The Agile Manufacturer

"Stay Thirsty My Friends!"

What’s the toughest part of any lean implementation? Some will argue that it’s getting started. I would argue that it’s sustaining the gains. A study conducted by the Shingo Prize Committee found that 2/3 of companies that are awarded the prize for manufacturing excellence; fail to maintain the gains that earn them the award in the first place.

So why is it so hard to sustain? I believe there are a number of reasons for this, but the most prevalent is probably that it’s easier to fall back into bad habits. I’d like to address some common ways of maintaining the momentum when it comes to lean.

Keep Moving the Goal Line

Of the companies that I have witnessed, that have had their lean initiatives come off the rails, so-to-speak, one of the things we typically see is a “let down” after achieving a major goal. One example that readily comes to mind is a client that is a manufacturer of custom food processing equipment used in industrial food preparation. Their goal was to reduce their quote-to-ship time from 30 days down to 5, a seemingly lofty and admirable goal to be sure. The company doggedly pursued their goal. They simplified their products; they implemented work cells that minimized routing steps; they implemented a kanban replenishment system; they streamlined their quoting process and automated shipping functions. They slowly and steadily whittled down their quote-to-ship times. They finally achieved their goal and achieved their goal of 5 days. The company celebrated the achievement of their goal and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. 6 months later they had fallen back to shipping in 10-12 days. The reason that they could not sustain is they, collectively, had lost their drive to improve. They pushed so hard, for so long and then they relaxed and stopped pushing altogether.

As unlikely as it might seem, the key is to take the advice of “The World’s Most Interesting Man” from the Dos Equis beer commercials when he says, “Stay thirsty my friends!” You see, in order to be successful; you’ve got to want more. You’ve got to never stop pushing for improvements. You must constantly refine your goals and keep striving forward to prevent any backsliding.

Be Gracious with People

In order to sustain gains realized through kaizen and other lean initiatives, it’s critically important to police your practices. Do not allow people to backslide into poor practices, and maintain the policies, practices and procedures implemented during your initiative(s). Make sure to instill the importance of maintaining positive, forward momentum. It’s also helpful to give employees a sense of ownership over projects. Compliment liberally. Criticize sparingly. Reward people for their efforts! Continue to invest in, and educate your people.

You Don’t Work with The Energizer Bunny!

We’ve probably all seen the little rabbit from the Energizer battery commercial that keeps going and going, seemingly tirelessly…the rabbit doesn’t exist in the real world. The truth is that it’s tough to maintain a high level of energy and enthusiasm for long periods of time. For this reason it’s important to break projects up into manageable pieces. Take frequent, short breaks to allow workers to regain their bearings.
Maintaining a high level of energy and enthusiasm is difficult in any long term initiative; it is increasingly so when the marginal utility of each additional project begins to fall. For this reason, senior management must not waver at any point during the process. To borrow a metaphor from football: It may be more difficult to run the ball when you’re on the opponent’s 10 yard line, than it is in the middle. But a two yard gain on the 10 yard line is just as important, or more so than an easier run elsewhere on the field that gets more yardage.

Maintain Continuity!

Another reason that some organizations fail to sustain, is the loss of a key individual. Some of the greatest lean implementations I have ever seen were led by a single, driven individual. Unfortunately, if that person leaves, the organization becomes like a ship without a rudder, aimless drifting or spinning in circles. For this reason, it’s important that everything possible is done to maintain continuity in leadership. If it becomes necessary to change leadership, it’s important that the new leadership maintain a similar level of focus to their predecessor.

“Trust…but verify.”

The late President Ronald Reagan coined that phrase and in this case it is apropos. We want to trust and empower our employees, but we also want to periodically perform audits to ensure that workers are following policies, practices and procedures. In addition to audits, you should monitor meaningful metrics to ensure consistent performance and maintenance of standards.