Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity

Departments – ASSEMBLY

Here is the latest lean column from Jamie Flinchbaugh, of the Lean Learning Center . You can read my Q&A with Jamie here, and he is also the author of the book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Lean.”

Jamie makes the argument that the main benefits from pull come not from reductions in cycle time or inventory. Rather, the biggest gains from pull come from identifying problems to be solved as you operate the system over time.

This seems easier said than done in most company or factory cultures. Most people want to have zero problems or at least have the appearance of zero problems. It takes quite a bit of strong leadership to cultivate a culture where having problems is OK because you have a strong problem-solving process in place.

I’m sure there are far fewer factories with good problem solving processes in place than there are factories with kanban/pull systems. They might have the mechanics of pull down, but not the culture.

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.