Commonly
referred to as “Lean,” this form of management — without Six
Sigma or with it — is sometimes a controversial subject. However,
this process has continued to dominate the corporate world and
improved the existing processes; but many manufacturers and corporate
people think that this process comes with several shortcomings. That
is why this post is devoted to debunk mostly all the myths associated
to this manufacturing concept.
Lean
means cost cutting and layoffs
As
per a leading manufacturing consulting company, this is the most
common myth to surround this particular school of management for
quite some time. And part of the reason can be that this principle is
often related to cutting expenses and even FTEs (Full-Time
Equivalents). This concept makes Lean to be associated with pure
“cost cutting.” At this point, let us approach the concepts of
“cost cutting” and “layoffs.”
- Cost cutting:
Although
the chief aim of Lean has been to identify and remove different form
of wastes (or “muda”), the true meaning of “waste” is never
explored or considered. Waste, as per Lean, is an activity that never
contributes — directly or indirectly — to value creation for
customers and organizations. However, how can anyone define the thin
line between wastes and values?
Let
us consider inventory to be an example of waste. As per Lean, the
inventory must be as low as possible; but, again, this does not mean
that management can easily eradicate any inventory. For example,
critical spare parts are significant to all machine-manufacturing
units; likewise, in a service organization, black ink toners rely on
printed documents. Now, can anyone imagine what the consequences will
be if a manufacturing unit lacks spare parts or a service
organization does not have printed docs? It will be completely
disastrous. And this concept can be at odds with the concept of
interrupting value-adding activities with other non-value adding
activities. That is, all the primary processes must never be
interrupted because if interruption happens, then it will affect the
overall workflow.
- Layoffs:
Further,
organizations applying Lean properly make employees (who get lower
workloads —thanks to waste elimination) more productive. And when
employees become more productive, they become more motivated.
Lean
should be deployed to raise the job satisfaction levels of employees
because they are executing more and more valuable tasks; this sense
of evaluation may even lead to personal growth and development.
Lean
is meant for manufacturing companies only
Lean’s origins come from Manufacturing sector only —
it was even called “Lean Manufacturing” in the past; the Toyota
Production System gave this principle. However, since this principle
was born in the manufacturing sector, it does not mean that it cannot
be implemented in any other sector. These Lean principles, such as
ISO quality management, Theory of Constraints and Six Sigma, are
applied for different industries, including healthcare,
not-for-profit and governmental organizations.
Every
true Lean-minded organization is generally advised from a
leading manufacturing consulting company and does not
restrict its Lean efforts to operational activities only. All the
true Lean organizations will need a systemic, holistic approach
because then only it will be called a pure Lean enterprise. A
complete Lean philosophy will have two processes:
- Supporting processes (Lean Accounting, for example)
- Management processes (Policy deployment and strategic planning)
In
short, a pure Lean company will implement this philosophy beyond its
walls.
Lean
is only one of the tools and methods
Lean
is truly a set of tools and methods, but not every organization is
adept at using this set properly. Organizations tend to use this set
of tools, called Lean, blindly without considering its impacts. And
after doing so, Lean will be implemented vaguely throughout the
organization.
The
solution is that this philosophy must be implemented within the
business models and cultural foundations of the organizations. That
is because if an organization does not include Lean in its DNA, it
will never be able to use this philosophy completely. It is a
well-known fact that Toyota always encourages its competitors to
visit its manufacturing unit, and many have done that as well.
However, how many of its competitors have truly implemented this
philosophy successfully? The answer is only a handful.
So
here are the top three Lean myths that must be understood quickly if
a company wants to implement this philosophy on a large scale.
Different leading manufacturing and distribution consultants know
these myths, so if an organization is looking forward to implementing
this philosophy by the book, then it should consider hiring a true
consultant that differentiates between Lean’s myths and its
realities.
