From Kaizen to Continuous Improvement
Kaizen Kickoff Complete! But now what?
So you are fully committed to your lean implementation and there is nothing that is going to get in your way! Your first kaizen event was an overwhelming success and you even completed a Value Stream Map (VSM), but now what? Now that you started the lean ball rolling, how do you keep your lean momentum moving forward?
Well, I like to think of it like a migrating flock of geese flying in a V-formation. Your first kaizen event becomes the lead goose in the formation. To build lean momentum, do not start another kaizen event directly after your first event because the "lead goose" isn't yet established. Instead, after your kickoff event, you want to transition that kickoff team from a kaizen structure to a continuous improvement (CI) structure. Note that this takes patience on the part of the plant leaders.
To structure your lean flock and create that flying "V" formation, you need to be a lean visionary. Envision the ideal. Think; what does world-class look? See perfection! Then convert that first kaizen team into a CI Team and steer them and support them on their journey to lean perfection. Eventually your entire plant will be a world-class lean facility, but your first goal is to create a world-class pilot area. Your lean pilot area will be the working representation of your vision and your employees can then see and share in your lean vision.
How do you transition your kaizen kickoff team into a CI team?
Structure the Follow-up Activity
From a momentum standpoint, the follow-up activity is even more important than the kaizen event itself. You want to leverage your initial success and build your lean momentum. Do this by developing a structure for continuous improvement (CI) activity.
Starting with your pilot project, create a world-class KPI board, implement SMED, TPM, Standard Methods, Kanbans and many other applicable lean tools. The implementation of these lean tools will provide the model for your entire plant. All of your future kaizen teams will visit this pilot area and those visiting teams will consider your pilot project as the gold-standard for lean manufacturing. Future CI teams will follow in the footsteps of your pilot team. In other words, they will follow your lead goose and fly in good formation.
How you do make the transition from kaizen to CI?
- Determine the Team. Who will be the team members on this continuous improvement team?
- Determine the Leader. Who will lead this continuous improvement team? It does not need to be the kaizen event leader either. It can be someone else from the initial kaizen team.
- Meet Weekly. Choose a day of the week, a time and a meeting place for this ongoing weekly CI meeting.
- Use the Rolling-5 Action Plan Method. The kaizen team will inevitably have a long list of uncompleted action items plus the continuous improvement team will identify their own action items. So how do you manage, prioritize and tackle all of these actions? Do this by using the rolling-5 action plan method. Have the team select the five most important action items. Create a one page action form and title it "Rolling-5 Action Plans" and post it on the team's KPI board. The rolling-5 list should have names and target dates assigned to each of these actions. When something gets completed, then simply add another action item. The team meeting conversations need to center around this rolling-5 list. Team members should report-out on the status of their assigned tasks. Additionally, maintain a documented "parking lot" of ideas. Spend time brainstorming new ideas too. You will discuss and pull action items from the parking lot list whenever a rolling-5 action item gets completed and you have room to add another rolling-5 action item.
Your Lean Model is Priceless
When you have one factory process area that is flying ahead of everyone else, you provide a starting point for all future activity. Lets say for example that Line 25 was the process selected for your kickoff kaizen event and then that team transitioned into a CI team. For months, the Line 25 team never stopped progressing. Then a few months later you find that you have a tremendous business need to improve Line 30 and so you establish a Line 30 kaizen team.
This new team will follow the same kaizen process as the Line 25 team did a few months prior, but they have a huge advantage. They can just look to Line 25 and steal shamelessly. They can use the Line 25 KPI board as a model and a starting point for their own KPI board. They can use the format of the Line 25 standard work. The Line 30 team can use the model that the Line 25 team created for SMED, Visual Controls, Kanban, Single Piece Flow, 5S and TPM. The Line 30 team doesn't need to create everything from scratch. Instead, they have real working examples to use during their event. As such, their lean progress will go much faster than your Line 25 pilot project.
When to do more Kaizen Blitzes?
You can't afford to wait until your initial pilot project reaches perfection until you kick-off a second event because it will take a year of consistent team effort for your pilot project to reach world-class standards. So how long do you wait for kaizen event #2?
If you did a good job and really supported your pilot team and you held them accountability to deliver lean perfection, then after 4-5 weeks you should initiate your second kaizen event. If you wait more than 5 weeks, you will have lost that valuable momentum. But if you wait less than 4 weeks, then you won't be providing your pilot team with enough time to develop the lean best practices for your plant. Hence, you won't have an established plant-wide lean model for other teams to follow.
This 4-5 week window is critical for success and it is why plant leadership needs to stay engaged in CI activity after the initial kaizen event. If you lose lean momentum and/or don't establish a plant-wide lean model, your lean initiative will fizzle away. Stay focused on that pilot project because a focused approach works and a shotgun approach does not.
Why A Shotgun Approach is not Effective
Have you ever toured a plant that is trying to implement lean, but they seem to be struggling to establish traction? As you walk the plant you see some small islands of lean practices, but you aren't seeing any breakthrough results. The mostly likely cause of their poor lean execution was a shotgun implementation strategy. A shotgun approach just isn't effective.
A shotgun strategy seldomly works because all of the teams are just doing their own thing. There is no lead goose for the teams to model after. Also, plant resources get spread too thin and they simply can't support the amount of seemingly random activity that is happening in the plant. Lastly, the lean culture gets no attention. Lean becomes a volunteer initiative instead of a leadership strategy. There lacks lean accountability at all levels and plant employees get to decide independently to take-it or leave-it. Lean culture can't be established in a plant that is implementing random lean activities.
Learn How to Move the Lean Culture Forward
Commit. Kaizen. Continue.
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