General Services

Strategic Value Stream Mapping
Lean Implementation Coaching
On-Site Lean Assessments
Culture and Focus – Leadership (Part I)
Culture and Focus – Sustaining and Improving (Part II)
Problem Solving – Creative Structuring
Problem Solving – With Structured Teams (The 8D Process)
Problem Solving – The 8D Blitz

Strategic Value Stream Mapping

Whether your business manufacturers products or provides services, lean deployment starts with Strategic Value Stream Mapping. This process begins with me spending one to two days getting to know your business. I conduct an initial assessment of your business environment, assessing your organization’s deployment readiness. Once completed, I get to know your products/services, and develop an understanding of what your customers’ value. Based on business complexity, we may complete a Product/Service/Process Matrix to help identify a specific product line or Service provision to begin with specifically. In less complex businesses, we may be able to map the whole business. Once, a business case is drafted and approved by the leadership team, Strategic Value Stream Mapping is conducted with a cross functional group of your staff. This group receives training and participates in the mapping process. This last three to five days based on business size and complexity. These days can be done consecutively or broken down into single days across weeks to reduce the strain upon your organization’s resources.

Objectives:

• Understanding of lean and it’s origins
• How to setup and organize a Strategic Value Stream Mapping event
• How to create a Current State Value Stream Map
• Broad understanding of Lean Technical tools
• How to create a Future Value Stream Map
• How to develop an implementation plan

Deliverables:

• Base level Lean Assessment
• Current State VSM
• Future State VSM
• Implementation Plan
• A3 Report highlighting above items for overall business communication

Lean Implementation Coaching

I have the advantage of experience in implementing lean across diverse sets of business models. This often gives me insight and the ability to see lean implementation problems from a different perspective which in turn allows me to introduce creative, effective solutions. I will help you overcome barriers and achieve the benefits of lean techniques while teaching your internal people to become lean leaders. I will work with your team as a mentor and resource. The time that I spend with your business will be based solely on the level of maturity of the implementation and how quickly your people take on the role of leadership.

Objectives:

• Educate the management team in lean techniques
• Plan and carry out Strategic Value Stream Map Implementation Plan actions
• Instruct your internal personnel in lean training and implementation coordination
• Work with the organization’s Strategic Value Stream Leadership Team to ensure successful implementation gains.

On-Site Lean Assessment

The assessment process determines the maturity level of your lean implementation. Whether your company has been involved in these principles for a short time or many years, assessing current success can greatly accelerate future progress. How well is your lean implementation program working? What can you do to accelerate your lean implementation? Are there any gaps in your deployment of lean? An on-site lean assessment can help you answer these questions.

I have prepared specific assessments for both the office/service environments and the manufacturing environments or the assessments can be combined for a full facility assessment of both office and manufacturing areas. Each assessment focuses on six categories: Vision, Management, Culture, Technical Tools, Performance, and Deployment Status. Each of these categories breaks down into four to eight subcategories, in order to provide a very detailed picture of your business. Assessments usually take one to two days per location based on organization size and complexity.

Objectives:

• Detailed review of lean implementation across organization
• Identify any deployment gaps
• Identify opportunities for improvement
• Quantify improvements

Deliverables:

• Assessment Report and Presentation to Leadership Team

Culture Focus – Leadership (Part I)

Often I have come across those that believe that lean implementation is best to be done through a bottom up approach by engaging the team members first. My experience has shown that often times it is far too easy to engage a team, make process improvements and NOT change the team leaders’ focus or get their support for the new or improved processes. For this reason, lean implementation should be approached from both ends through engaging the team leaders and the team members, so that they can “meet in the middle.” This training is part one of a two-part series of training events designed to build lean cultural competencies into your organization. Part one focuses on leadership roles and consists of a series of five classes/implementation events: How to Lead Lean, Leader Standardized Work, Daily Accountability, Key Performance Indicators, and Visual Controls. The actual classroom activities only take approximately 12 hours and can be broken down into three 4 hour classes. Mentoring and coaching for implementation of the tools will vary based on organization’s size and readiness ranging from one to three months of weekly activities.

Objectives:

• Set standard expectations for all leaders at all levels within the business
• Develop a clear understanding of the lean cultural tools: Leader Standardize Work, Daily Accountability, Key Performance Indicators, and Visual Controls
• Provide implementation experience to help leaders manage their teams and processes
• Provide mentoring and coaching for leaders throughout the implementation process

Deliverables:

• All Leaders will have established their initial standardized work
• All leaders with complete understanding of what key metrics drive the business (KPIs)
• Daily accountability process established
• Base level visual controls established

Culture Focus – Sustaining and Improving (Part II)

This training is part two of a two part series of training events designed to build lean cultural competencies into your organization. While part one focused primarily on lean leadership skills, part two is designed to ensure that your organization is set up to sustain lean improvements by providing the required support for those improvements. Part two consist of a series of four classes/implementation events: Teaching and Improving through Gemba Walks, Standardized Work Checks – Why and How, Responding Rapidly to Prevent Stalling and Team Continuous Improvement Processes. The actual classroom activities only take approximately 16 hours and can be broken down into four 4 hour classes. Mentoring and coaching for implementation of the tools will vary based on your organization’s size and readiness ranging from one to three months of weekly activities.

Objectives:

• Setup a system for your organization to maintain lean improvements
• Deploy a systematic method of teaching throughout the organization
• Drive team based continuous improvements
• Provide mentoring and coaching for leaders throughout the implementation process

Deliverables:

• Gemba Walk process established and functioning
• Systematic approach for Standardized Work Checks deployed
• Rapid Response Process established
• System for driving team based continuous improvements established

Problem Solving – Creative Structuring

Every organization will face problems. Often the speed at which your team can solve a problem correctly adds value to both your company and your customers. How good are you and your team at solving problems? This course teaches seven basic foundation techniques for organizing or structuring a problem for analysis in such a way as to overcome common human mental traits that often lead to incorrect solutions. The course provides a series of hands on exercises to provide attendees experience in applying problem structuring skills in a real world business environment. The techniques taught are: Problem Restatement, 5 Whys and a How, PROs-CONs-and-FIXes, Divergent Thinking, Flow Diagramming, Fishbones, and Matrices. Course length is approximately 6 to 8 hours depending upon the number of participants.

Objectives:

• Explain what it means to structure analysis
• Identify mental traits that tend to prevent accurate problem solving
• Explain how structuring overcomes these traits
• Teach seven basic techniques to easily structure problems that will significantly enhance ability to analyze, understand and solve problems.

Problem Solving – With Structured Teams (The 8D Process)

There are several problem solving approaches available, such as Kepner-Tregoe, the Deming Cycle, etc. Ford Motor Company combined many of the successful elements from these approaches into an “Eight Discipline” approach composed of eight distinct steps in a systematic process for solving problems. At the heart of The 8D problem solving process is people working together to resolve problems using a structured 8 step process to help focus on facts not opinion. This course is a combination of classroom training and an actual use of the process to solve real issues facing your organization. The course requires minimum prep work of approximately 2 to 4 hours in selecting the number of teams to train and selecting initial problems to work on during the course. Training will begin once management has approved the initial teams and problems. Course last approximately two to four days based on number of teams and complexity of problems. These days can be done consecutively or broken into single days across weeks to reduce the strain upon your organization.

Objectives:

• Deploy the 8D structured team problem solving approach within your organization
• Use this approach as a framework for applying qualitative methods to your company’s priority problem concerns

Deliverables:

• A team or multiple teams of your employees fully trained to address problems within your organization
• One to two problems either fully addressed or well on their way to solution based on your teams’ efforts during the training course
• Example forms for your company to use in deployment

Problem Solving – The 8D Blitz

Do you have an immediate issue but very little resources? No time for the above 8D training? Put my expertise to work for you immediately through an 8D Blitz, where upon review of your issue and agreement to scope, I will facilitate a rapid response 8D team, composed of your employees to solve the problem. Event length and price vary based on review of your issue and the complexity around finding a solution. Often 8D Blitz last three to five days.