Star Trek has replicators. The magic boxes that deliver food and drink "Tea. Earl Grey Hot" says Captain Picard, and it appears. Pretty cool. But what about parts for your car, or uniquely customized products, intricately shaped solids impossible to machine, musical instruments even? Oh yes, and how about reducing waste by 1000%? 3D printing is delivering this and more for the price of a laser printer back in the mid 80's.
Additive manufacturing, so called because it builds a 3D model by layers of printed Resin, plastic or metal powders that are dried or sintered by laser into a solid with sub millimetre tolerance. Desktop units are for sale today; larger units are envisioned, like for the aircraft industry where machining and cost constraints can be hurdled into achieving better wing shapes.
Of course this is capital L lean. Minimum waste in delivering the customer what he wants when and where he wants it. How will this game changer affect your business? Better start thinking about that, because the "when" is starting now.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, November 8, 2010
Improved Efficiency Is Great, But Is Your Sales Force Up To The Challenge?
Is Your Sales Force Ready to Sell More?
I know you are thinking "what is he talking about? the sales force was not the problem, it was our low productivity, long delivery times, late deliveries, poor quality and high costs that caused our problems. Sales has done a bang up job covering us with our customers, they've worked really hard.. Lean has fixed all that." Well you are right but that was then and this is now. Your new Lean enterprise is undergoing significant transformation that won't end with production, and if you are good it will not end at all. All major departments must work together to fully take advantage of Lean, otherwise the next bottleneck you encounter could be a major issue.
You've Done It. Now What?
So, congratulations, you have success implementing Lean in your production operations and you are starting to reap the benefits. Well you now have a different opportunity to tackle. Theory- of- constraints as well as Lean teaches us there is always a bottleneck in a process and once you de-bottleneck at one place the bottleneck just moves! That's why it's called continuous improvement. There is always something to do better.
Strategic Vision Needed
It is important to keep sales leadership and other stakeholders apprised, and involved, in the gains being achieved in production. The easy way to do this is at the start of the journey. If the company started their Lean journey with a high level value stream map then it is more likely that this need was identified early, and the enterprise is working as a unit. The VSM is the manager's tool to ensure that the FLOW of the lean transformation is not disrupted, and all the necessary projects get developed in every department, not just production. This is not always the case, though, and I have seen more than one situation where increased production went unsold because the sales force and processes were not adapted and ready to take on more market share. In one particularly tough situation production layoffs resulted because sales did not rise even though the production team worked hard to increase productivity and reduce costs! Ironically at the same time the production people were laid off the sales force was being increased. Ouch. The overall improvement effort faltered, exacerbating an already dysfunctional "us vs. them" situation between sales and production. Morale took a serious hit and years later the lesson is still not learned.
By launching lean as an enterprise-wide effort you can immediately begin to challenge the status quo in all areas, not just production. It is up to management to look forward, and ensure the benefits of Lean flow through the whole organization.
Here a few resources that could get you thinking about how to lean-out your sales processes:
http://www.articlesbase.com/six-sigma-articles/creating-a-lean-sales-process-1708665.html
http://www.slideshare.net/haraldhenn/lean-management-in-sales-service-and-marketing
http://www.salesperformance.com/
I know you are thinking "what is he talking about? the sales force was not the problem, it was our low productivity, long delivery times, late deliveries, poor quality and high costs that caused our problems. Sales has done a bang up job covering us with our customers, they've worked really hard.. Lean has fixed all that." Well you are right but that was then and this is now. Your new Lean enterprise is undergoing significant transformation that won't end with production, and if you are good it will not end at all. All major departments must work together to fully take advantage of Lean, otherwise the next bottleneck you encounter could be a major issue.
You've Done It. Now What?
So, congratulations, you have success implementing Lean in your production operations and you are starting to reap the benefits. Well you now have a different opportunity to tackle. Theory- of- constraints as well as Lean teaches us there is always a bottleneck in a process and once you de-bottleneck at one place the bottleneck just moves! That's why it's called continuous improvement. There is always something to do better.
Strategic Vision Needed
It is important to keep sales leadership and other stakeholders apprised, and involved, in the gains being achieved in production. The easy way to do this is at the start of the journey. If the company started their Lean journey with a high level value stream map then it is more likely that this need was identified early, and the enterprise is working as a unit. The VSM is the manager's tool to ensure that the FLOW of the lean transformation is not disrupted, and all the necessary projects get developed in every department, not just production. This is not always the case, though, and I have seen more than one situation where increased production went unsold because the sales force and processes were not adapted and ready to take on more market share. In one particularly tough situation production layoffs resulted because sales did not rise even though the production team worked hard to increase productivity and reduce costs! Ironically at the same time the production people were laid off the sales force was being increased. Ouch. The overall improvement effort faltered, exacerbating an already dysfunctional "us vs. them" situation between sales and production. Morale took a serious hit and years later the lesson is still not learned.
By launching lean as an enterprise-wide effort you can immediately begin to challenge the status quo in all areas, not just production. It is up to management to look forward, and ensure the benefits of Lean flow through the whole organization.
Here a few resources that could get you thinking about how to lean-out your sales processes:
http://www.articlesbase.com/six-sigma-articles/creating-a-lean-sales-process-1708665.html
http://www.slideshare.net/haraldhenn/lean-management-in-sales-service-and-marketing
http://www.salesperformance.com/
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Canadian Manufacturing Labour Productivity: Be Afraid
Productivity is measured as GDP produced per hour worked. The government says:
Between 1999 and 2008 labour productivity in the Manufacturing sector increased 0.2% per year on average. In comparison, labour productivity for the Canadian Economy increased 2.4% per year.
That growth rate spread is widening as the recession has hit the manufacturing sector so hard that it's productivity is experiencing negative growth.
Economic growth predictions have been scaled back across the OECD from the optimistic outlook of earlier in the year. Canada's dollar is now predicted to continue to rise significantly in the next year. This harsh confluence of circumstances will pinch Canada's manufacturing base like never before. The relative strength of the dollar will ensure job losses to the US and beyond.
Now is the time to invest in some of those powerful canuck bucks in world class new equipment, and make the paradigm shift to Lean. The manufacturing productivity gap is a national crisis, and needs to be treated as such.
Is making things a thing of the past? I say that making things is critical to our economic and physical security.
Many intelligent Canadians believe we are an economy of technical knowledge and services, and the flood of jobs offshore is just a natural consequence of how smart we are, and we in the west will naturally continue to retain our rightful place on top of the heap. (Check out my last post where Andy Grove, founder of Intel describes how this is a false hope.) If you take a look at world wide economic growth rates, emerging economies are outgrowing the west and will continue to do so. Productivity means competitiveness, and right now Canada is being left behind. We need to do something better with our manpower besides dig in the ground for non-renewable resources to sell.
The stimulus budget spending has got us this far. Now leadership needs to take a long view of Canadian competitiveness and aggressively pursue improved productivity in the manufacturing sector.
Between 1999 and 2008 labour productivity in the Manufacturing sector increased 0.2% per year on average. In comparison, labour productivity for the Canadian Economy increased 2.4% per year.
That growth rate spread is widening as the recession has hit the manufacturing sector so hard that it's productivity is experiencing negative growth.
Economic growth predictions have been scaled back across the OECD from the optimistic outlook of earlier in the year. Canada's dollar is now predicted to continue to rise significantly in the next year. This harsh confluence of circumstances will pinch Canada's manufacturing base like never before. The relative strength of the dollar will ensure job losses to the US and beyond.
Now is the time to invest in some of those powerful canuck bucks in world class new equipment, and make the paradigm shift to Lean. The manufacturing productivity gap is a national crisis, and needs to be treated as such.
Is making things a thing of the past? I say that making things is critical to our economic and physical security.
Many intelligent Canadians believe we are an economy of technical knowledge and services, and the flood of jobs offshore is just a natural consequence of how smart we are, and we in the west will naturally continue to retain our rightful place on top of the heap. (Check out my last post where Andy Grove, founder of Intel describes how this is a false hope.) If you take a look at world wide economic growth rates, emerging economies are outgrowing the west and will continue to do so. Productivity means competitiveness, and right now Canada is being left behind. We need to do something better with our manpower besides dig in the ground for non-renewable resources to sell.
The stimulus budget spending has got us this far. Now leadership needs to take a long view of Canadian competitiveness and aggressively pursue improved productivity in the manufacturing sector.
Save Tech Jobs only with Change
Earlier this year Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel, wrote a very interesting opinion article for Bloomberg "How to make an American Job before it is too late: Andy Grove". It is a must read that puts perspective on how allowing tech manufacturing move off shore is a tactic that will be the continued undoing of job creation in America. I find Andy's perspective compelling. What do you think?
Lean Leaders Help Teams Deal WIth Distractions
"I can't get any work done with all these distractions!" All bosses hear it. Especially in creative functions like design, engineering, R&D. I imagine lawyers, writers, nurses and many other professions could also (along with the rest of us) use reasonable periods of time where they can put 100% of their concentration into their work. In these days where "multitasking" is a "skill", leaders must combat the whittling away of their employee's productivity.
I was reminded of my experience as a leader of a custom engineering/manufacturing company. Designers would complain of having no time to get into their detailed design work. Distractions and interruptions from the floor, suppliers, bosses, meetings, would fragment their time. We found that an hour a day (or less) was a common amount to be spent on a project! Since many of these were design and development projects you can imagine that productivity was not as good as we wanted. We arrived at a good solution by establishing daily "quiet hours". For a period each day the engineering department did not answer phones, emails, attend meetings or entertain other interruptions. They were declared "offline" to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be very effective and was widely respected all coworkers. Psychologically it was important that as a leader I recognized the need for the "quiet time", and by doing so I empowered the people to take charge of their working time themselves.
Google search "Managing Interruptions" and you will get a laundry list of good tips you can pick from. In the end effectively managing interruptions is something that the employee has to take on for themselves as part of their daily interactions. Learning to say "no" to interruptions is a learned communications skill for most of us. Often it is an assertiveness issue as well. It is the job of the boss to recognize what habits the worker needs to change and give them the support they need to make the changes. Empowerment can can be defined as "permission and support from the boss to practice new behaviours in the workplace".
The "One Minute Manager meets the Monkey" is a quick read that gets to the heart of the matter for those ultra-committed souls that habitually take on too much.
Ultimately the boss has to guard his people and their time so they are most productive. Controlling the frequency and length of meetings and easing the difficulty of bureacratic processes are a couple of big ones. Set a good balanced example yourself: get results and have a good life. Send the right message Boss!
Points to ponder....
“After you plant a seed in the ground, you don’t dig it up every week to see how it is doing.”
In his 1975 HBR classic “The Manager’s Job,” Henry Mintzberg wrote: “Someone, only half in jest, once defined the manager as that person who sees visitors so that everyone else can get his work done.”
“Guard against the director’s first great vice—rabbiting on, making the same point again and again, getting laughs from your inimitable (and interminable) anecdotes.”
Say to your employees: “My job is to open the umbrella when the crap rains down from above. Your job is to keep me from having to open it too often.”
"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting." -Ronald Reagan, 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)
"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it."- Malcolm Forbes
"Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but is also a disruption of thought." Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)
Recommended Reads
I was reminded of my experience as a leader of a custom engineering/manufacturing company. Designers would complain of having no time to get into their detailed design work. Distractions and interruptions from the floor, suppliers, bosses, meetings, would fragment their time. We found that an hour a day (or less) was a common amount to be spent on a project! Since many of these were design and development projects you can imagine that productivity was not as good as we wanted. We arrived at a good solution by establishing daily "quiet hours". For a period each day the engineering department did not answer phones, emails, attend meetings or entertain other interruptions. They were declared "offline" to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be very effective and was widely respected all coworkers. Psychologically it was important that as a leader I recognized the need for the "quiet time", and by doing so I empowered the people to take charge of their working time themselves.
Google search "Managing Interruptions" and you will get a laundry list of good tips you can pick from. In the end effectively managing interruptions is something that the employee has to take on for themselves as part of their daily interactions. Learning to say "no" to interruptions is a learned communications skill for most of us. Often it is an assertiveness issue as well. It is the job of the boss to recognize what habits the worker needs to change and give them the support they need to make the changes. Empowerment can can be defined as "permission and support from the boss to practice new behaviours in the workplace".
The "One Minute Manager meets the Monkey" is a quick read that gets to the heart of the matter for those ultra-committed souls that habitually take on too much.
Ultimately the boss has to guard his people and their time so they are most productive. Controlling the frequency and length of meetings and easing the difficulty of bureacratic processes are a couple of big ones. Set a good balanced example yourself: get results and have a good life. Send the right message Boss!
Points to ponder....
“After you plant a seed in the ground, you don’t dig it up every week to see how it is doing.”
In his 1975 HBR classic “The Manager’s Job,” Henry Mintzberg wrote: “Someone, only half in jest, once defined the manager as that person who sees visitors so that everyone else can get his work done.”
“Guard against the director’s first great vice—rabbiting on, making the same point again and again, getting laughs from your inimitable (and interminable) anecdotes.”
Say to your employees: “My job is to open the umbrella when the crap rains down from above. Your job is to keep me from having to open it too often.”
"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting." -Ronald Reagan, 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)
"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it."- Malcolm Forbes
"Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but is also a disruption of thought." Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)
Recommended Reads
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Canada's Stability and Oil wealth driving dollar to US$1.15?
The stability of Canada will become a safe haven for currency investors as capital flows out of the US. We are headed to $1.15 in 12 months according to economist Patricia Croft. This would represent an unprecedented high against the greenback. Whether it gets that high or not hardly matters, as the trend and fundamentals seem to be in place for the dollar taking a quick trip in the upward direction. Declining and low interest rates and looser monetary policies in the US and the industrial world, will flow investors to the C$. No surprise after our banking system came through the crash of 2008 with (relatively) flying colours. Also not surprising as energy prices and supply have made the C$ a petro-currency: no longer driven by the fundamental forces of labour productivity and value-added exports.
A high dollar is good right? Yes it is if the population is employed at something that earns more of them. A high dollar is well known to cheapen imports and push manufacturing, and even services, to off -shore competitors. If our population's productivity and ingenuity did not 'earn' the dollar's increase, and our prosperity exists only because of the world's insatiable demand for non-renewable energy and resources, then we better buckle up for higher unemployment and more McJobs.
Producers in Canada need to adjust faster than ever. In the next 12 months we could see the dollar increase at about 3 times the rate of the magnificent climb we witnessed in the last 8 years. Like never before the time is now.
Greg's Recommended Reading
A high dollar is good right? Yes it is if the population is employed at something that earns more of them. A high dollar is well known to cheapen imports and push manufacturing, and even services, to off -shore competitors. If our population's productivity and ingenuity did not 'earn' the dollar's increase, and our prosperity exists only because of the world's insatiable demand for non-renewable energy and resources, then we better buckle up for higher unemployment and more McJobs.
Producers in Canada need to adjust faster than ever. In the next 12 months we could see the dollar increase at about 3 times the rate of the magnificent climb we witnessed in the last 8 years. Like never before the time is now.
Greg's Recommended Reading
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Medication labelling needs error-proofing NOW
Bureaucratic solutions too-little too late to save lives
Today I read an article in the NP that needs a lean response. Tom Blackwell's article puts light on a serious problem in health care: confusion over similar looking labels has led to mistakes causing death. The tragic deaths of 2 people in Calgary who while undergoing dialysis were given deadly potassium chloride instead of harmless sodium chloride solution; a mistake traced to the extreme similarity of the packaging and labelling. The article quotes pharmacy professor Neil MacKinnon: "If you ask any kind of front line nurse or pharmacist they would say 'Gee, this isn't rocket science, why can't they make labelling clearer- put things in different size fonts and colors?' It's a big problem we've known about for a long time but there doesn't seem like a lot of impetus for change."
The government and industry are working on a standard bar code system for use with scanners - a highly expensive solution that will take "years" to implement. Health Canada is also being asked to vet labels and packaging that may lead to mistakes. They are committing $2 million to a system for REPORTING incidents and developing preventive measures! I am sure the reporting system will comfort the next family that loses a loved one.
This example screams for simple and immediate implementation of lean methods. It is not rocket science. Although the bureaucracy is doing its "best", action on this problem need not be delayed. Error proofing is a basic concept of lean. You simply devise ways to completely prevent common and likely errors. A lean manufacturer would immediately address this issue and market the improved safety. Luckily the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices in Atlanta has begun positive work with drug suppliers but it is clearly not moving as fast as is needed. Interestingly they have a system standard of TALLMAN letters for labels that emphasize the differences between similar medicines right on their label. Why is this not industry standard?
Interested lean leaders would simply ask the front line workers to identify the most likely confused medications. Thereby creating an immediate database of improvements to tackle, heading off mistakes in the short term. I bet there are many simple (and cheap) error proofing ideas on the minds of health care workers waiting to be engaged. Lean is about making improvements right now using the expertise of the front line workers. It is ironic that the bureaucracy has such a hold on "improvement" that even simple changes that save lives can't be made quickly. Isn't saving lives quickly is what health care is all about? I would start with those on the front line, not waste time installing long term costly "solutions" or developing a reporting system that costs more than the solutions to most of this issue would. It is sad that lean in health care at the national level in Canada is not visible at all.
Today I read an article in the NP that needs a lean response. Tom Blackwell's article puts light on a serious problem in health care: confusion over similar looking labels has led to mistakes causing death. The tragic deaths of 2 people in Calgary who while undergoing dialysis were given deadly potassium chloride instead of harmless sodium chloride solution; a mistake traced to the extreme similarity of the packaging and labelling. The article quotes pharmacy professor Neil MacKinnon: "If you ask any kind of front line nurse or pharmacist they would say 'Gee, this isn't rocket science, why can't they make labelling clearer- put things in different size fonts and colors?' It's a big problem we've known about for a long time but there doesn't seem like a lot of impetus for change."
The government and industry are working on a standard bar code system for use with scanners - a highly expensive solution that will take "years" to implement. Health Canada is also being asked to vet labels and packaging that may lead to mistakes. They are committing $2 million to a system for REPORTING incidents and developing preventive measures! I am sure the reporting system will comfort the next family that loses a loved one.
This example screams for simple and immediate implementation of lean methods. It is not rocket science. Although the bureaucracy is doing its "best", action on this problem need not be delayed. Error proofing is a basic concept of lean. You simply devise ways to completely prevent common and likely errors. A lean manufacturer would immediately address this issue and market the improved safety. Luckily the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices in Atlanta has begun positive work with drug suppliers but it is clearly not moving as fast as is needed. Interestingly they have a system standard of TALLMAN letters for labels that emphasize the differences between similar medicines right on their label. Why is this not industry standard?
Interested lean leaders would simply ask the front line workers to identify the most likely confused medications. Thereby creating an immediate database of improvements to tackle, heading off mistakes in the short term. I bet there are many simple (and cheap) error proofing ideas on the minds of health care workers waiting to be engaged. Lean is about making improvements right now using the expertise of the front line workers. It is ironic that the bureaucracy has such a hold on "improvement" that even simple changes that save lives can't be made quickly. Isn't saving lives quickly is what health care is all about? I would start with those on the front line, not waste time installing long term costly "solutions" or developing a reporting system that costs more than the solutions to most of this issue would. It is sad that lean in health care at the national level in Canada is not visible at all.
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