How do you evaluate and learn from the results and feedback of your Jidoka and Lean projects?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start any Jidoka or Lean project, you need to have a clear and measurable goal and a set of relevant metrics to track your progress and performance. Your goal should align with your customer's needs, your business objectives, and your process capabilities. Your metrics should reflect the key aspects of quality, efficiency, and value that you want to improve, such as defect rate, cycle time, throughput, customer satisfaction, and profitability. You should also establish a baseline and a target for each metric, as well as a way to collect and analyze the data.

2 Monitor and adjust your process

As you implement your Jidoka or Lean project, you should monitor your process and your metrics regularly and compare them with your baseline and target. This will help you identify any gaps, issues, or opportunities for improvement. You should also use tools such as control charts, run charts, Pareto charts, or histograms to visualize and understand the variation and distribution of your data. If you notice any significant changes or deviations from your expected results, you should investigate the root causes and take corrective actions. You should also document and communicate your findings and actions to your team and stakeholders.

3 Collect and analyze feedback

Another important source of information for evaluating your Jidoka or Lean project is the feedback from your customers and other stakeholders. You should collect and analyze feedback from various channels, such as surveys, interviews, reviews, complaints, or suggestions. You should also use tools such as Kano model, Net Promoter Score, or Voice of the Customer to categorize and prioritize the feedback according to the customer's expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty. You should also look for any patterns, trends, or themes in the feedback that can help you understand the customer's needs, preferences, and pain points.

4 Learn and improve your process

The final step of evaluating your Jidoka or Lean project is to learn from the results and feedback and use them to improve your process. You should compare your actual outcomes with your planned goals and metrics and determine if you met, exceeded, or fell short of them. You should also identify the strengths and weaknesses of your process, as well as the best practices and lessons learned from your project. You should also use tools such as PDCA cycle, A3 report, or Kaizen to plan, implement, check, and act on your improvement actions. You should also share your learning and improvement with your team and stakeholders.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?