By: Michael BurchettWe often find companies (and suppliers to those companies) are skeptical of impl...

1. Lean Manufacturing | LeanCor
By: Michael Burchett
We often find companies (and suppliers to those companies) are skeptical of implementing lean
manufacturing principles. But I would challenge them to ask themselves, do they have inputs? Do
they have outputs? Do they have processes and people to transform those inputs into outputs? If so,
they have a field of opportunity for improvement through lean principles. Although the application of
lean is virtually inexhaustible, here are three tools leveraging lean manufacturing principles to help
you get started. These high-impact efforts can lead to waste reduction, cost reduction, and overall
competitive advantage.
1. Value Stream Mapping
The creation of a value stream map (VSM) is a method often used in lean manufacturing that allows
organizations to take a step out of their individual jobs and departments and look at the overall value
stream - or material and information flow that brings a product from its beginning to the customer.
"Many lean practitioners see value stream mapping as the fundamental tool to identify waste, reduce
process cycle times, and implement process improvement. Some organizations treat the value
stream map as the hallmark of their lean efforts" (www.ASQ.org).

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uld include representatives from every company and facility touching the stream, including
managers involved in manufacturing, purchasing, material handling, transportation, and
warehousing. It's important to observe and record the actual operations of the value stream to see
what is really happening, not what is supposed to be happening or what historical data has said in
the past.
The value stream map is a tool used in both lean manufacturing that is used to identify waste. If you
see a high number of people, processes and arrows taking up a significant portion of the map, but
they are only adding minimal value to the overall stream, there is likely an opportunity to eliminate
waste.
While value steam mapping can be an effective process improvement tool, the cost to use it can be
high. Because of the need for considerable detail, team members will spend hours, even days, to
develop a comprehensive value steam map. Thus, a consulting group can be a valuable resource with
the expertise necessary for your organization to efficiently create the value stream map and hit the
ground running with implementation.
2.
The heart of lean manufacturing is the desire to uncover problems and solve them at the root cause.
All tools and methods of lean manufacturing are used to support this goal. At LeanCor we create a
culture of problem solving by having a short meeting every morning to discuss potential issues for
that day's operations. Standing up and identifying these issues helps everyone to know where the
team stands every day and how they can manage around them. In addition to the daily meetings, we
also engage in a weekly meeting to discuss continuous improvement projects. Throughout the week
we identify problems and use our weekly meeting to prioritize and discuss how to improve. Problems
come in all shapes and sizes, from a rotten delivery of wood to walking too far to the trash can, and

3. there are several lean tools used to uncover the root cause. These include A3 documents, swim
lanes, pareto charts, "5 why" analysis, fishbone diagrams, time and motion charts, and XY matrixes.
3. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
At a high level, this project management tool is an analysis of the ways your process can fail, and the
effects the failure will have. Often used in lean manufacturing and lean supply chain, this tool allows
you to highlight potential failures that could occur in a project and prioritize them based on how
severe the potential problem would be if it were to occur.
Creating an FMEA will not only allow you more accurately plan your projects, but it is also a great
way to embrace lean manufacturing and stand out from your competitors. When meeting with
potential customers about a project that affects them, an FMEA can highlight potential issues and
help put them to rest before your customers even realize they would be issues.
The tools in this post are suggested because you do not need to completely change the way you do
business in order to implement them, yet still achieve impressive results. Lean manufacturing is not
a flavor of the month but rather it is a business philosophy. Also remember that there is no such
thing as a perfect process; it is for this reason that the application of lean principles is inexhaustible.
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12
MAR