Day 2 - Japan Lean Tour Fall 2013

Day 2 of the Japan tour has wrapped up and we are now half way finished the trip! The second day started off with a visit to Toyota L&F. The Blackbelts even become part of the presentation with some hands on activities. 

We then moved onto ANA, where we were able to get up close and personal in the maintenance hangar. The ANA facility was impeccably clean and the group was able to make comparisons to other warehouses back in North America. 

The theme of today was "Technical", and the Blackbelts had a chance to dive in and look deeper at ways to bring more efficiency into different areas of inventory control and sustainability.

On top of the Day 2 activities, we also have a few takeaways to share with you from Day 1 as presented by a Blackbelt participant:

"Having a great time in Japan. The first day of the tour had us visit Nissan's Oppama plant. An older facility (I.e. the place where it all started 80 years ago) but ultra-Lean and built out to be efficient. Key concepts that stuck out and are ones that can be looked at for any business:

1) Metrics - Nissan has all the trimmings of a Lean shop, including huddle boards and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in all the right places. The most important metrics display they have is a simple board that shows a simple yet powerful LED metric display:

-Production Target for the day - 283
-Produced so far today - 142
-How many should be done so far today - 139
-How cars are they behind right now - 3
-How many behind the entire shift is trending towards - 5

Since takt time is 1 minute, the shift is trending to needing 5 minutes overtime at end of shift to catch up to target. Every single person on that production floor can relate to this simple metrics. What are those metrics in our businesses that can drive measurability and performance?

2) Kanban - At Nissan, the parts arrive in kits just in time at the assembly line for the particular car that is being worked on. How can we improve our planning and ability to get the right parts to our mechanics at the right time? Seeing this work so well inspiring and underscores that there is a lot more work to do to get this right!

3) Safety - Nissan has analyzed every step of their production process to identify areas where injuries or strain could occur. They have then added assist devices (such as the whole car lifting up for certain steps) to ensure that injuries don't happen. Their lost time injury rates are in the neighborhood of 0.2% of labour. Any injury or even assembly line problem is analyzed daily to drive out patterns and make improvements.

4) Lean Culture - A lot of ideas of how to promote/push Lean from how Nissan operates. For Nissan, Lean is just part of their Nissan Production Way (NPW) and not a course you take or a kaizen you run. For example, all Nissan employees are part of teams of 6 plus a supervisor. They all participate in QC circles (monthly 2-4 hours). Nissan brings competition into the mix and gets best teams to go up against best teams across the plant, then region, and then from around the world".

We are moving South to Nagoya tomorrow - on the go! Stay tuned for more updates.

Day 1 - Japan Lean Tour Fall 2013

The Japan Lean Tour Fall 2013 has officially started!

With almost 30 Blackbelts, we are so pleased to mention that this Japan Tour is the largest in Lean Sensei history.

The theme of the first day of the tour is "Culture".  Throughout our Lean learning today, cultural tidbits were presented to provide some more background to understanding Japan and it's heavily ingrained Lean mindset. Creating and fostering a Lean culture within your organization is a key element to the successful implementation of Lean. Japan has managed to instil values into its culture that fosters efficiency and a relentless focus on providing value to the customer.  Lean can be found anywhere in Japan - the button on your restaurant table to call the server is just one example of how Lean thinking has been integrated. 

The Blackbelts kicked off the day with a rousing chant in the lobby of the hotel – and nearly brought the chandeliers down with lots of energy and volume! The Blackbelts then had their first "taste" of Japan with our infamous Fear Factor game on the bus bound for a Nissan factory tour at the Nissan Oppama plant. 

What could it be? It's a mystery....

After Nissan, we stopped for a delicious buffet lunch (with a thumbs up from Lean Coach, Jake).

Our next stop was Asakusa temple for some sightseeing. As the tour is jam-packed with 6 factory tours in 4 days, this is the only time on the tour the Blackbelts have to experience this side of Japan.

After returning to the hotel, we had a traditional course meal at a Japanese restaurant. 

The energy is high and we are so thrilled to be able to share our knowledge of Japan and it's unique culture as it applies to Lean. We are off and running - stay tuned for Day 2! 

Japan Lean Tour is about to begin!

We are very excited to launch our flagship Japan Lean Tour program tomorrow. 28 members of our Blackbelt program arrived from all over North America. The launching point is right here in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Greenbelt Operations Calgary Module 2: Cycle-time reduction

Greenbelts in Calgary are working hard during their Module 2 Cycle-time reduction Kaizen:

 

 

 

We are looking forward to the results tomorrow!

The Lost Art of Storytelling

In our digital age of "i" everything from phones to TV's, the value of storytelling is getting lost. However, it is actually a very important vehicle for building a positive corporate culture.

 

SOP's and employee handbooks are important but cannot match the impact of one's the personal account and the interaction of face to face conversation. This is true not only for veterans of the company but even for those who have only been with the company for a year and helping new hires learn the ropes.

 

The following article outlines 8 signs of a culture driven organization. Not surprisingly, these traits align with practices of a lean organization. These traits include:

• exploring deeply into issues to find the root cause, such as our 5 Whys Funnel
• celebrating both small and large successes, which can be as simple as a champion board
• listen to the stories of others through regular benchmarking
• care and value for the customer, both external and internal is number one
• work efficiently, including efficient and clear communication such as through easy to follow SOP's and visual work systems

The science behind effective storytelling is part of our Greenbelt curriculum. Visit our website, email info@leansensei.com or call us at (604) 264-1000 for more information on how you can become Greenbelt Mugen Certified.

Link to full article:
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131001194940-172811-strengthen-and-sustain-culture-with-storytelling?_mSplash=1

Congratulations: Greenbelt Operations Vancouver Fall 2013 Graduates

We would like to extend our congratulations to the Greenbelt Operations Vancouver group as they all passed the program with flying colors today. It has been a wonderful journey so far, but it does not end here! Program participants now have the big job of returning to their respective organizations and continuing to carry the Lean torch. A few of these roles include: organizing and facilitating Kaizens, implementing Lean ideas, internal training and working to influence a culture of "Lean" within their organizations.

Module 1:

Working towards reaching the target:

In recognition of the top performers of the class, three medals were presented to the group. These awards are cumulative and look at the overall performance throughout all three modules. The criteria for the awards include:

  -Teamwork & Leadership in Kaizens and group activities
-Project achievements & total cost savings
-Overall transformation over the three modules
-Final Presentation
-Final Exam score

From left: Steven (Silver), Leanne (Gold), Denny (Bronze)

Graduation day (we are so proud!):

Thank you so much for all your hard work, and we look forward to continuing the Lean journey with you!

More information on the Greenbelt program and other programs is available on our website here.