1. 13/3/2020 Three Lean Principles You Can Apply Today - SmartDraw Blog | Productivity
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Three Lean PrinciplesYou CanApply
Today
Transitioning into a lean operation can seem like a monumental task. You want to be more
efficient, you want to improve quality and consistency of output, and to cut down on waste. The
problem is, there's so much to do it's a daunting undertaking.
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2. 13/3/2020 Three Lean Principles You Can Apply Today - SmartDraw Blog | Productivity
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Here's a tip. Start with these three things today and you'll be on your way to a leaner operation
with a very healthy mindset.
1.You Don't Have to Fix Everything Today
The first thing to do is relax. You don't need to do everything all at once. Think of the Pareto
principle, sometimes referred to as the 80/20 rule.
About 80 percent of the changes you want to make can be achieved with 20 percent of the effort
needed for the entire process. Focus on the easiest, most obvious areas first. The things that will
have the most impact. You can work on those higher-level problems later.
2. Focus on Organization and Efficiency
For most small-to-medium sized enterprises, there is plenty of room to improve in these two
critical areas. Here are a three things to focus on today:
The customer. How can you better serve your customers' needs? Think of ways to give them
better value for their money. How can you provide your product or service to them better,
faster, or cheaper?
Understand how work gets done. Do you know the steps in the process? Documenting these
can help you discover inefficiencies. Use a SmartDraw flowchart to do this quickly.
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3. 13/3/2020 Three Lean Principles You Can Apply Today - SmartDraw Blog | Productivity
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Organize work/production areas. Does your work area promote efficiency? Are items
placed in convenient and logical places? Is there inventory or equipment that is unused or
obsolete? Find ways to eliminate waste—things that waste space, time, money, or effort. Use
a 5S diagram to get started.
3. Develop a "Continuous Improvement" Mindset
It's important to remember that lean isn't just a "fix-it" solution. It's a business lifestyle change.
It's the equivalent of making sure your business eats and healthy diet and exercises every day.
For many businesses, lean works well at the outset, but then fails because leadership reverts to
traditional business practices.
A lean leader must develop a healthy, continuous improvement "lifestyle" and promote it
throughout the organization on a consistent, sustained basis. This means empowering people at
all levels to find improvement—then recognizing and rewarding their efforts. It is critical for
management to buy into this concept upfront and understand that it is crucial to stick with it.
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4. 13/3/2020 Three Lean Principles You Can Apply Today - SmartDraw Blog | Productivity
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