A Few Basics of Lean Thinking

"A bad system will beat a good person every time.”?-?W. Edwards Deming

Good Sunday morning all and welcome to this edition (No. 51) of "With That Said" (WTS), a LinkedIn newsletter powered by your friends here at Supply Chain Now .

Last Friday, Scott Luton shared his weekly "Good News" message, and part of his focus was on Lean thinking and eliminating waste. You can read & engage with the message via LinkedIn here. Scott concluded his message with this: "99.999% of people want to do great work on the job. Let's help empower & enable them to accomplish that...like never before."

So to that end, today we wanted to share just a few thoughts & tools related to Lean thinking, that can be successfully & powerfully applied in just about any environment. We won't be able to do the "Lean universe" justice today in a brief newsletter article, but we hope to create some awareness for our readers that may be new to Lean thinking.

For critical context, let's start by answering the question: "What is Lean?". Simply put, Lean thinking focuses on the relentless elimination of waste, in all of its forms, while seeking to continuously improve on delivering value (as defined by the customer).

When we say "waste", let's make sure we're on the same page, as there are many different types of waste in organizations, in any industry. You know we like our acronyms in global supply chain - - and one acronym that has been used for years to describe 8 universal wastes is TIMWOODS.

• Transportation: unnecessary movement of products & materials
• Inventory: carrying excess inventory
• Motion: wasted movement (such as foot steps) by people
• Waiting: wasted time spent waiting on the next part of the process
• Overproduction: making more of a product than what the customer demands
• Overprocessing: needlessly exceeding customer specifications
• Defects: the waste caused by a failure to meet customer expectations
• Skills: underutilized talent from across the workforce

One of the biggest first steps on your Lean thinking journey is the ability to understand (and then identify & eliminate) waste in all of its forms. This fundamental mindset alone can be immensely powerful for a team and an organization.

Let's take a look at three tools commonly associated with Lean thinking:

1. 5S is a methodology that focuses on creating and maintaining an organized, clean, productive and efficient workspace. The five S's stand for: Sort (remove unnecessary items), Set in order (organize remaining items), Shine (clean and inspect the workspace), Standardize (create standards for each process and workspace), and Sustain (maintain the new order and continuously improve). By implementing 5S, organizations aim to improve productivity, safety, and overall morale. Here's a free step-by-step guide to 5S from our friends at Graphic Products : click here
2. A Gemba walk, derived from the Japanese term "gemba" meaning "the real place," is a practice where managers and leaders go to the front lines of their organization to observe processes, workflows, and employee activities firsthand. That's where the value is created! Instead of relying on reports or second-hand information, the purpose of a Gemba walk is to gain a direct and deeper understanding of the value-creation process, gaining critical observations, insights, inputs & ideas that can help fuel continuous improvement. Check out this 11 Step guide to Gemba walks here, from KaiNexus .
3. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a visual tool used to map out, analyze and design the flow of materials and information required to bring a product or service to a customer. By charting out every step of a process, from raw material to the end customer, VSM allows organizations to identify waste, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks in their processes. Through VSM, businesses can create a clearer understanding of the big picture and work on optimizing the entire value stream rather than isolated points within it. Additionally, it can help create valuable organizational alignment by helping to break down the "silo mentality" between functional areas and departments. Learn more about VSM, as well as see templates, here from our friends at the American Society for Quality .

Lean thinking, including each of these 3 tools (which are only a FEW in the big ol' Lean tool bag), can be applied in any organization and in any industry. Also, be sure to check out one of our SCN episodes from earlier this year, where Mark Preston joined Scott to share "5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Continuous Improvement Efforts": click here

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#supplychain #logistics #warehouse #distribution #finalmile #automation #freight #leadership #digitaltransformation #manufacturing #retail #scm #supplychainmanagement #news Greg White Constantine Limberakis Amanda Luton Tyler Ward Katherine H. Clay Phillips Mary Kate Love Mary Kate S. Kevin L. Jackson, CISSP?,CCSP? Trisha Cordes