Lean Implementation

If you choose to hire a consultant, we offer a unique type of support in a lean transformation: we begin with a view of your business objectives to understand how and where to initiate a lean operating strategy. And, we make sure that these decisions are agreed upon by your management team. Then, we begin to transform the shop and office in a sequence dictated by a value stream map reflecting the entire enterprise: the primary value streams and the key supporting values streams.

Once an enterprise perspective is developed and agreed to by top management, we use Deming's straightforward PDCA cycle to implement the lean transformation:

These components are:
PLAN: Every transformation needs a plan. The value stream map is our tool of choice to get you started by visualizing the work within your enterprise and focusing the resources in the critical areas as defined by your business plan. It is an iterative tool that is used to continually guide the transformation process.

DO: Implementing the work plan from the value stream map is the "do" step, as the Kaizens (or Improvement Projects) are sequenced and completed as per the value stream map vision. This is where the real learning of an organization begins: understanding the details of the value stream work as it is redesigned. These improvements can use any and all lean tools, from something as straightforward as developing standardized work in an area of the enterprise to something as complex as redesigning how different entities within an enterprise rely on each other for material, information and coordination. Each of these activities have specific lean metrics tied to them so the team and management can see the improvement trends as the transformation progresses.

CHECK: Progress reviews used on a frequent basis keep the implementation effort on track. These reviews are not used to seek approval for actions: they are used to identify countermeasures where pieces of the implementation are experience difficulty so management can help the team succeed through use of additional resources, etc.

ACT: The countermeasure defined in the progress review is used to keep the implementation on track, Once the value stream future state is completed, it's time for another iteration of the value stream redesigns, each iteration resulting in a more effective and efficient process.

The EVSM Option