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Vol 32 - No 06 - September 2006 Branch news : Midlands - The Lean Office Seminar Coventry IOM HQ After a sweltering day the storm clouds gathered over headquarters in Coventry. The lightning sparkled and the thunder crackled… just the kind of night on which Frankenstein might have established a lean production system. In the highly charged atmosphere a small but select team met to understand how to make the office lean. Fortunately there were not enough of us to make it tip over. Prior to the formal bit we had some discussion about why many organisations don’t Lean. Let’s take the NHS as an example. The current focus on efficiency measures is counterproductive to achieving patient satisfaction. Many, if not all, NHS organisations seem to have fallen into the trap of believing that operational measures such as Length of Stay or Time on Waiting List are indicators of patient satisfaction. The fact is that they are not; they are only measures of efficiency, which in turn is often seen as a determinant of financial performance. Most organisations seem to miss the important link between employee satisfaction, service quality, patient satisfaction, and value for money. After a delicious meal perhaps made for Mrs. Spratt, we sat down for the presentation from Steve Boam and Gareth Harris of KM&T Ltd. Both are experienced lean practitioners with many years experience working with Toyota. It was clear that they have a fundamental understanding of the Toyota production system. They have been able apply this knowledge in both the public and private sector contexts. We learned ‘Why Lean?’. Unlike the Taoist belief this was not because we were blades of grass trying to avoid breaking in the wind. It’s about adding value hence deriving the spin off benefits for all stakeholders. We walked through various aspects of Lean Processing. Obviously there was particular emphasis on the temple model with people at the heart of this. We moved on to develop a lean system for our office. Fundamental is waste reduction… we should avoid falling into the worm pit. It’s important to map the future value stream. We need to continuously improve. Standardisation or a reliable method is another key. Specifically we discussed the maintenance of a clean, efficient work environment using 5S: 1. Sort / Sift 2. Set 3. Shine 4. Standardise 5. Sustain The use of master and detailed scheduling were reviewed. Then we galloped rapidly through 5 Whys, 8 Disciplines, Office Layout, and five rules for effective meetings. In summary it’s about engaging people because they are the experts then simply focusing on lean processing. That’s why we are all practicing lean in whatever context we work… aren’t we? Peter Karran MIOM, CEng, MIChemE Related Topics:
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