your business.
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Bernie Adams is CEO for ProcessPro. He may
be reached at [email protected]
or 855-277-6627 .