Comments on: Be Careful with Copying http://www.leanblog.org/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/ Mark Graban's leanblog.org - Lean Healthcare, Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:26:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: curiouscat http://www.leanblog.org/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3889 curiouscat Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:35:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3889 One way to avoid copying is to do the opposite of what many want to. Find organizations to learn from that are not like you. If you are an airline seeking to improve turnaround time and you learn from Nascar pit crews it isn't easy to copy. You need to learn and then figure out how to apply it to your situation. Southwest Airlines did this, if my memory is right... One way to avoid copying is to do the opposite of what many want to. Find organizations to learn from that are not like you. If you are an airline seeking to improve turnaround time and you learn from Nascar pit crews it isn’t easy to copy. You need to learn and then figure out how to apply it to your situation. Southwest Airlines did this, if my memory is right…

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]]> By: Jay Godse http://www.leanblog.org/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3850 Jay Godse Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:54:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3850 I don't think there is a balance between learning from others and figuring it out yourself, because they are both learning experiences. <br/><br/>I think that copying artifacts of a lean process such as layouts only works optimally if you copy the accompanying business processes. If you are prosperous enough to consider copying somebody else's business process, it is because you probably have your own. Changing business processes is hard and much harder than it looks. The approach of Lean is to evolve business processes based on measurement of effectiveness. Each of these evolutions are straightforward and small, and continuously measuring intermediate results allows you to quickly reject inappropriate and/or untimely changes to the evolving business process. This is learning. <br/><br/>Learning from others' business processes is a useful learning exercise as well. From analyzing others' business processes, you may find redundancies or unnecessary steps in your own. You may find more efficient ways to execute the same process or similar processes. <br/><br/>There is no balance because both are useful learning experiences. I don’t think there is a balance between learning from others and figuring it out yourself, because they are both learning experiences.

I think that copying artifacts of a lean process such as layouts only works optimally if you copy the accompanying business processes. If you are prosperous enough to consider copying somebody else’s business process, it is because you probably have your own. Changing business processes is hard and much harder than it looks. The approach of Lean is to evolve business processes based on measurement of effectiveness. Each of these evolutions are straightforward and small, and continuously measuring intermediate results allows you to quickly reject inappropriate and/or untimely changes to the evolving business process. This is learning.

Learning from others’ business processes is a useful learning exercise as well. From analyzing others’ business processes, you may find redundancies or unnecessary steps in your own. You may find more efficient ways to execute the same process or similar processes.

There is no balance because both are useful learning experiences.

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]]> By: Industrial Guru http://www.leanblog.org/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3848 Industrial Guru Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:54:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3848 I agree.<br/><br/>I think alot of the issue at hand with copying is the variability. Lean processes should be learnt from experienced not from a fax machine. I agree.

I think alot of the issue at hand with copying is the variability. Lean processes should be learnt from experienced not from a fax machine.

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]]> By: Todd http://www.leanblog.org/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3846 Todd Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:04:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/08/be-careful-with-copying/#comment-3846 I honestly believe this gets at the heart of the success of the Toyota Production System. Taichii Ohno and Shigeo Shingo had visited Henry Ford's operations and developed ways to integrate the best manufacturing practices they observed into the environment they faced in Japan at the time. Although this is an over-simplification of what Ohno and Shingo did, the principle here is they did not copy Ford's production line. Today, anyone attempting to copy the Toyota Production System will fail, whereas, those who figure out how to integrate the underlying principles of TPS into their culture and environment will experience success.<br/><br/>The original poster you mentioned is likely still looking for a shortcut and probably does not have an appreciation for the tremendous benefits of drawing process maps or value-stream maps. I honestly believe this gets at the heart of the success of the Toyota Production System. Taichii Ohno and Shigeo Shingo had visited Henry Ford’s operations and developed ways to integrate the best manufacturing practices they observed into the environment they faced in Japan at the time. Although this is an over-simplification of what Ohno and Shingo did, the principle here is they did not copy Ford’s production line. Today, anyone attempting to copy the Toyota Production System will fail, whereas, those who figure out how to integrate the underlying principles of TPS into their culture and environment will experience success.

The original poster you mentioned is likely still looking for a shortcut and probably does not have an appreciation for the tremendous benefits of drawing process maps or value-stream maps.

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