A Simple Guide to Lean Process Improvement

There are many businesses out there that operate with a mindset of “Well, that’s how we’ve always done it.” Unfortunately, this type of close-minded thinking can lead to a great deal of waste. When this occurs within an organization, employee satisfaction decreases so turnover increases, quality suffers so customer satisfaction and retention is decreased, and one look at the books will indicate the company is hemorrhaging money.

What is lean process improvement?

A concept originally developed by Toyota to decrease the amount of time it took from receiving an order to delivering it

• The whole idea behind this way of thinking is that when you look at the big picture, you can find ways to eliminate waste, whether that’s financial, physical, time, or employee energy that could be spent elsewhere

Identify what improvements need to be made

Involve your team again

Identify what activities add value

During this time, you must evaluate every single activity to determine whether it adds value to your process, or detracts

• If an activity is deemed unnecessary, it should be removed and the process tested without it
• Throughout these steps, you’ll be assessing every single action and every aspect of your process

Kanban

These boards allow you to visualize your workflow and use value stream mapping to break down your workflows into stages

How do I incorporate lean process improvement into my business?

There’s a process

• A series of nine steps you’ll need to implement to create this level of efficiency
• Lean Process Improvement Steps
• Steps to implement
• Start with the nine most important steps

WIP Limits

These limits force you to stay under a maximum number of work items for each stage.

Review the process you want to improve

If you don’t know what you need to work on, you won’t know where to focus your efforts

Monitor how changes are impacting efficiency

Once the process is tested in the field, it will need to be further refined.

Final Thoughts on Lean Process Improvement

Identify the biggest sources of inefficiency in your organization and target these first, one at a time, until you’ve created a well-functioning business.

• Your most valuable assets are the employees getting their hands dirty every day. Attempting to identify problems and create solutions without getting their input is akin to driving blind when you could simply open your eyes.

What are the benefits of lean process improvement?

Less waste

• Increased productivity
• Better quality
• Happier customers
• Fewer costs
• More profits
• When your customers receive their product faster and with less hassle, you’ll have happier customers who return and recommend you to others

Limit risk

Use this time to identify any risky activities or aspects that are part of the current process and eliminate or simplify these tasks

Lean Process Improvement Tools

There are a number of tools that can help you organize your thoughts, identify issues, and implement your plan

• The one you choose must be the right one for the current job
• Why Analysis: By asking “Why?” repeatedly, you can identify the root cause of the challenges you’re experiencing
• Ishikawa Diagram: Also known as a “Fishbone diagram” or “cause-and-effect diagram”, it allows you to examine a problem from multiple angles
• Affinity Diagram
• FMEA Analysis (failure mode and effects): Catching issues before they get out of hand

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