How do you prioritize and select the most impactful and feasible Lean Thinking projects and opportunities?

Identifying value streams reveals the processes that increase customer value and minimize waste at every step of the organization. This is achieved by visualizing and analyzing all processes with a value stream map. Value stream mapping aims to ensure the most efficient use of resources by clearly showing bottlenecks and areas for improvement.

Identifying the value stream is crucial in Lean Thinking as it helps to visualize the entire process and identify areas of waste and inefficiency. I've seen how this step can dramatically streamline workflows, leading to significant improvements in efficiency and cost savings. It's important to remember that this is a data-driven process - the value stream should be based on actual, quantifiable data to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.

While identifying value stream, it's known that you should include material and information flow. There is one more thing to include in the value streams. It is available resources and skills. There are so many example that resources such as machine, equipment, etc. are considered in value stream. If wo don't consider skills of people work in the value stream, we can ignore real losses. So I suggest that consider skills of people in value stream for every process step.

Value streams starts with the customer and ends with the customer. Basically, customer, by placing an order, pulls value out of the system. Imagine, walking into a supermarket, from the shelf taking a bottle of aerated drinks, let us hypothetically visualize a replenishment order getting placed to the logistics guy, and the logistics guy places an order with the warehouse, and warehouse to manufacturer and manufacturer orders from raw materials and so on. Many more concepts and reams can be written around the value stream and value stream mapping. Need to note, VS is different from process mapping.

SIPOC approach. That gives you supplier, inputs, process, output and customer. To see the results and then VSM. Pareto is good for defects. Target Battlenecks. Then DMAIC and PDCA.

Evaluating the impact and feasibility is a critical step in Lean Thinking. It's not just about identifying potential improvements but also understanding their potential value and the resources required. Using tools like the impact-effort matrix or a PICK chart can help prioritize projects. Remember, it's not just about making changes, but making the right changes that will drive efficiency and improvement.

Need to keep in mind, the benefit of the project should be at least 5x the cost, or some such factor that makes sense to the organization and a suitable, consistent time frame.

Necessidade s?o infinitas e recursos s?o escassos, temos que ter foco. portanto priorizar o que é importante é essencial para o sucesso do projeto.

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Albert Einstein Assess both the potential impact and feasibility of each Lean opportunity. Prioritize projects that will yield the most substantial improvements in key metrics like cost reduction quality enhancement or time savings while also considering resource availability and technical constraints for instance a high impact project that’s resource heavy may take longer but could have a transformative effect whereas a low effort project might deliver quick wins with smaller improvements so think benefits efforts matrix.

Aligning Lean Thinking projects with strategic goals is crucial for achieving organizational success. It's not just about streamlining processes, but also about driving efficiency and productivity in a way that supports the overall vision and mission. Using tools like balanced scorecard, strategy map, or OKR can be extremely beneficial in communicating these alignments effectively. Remember, Lean Thinking is a data-driven approach that should always be tied back to the organization's strategic objectives.

Gets a little tricky here, Lean-ing is something across the organization as value flows across the functions and through value streams. While prioritization in terms of reducing cost, or improving customer satisfaction, and so on can be a starting point but needs to evolve towards having a strategic view of value streams.

"Strategy without process is little more than a Wishlist." Robert Filek Make sure your Lean projects align with strategic goals, consider Hoshin Kanri( Policy Deployment) method as a powerful tool you can utilize. This method cascades high level strategic objectives adown to actionable Lean initiatives at all levels of the organization. If your strategic goal is to improve patient satisfaction, it can help break down the goal into specific lean projects, reducing patient wait times or enhancing discharge procedures. The goal is to align each project to contribute to achieving the broader strategic objectives, aligning daily operations with long term goals. Create a structured approach that keeps efforts focused on the mission or the org.

Hoshin Kanri. Desdobramento estratégico e conex?o com o norte verdadeiro s?o fatores fundamentais para trilharmos o caminho rumo ao sucesso. conectando propósito a prática.

While creating the year’s business improvement plan, it should be ensured alignment with strategic goals. Middle management can identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. Frontline employees should be involved in value stream mapping and process improvement activities. If we encourage their input and ideas for enhancing efficiency, they will be willing to share it. Also for customer side, customer journey maps can be used to identify areas for improvement.

Um fator decisivo de sucesso está na uni?o e foco da equipe. fazer um bom "nemawashi" é importante. Isso significa alinhar as expectativas, papéis e responsabilidades bem como ter um norte verdadeiro comum, onde estamos e onde juntos queremos chegar?

The biggest challenge in any change initiative of the organization, changing the way of working, is to ensure the new way is here to stay. One need not worry too much about DMAIC or PDCA etc., as the implementation part will be part of the overall project approach. Care should be taken not to confuse DMAIC with lean, as DMAIC is sixsigma-ish.

Muitas equipes e pessoas s?o boas em planejar, mas poucas s?o disciplinadas em terminar o plano, e é ai que temos que ter uma aten??o especial, foco e resiliência.

Leadership support is critical in lean operations. Additionally, it is important that employees have access to comprehensive training and development opportunities. Also, detailed mapping of processes and value streams helps the organization clearly see its strengths and weaknesses. For continuous improvement and adaptation, organizations must be willing to quickly adapt to changing conditions.