Genoa's lean lessons

Lean Conference Highlights and Take-aways

2011-06-15T11:35:00.001-03:00

Well....I attended the AME Lean Conference in Calgary last week. Combined AME/CME conference entitled "Get Back to the Future". June 2011....just in case you are wondering which year I am actually posting in...

I was invited to speak in "Value Stream 1: Lean Beyond Manufacturing". My topic was "Embedding Lean in the Engineering World". About 25 people attended and I think they were intrigued...had about 8-10 people waiting afterwards to talk and ask questions. Go the the website to download my presentation...and lots of others! http://ame.omnibooksonline.com/measure2011/index.html

The conference was excellent with some great take-aways. As I sat in the sun afterward and thought about the conference, and tried to make some notes on the past few days, I decided to categorize my thoughts into two major components. Concepts and Tools.

I personally walked away with some key concepts that I want to think about and develop over the next six months. Here they are:

When trying and launching a new idea - let's get 80% done right and launch the sucker. We'll go back and fine-tune the remaining 20% later...but let's get it out there!
More visual management needed...even in an engineering environment. Let's try to make the non-visual more visual!
How about launching a consortium-run conference! A conference put off by private business for other private businesses. No catches, no conditions.
Think left of the RFP. Sounds like a future blog topic....
Competitive advantage - cost and differentiation. Another future blog topic....
In 90% of Fortune 500 companies, 80% of revenues come from new products developed over the last 4 years.
Moving Beyond Improvement Tools - leader's responsibility!
Read "Escape the Improvement Trap" by Michael Bremer.
Organize my time and daily tasks according to a big picture. Another future blog post....
Leonard needs process charts....
Make the customer #1 reason for everything.

I think I'll save the tools for another easy post next week...

What is the value of value-added....

2010-07-09T15:25:00.003-03:00

I would like to start a discussion within the shipbuilding industry, or any industry, on the value from a customer's perspective, of value-added services or products.

Our specific concern is this. As a service-firm, who offers design services to the shipbuilding industry specializing in production design, I would like to get the customers' thoughts on what is worth paying for, and what is not.

Genoa Design prides itself on adding much value through our services to our customers...value beyond the scope of work. The value is hidden within small and specialized technical processes that allow our customers to save money and time through little things we include in our deliverables. Examples are: complete check dimensions, advanced build strategy with integrated piping and structure and outfit, profile plots showing bending offsets and inverse bending information if applicable, extra details in assembly drawings, a guaranteed process-driven design sequence that automates many design steps thus improving quality, and most importantly, up-front design checks that solve problems and issues and fill in missing information up front, so that the fabricator does not have to deal with issues on the floor.

Our impression is that many competitors follow a strict protocol, that outlined bluntly, means "whatever is presented on the drawings is lofted and delivered to the shipyard". This can lead to serious problems and difficulties on the shop floor.

By investing time up-front, we usually forcast most issues, get them solved earlier in the production design process, and deliver information to the yard that is mostly issue free.

The problem for us is that we embedd this process into our quotations, but as a result, we do not win every bid competition. We have to place some value on this extra time and effort, which we know beyond certainty, is worth every penny. Although our Lean processes offset this effort, the total contract value often leads to a slightly higher price. Still competitive, but just enough higher to notice.

So... when the fabricator is faced with two quotations to complete the job, they will usually choose the lesser of two prices. Esepcially in these economic times. The lower price often does not include the "value-added" service we provide.

I have several questions....

1. Should we simply eliminate this step of advanced problem solving?
2. Should we remove our value-added features? (extra details on drawings, extra plots, extra information)
3. Should we go to the trouble of quantifying these features and presenting them as options in a quotation?
4. How aggressive should we be when awarded a project, then trying to charge for extras and changes because they were not included in our scope of work?
5. Should we just drop our prices and operate without a margin, thus winning contracts, then proving the importance of our value-added services, hoping that we gain customer loyalty?
6. How can we make our customers aware of what we can do for them?
7. How much effort should we invest in educating our customers?
8. If customer education involves their own analysis and measures and metrics, how can we encourage customers to make this investment?
9. Should we model/design/loft the information that is presented exactly on the drawings? Then worry about changes and extras later?

I would be anxious to get some serious feedback on this.

Yes, I know the answers to some things. We cannot take the easy way out. We have to invest ourselves, in order to gain customer loyalty.

One way to achieve loyalty and impress customers is to consistently exceed expectations.

Mind you....we have done this in the past....and still we can lose a project, lose a customer, or experience the disappointment when a customer will try another vendor for some unknown reason.

Does the answer lie in a Lean Value-Chain? This is a new concept to the shipbuilding industry. How do we start this?

The bottom line is that we are all human.

When purchasing a used vehicle, and presented with two identical looking vehicles on the outside, many of us will choose the least expensive, hoping that the life-cycle cost is low. We are often willing to assume the risk. Sometimes we end up spending more down the line, in addition to the hastle of continued time-consuming maintenance, instead of making an investment up-front. Sometimes we get a great deal. No maintenance, no problems. Sometimes we buy a lemon. And man...that hurts.

When we want our van painted...and one painter will produce an excellent job with top quality paint, plus paint a dragon on the side of the van, and the other painter will produce an excellent job with top quality paint minus the dragon....many of us will opt for a dragon-less van. How about UV protection? Clear-coat? Free wash and wax? Free touch-ups for the next six months?

But in the words of a good friend...."I think the world needs more dragons".

Me...I think we all need touch-ups.

If you read this...let me know your thoughts....

Progress on Mini-Kaizens

2010-07-08T11:12:00.001-03:00

So we have our Mini-Kaizens all ready now....and with some final input from project managers we are ready to deploy next week.

Each Mini-Kaizen can be equated to an A3. We are not using the A3 presentation exactly; we have used a written text format. But, we have followed the A3 process to define the problems, define the root causes, define our countermeasures, achieve agreement, create a plan and timetable, and build in continuous improvement. Each Mini-Kaizen, or A3, is linked directly to our Hoshin Kanri. The Hoshin Kanri is fed by our overall Lean Transformation project. Year by year, diagnostic score feeds the Hoshin Kanri and helps us measure success and achieve focus.

Back to our Mini-Kaizens.

The author of each Mini-Kaizen, our VP Operations, knows each problem and each person or team who accepts the responsibility for completing the Mini-Kaizen knows the problems. They live them each day. The problems do not need further explanation through the analysis afforded by the A3 process. We have defined the root cause. We know who owns each problem. We know the countermeasures.

Each individual problem feeds the bigger problem in our office, which is lack of documented procedure. We are in fact skipping a step, which is mapping current state, and jumping directly to future state. We have analyzed and concluded that mapping current state is no value to us, since there is no current state other than individual preferrence.

I would equate our engineering environment to a manufacturing plant where the manager asks the employees to build the widgets, and each employee uses their own preferred method of building the widget. Did I just define chaos? Well....we are not quite there anymore. We were....but not presently. We have defined process equivalent to setting up individual work tables, in a specified sequence. Now....we are working on individual cell process.

I'll reiterate.. in an engineering environment, the tendency is for each designer (engineer) to use their own methodology to complete any given engineering task. This methodology is learned in school and through experience on the job, and often under the mentorship of more experienced engineers and designers.

Our goal is to combine the best practices and arrive at a procedure, and value stream map, that represents our best shot at defining a future state. By bringing teams together, we can establish a set of Genoa acceptable procedures to complete engineering and design tasks.

These Mini-Kaizens are our attempt to organize which work cells we map and improve first.

We have many work cells complete...and we are missing many more.

As each work cell (individual engineering task) is mapped and the procedure is set, the documentation and SOP is catalogued, then disseminated to staff via document distribution and training.

Continuous improvement is addressed in year 5 of our plan....and we are presently in year 3. Refer to the chart.

I'll post further once we have deployed these Mini-Kaizens and start to see deliverables and outcomes.

Using Mini-Kaizens to maintain momentum

2010-06-28T10:41:00.002-03:00

So times are tough and we are concentrating on earning money. This means that we are trying hard to reduce tasks to billable tasks only. In a projectized environment, this means that if we work for an hour, we want to be able to charge for that hour.

Isn't this Lean anyway?

But there is an obvious missing component...and that missing component is the investment in continual improvement.

Here at Genoa, we normally have dedicated time each week for working on Lean projects. But in a projectized company, during times when every single dollar in the cashflow equation counts, the last thing we want is to be working on non-billable work. We want to work for an hour, be paid for that hour, deposit the money in the bank account, pay bills, make payroll, and climb back out of the debt we have built up over the last year, trying to keep the team together and stay alive during the down-turn in the industry and economy.

But then we miss the most important part of our transformation to a World-Class Lean company, and that is the continual effort to get better.

And one of the more difficult parts of being a projectized company is managing resources so that they perfectly coincide and balance with project work-level requirements. Projects suddenly slow down due to external (client) circumstances. Projects often come to a stand-still for short periods of time. Then all of a sudden...the heat is on and there are not enough hours and not enough people to get the job done in time for the client's needs.

So how do you juggle short bursts of unexpected availability?

We have started the Mini-Kaizen.

Basically, a "job-jar" with specific personel assigned (based on expertise) with a mini-budget, scope of work, specific deliverables, and a time limit.

So now when people have a short wait for some unexpected reason beyond our control, we have the "job-jar" ready.

Yes, in these times, it can be difficult for the culture of the office to accept and understand the importance of investing time in the continual improvement program. Some may think it is better to stay on the project, and forge ahead, albeit a bit slow and with an inefficiency you may be willing to swallow in the interest of keeping busy....but we have learned this leads to nothing but disaster and loss. I'll cover that topic some other blog....

Right now, we are ready to start our "job-jar".

I'll let you know how it works out.

Time to focus again...

2010-06-15T08:54:00.000-03:00

In the midst of economic struggles, fighting to bring work into the office, staying flexible when seeking and choosing work, making difficult decisions to downsize or modify the team, one cannot lose sight of the continual pursuit of perfection. I don't think we can afford to lose sight of Lean principles.

Lean is what can makes the difference between me and my competition. In the present and in the future. There has never been a time when this is more important to the life of my company.

I find it is not necessary to have achieved a specific level of Lean business practice. People do not look for that from me. But it is necessary to be dedicated to Lean. People do look for that. It is necessary to be dedicated to the fifth and most important Lean Principle. Continual pursuit of perfection.

Continual pursuit of perfection. Continual means continuing indefinitely over time, without interruption. Quite simply, this means we can never stop.

So in times of difficulty, I do what I have to do. I change focus, I place emphasis on doing the work. But I do not stop making notes in the background. I do not stop analyzing. I focus on the work at hand, but I keep my eyes open. I use all that we have developed to get our work done faster, of better quality with the reliability of our defined process. But I take the time to make a few notes. I continually take a look at what is going right and what may be going wrong. I save these notes.

The time will come very soon to bring out the notes and make some more improvements. The time will come when those notes will help us make up the next A3 and help us to discover the root cause just a little bit quicker than we expected.

I think I have to fous on the driving, but I cannot take my eyes completely off the dashboard.

Yes, I just talked circles around the time at hand at Genoa. We are focused on the work. We don't have a spare dime to invest in a well-needed improvement at this time.... but we are still making notes.

We all need to be taking notes.

The Lean Entrepreneur

2010-06-10T10:52:00.004-03:00

A blog for Entrepreneurs...and especially Lean Entrepreneurs.

I've been thinking about Michael Gerber's book, E-Myth Revisited. I also listened to him speak in St. John's, Newfoundland, last week. His overriding message is "work on the business, not for the business".

In other words, work on developing the business, do not immerse yourself in the day-to-day activities of the business. The bottom line is that every successful business contains as much value in the process as in the people. As the entrepreneur, you create the team, you lead the team, and you guide the team to create the process.

Of course without the right people, it is next to impossible to accomplish this. The staff and the culture play as important a role as any other aspect of the company's personality. In the end, the team owns the process as much as anybody. So we are not robots....but...

The truly successful business is defined by the ability for any staff member to be able to do their job exactly the same way that the previous staff member completed the same job...same as the person on holiday, or the person out sick, or the person on the other shift. Who completes the work and when should be of no consequence or concern to the customer.

So according to Michael Gerber, a successful entrepreneur is one who creates a business and creates a process for the business to run predictably, in a repeatable and reliable fashion. The successful entrepreneur is one who will spend the majority of time developing the system, and less time working within the system.

Well I say that the successful entrepreneur is a Lean Entrepreneur. And I do not necessarily mean that a successful entrepreneur uses Lean techniques throughout their day....I mean that the successful entrepreneur is focused on Lean. A successful entrepreneur creates a business that lives and breathes the 5 principles of Lean.
1. Identify the value.
2. Map the value (process).
3. Create flow (smooth and reliable, predictable, repeatable).
4. Create pull (don't over-produce).
5. Continually improve.

Any great Lean company does excactly what Michael Gerber recommends...and more...but let's keep to what Michael Gerber is talking about.

Let's think about what Mr. Gerber says to focus on. Focus on process. Focus on repeatability, predictability, reliability. Do not work within the system, work on the system. Yes...go to Gemba...but give the "doers" the power to help create, control and maintain the system.

Everything within Genoa Design, my company, is centered around an engineering process. All designers doing the engineering tasks exactly the same way every time. Sit two people side-by-side and what will you see? Identical process.

This is what makes a company valuable from an entrepreneur's perspective. Once you know the staff are doing their jobs every time, exactly the way they said they would do it, then you, as the entrepreneur, have the freedom to focus your energy on other things business.

Like getting more business, like continually improving, like creating more processes, like growing the business, like planning the next party for the staff!

What can separate you from the competition? How about the other 4 Lean principles?

Is there much difference between Michael Gerber's smart entrepreneur (one who get's it) compared to a Lean Entrepreneur? Well... the Lean Enterpreneur has another toolbox full of tools that can be used to continually improve the business. But the start point is the same.

Funny how all these cutting-edge thinkers are all singing the same song....maybe it is because they are right?

If you are an entrepreneur, visit Michael Gerber's website http://www.e-myth.com/

If you are further interested in Lean, start with http://www.lean.org/

Hoshin Kanri vs. Leverage Your Best

2010-06-08T10:06:00.004-03:00

I just finished reading "Leverage Your Best, Ditch The Rest" by Scott Blanchard and Madeleine Homan. The book is subtitled "The Coaching Secrets Top Executives Depend On". What I found was a Hoshin Kanri approach to personal coaching. This is not a negative comment in any way...this is a very positive remark. I think the application is perfect for us Lean Champions.

The authors use a system we have been using at Genoa to monitor and move our Lean transformation forward. At Genoa, we use a Lean diagnostic to evaluate our progress within 16 categories of Lean implementation. We use the results to guide us and tell us where we need improvement...in which categories. We use the items on the diagnostic, which we have not completed, as an indication what needs to be done next. We prioritize according to our business goals, and then proceed.

This is exactly what the authors of the book have done for a personal coaching approach. The authors encourage the reader to complete a self-analysis that covers what they call "The Seven Leverage Points". These seven points outline areas of self-discipline and personal management, that if you master two or three of then at least, your life will improve drastically. As you analyze yourself according to these points, you focus in on specific ways to master elements within each area, and understand the benefits that you will realize once you have mastered an area, or gotten it under control.

They use the Hoshin Kanri method of getting life under control. Strategic Planning for your life. Strategic Management for your life. If you are inclined toward Lean Principles in your work-life, you will be inclined toward this approach toward personal life. Get the book and read it. www.leverageyourbest.com.

Lean Engineering on the Shipyard Production Floor

2010-06-02T21:58:00.003-03:00

A brief discussion with a shipyard today. Their vision is to have a virtual product model of the vessel available for the fitters, welders and shipwrights on the floor so that they can rotate, zoom in, zoom out, pan and analyze areas of the product model that will help them assemble the vessel. This will be combined with isometric assembly drawings with minimal annotation and dimensions. Makes for clean and low effort production drawings, increases the responsibility on the production floor to look carefully at the product model and see what the intent to build is. The care and guidance is focused on the sequence and Lean process. The waste in this case is the duplication of providing dimensions on coded and computer-cut parts.
The product model can be started at concept, and matured throughout the design spiral.
This is the way of the future as I see it.

Canadian Conference on Modern Shipbuildng

2009-11-21T16:01:00.002-04:00

There were approximately 160 attendees at this week's conference in Ottawa. Many presentations on different aspects of the state of Canada's shipbuilding state.
I was asked to present my take on success.
Of course I talked about Lean.
It was a very broad overview on how Genoa Design tackled the transformation from a normally successful technological company, to a more successful company who embraces the principles of Lean Manufacturing to achieve continual improvement on the road to perfection.
I had a captive audience. They had to listen. Some did. Some slept.
I know many thought that my company was small potatoes...and reflected on how easy it is to apply change in a small organization.
So all you small organizations out there.... there is no excuse why you cannot embrace change, seek innovation, and employ a philosophy of continual improvement.
All you big organizations...you should still pay attention. Even though you think the answer lies in size and new equipment, and expanded capability...you have to start by looking at the floor.
We all need to pick ourselves up by the suspenders and start looking at the basics, and why we may not be able to compete on a global level, before we start purchasing equipment and increasing capability. Because all we will end up with is a capability to build bigger things and many more types of things just as ineffectively and just as expensively, as we do presently.
There is no excuse why we should not all start with the basics.
I believe that Health Care organizations in Canada would do well to follow suit. State of the art equipment can be operated with as much inefficiency as older equipment.
When the shipbuilding conference was presented with examples of successful shipyards in Malaysia, and China, who employ low-level technology to build a ship, we should have noted that the quality of vessel rolling down the slipway was comparable to any vessel built in North America. Yes, the labour was less expensive, but the overall quality was comparable. But what about schedule?
Herein lies an opportunity for competitive advantage. Build faster. Less mistakes the first time. Reduced inventory. The launchway pulls the vessel through the panel line, through the paint shop, through pre-outfit, into the erection area, and finally into the water.
Yes...we have some lean lessons to learn.
We had better start paying attention.
Efficiency does not lie in someone else's equipment.

Teamwork

2009-11-17T15:00:00.002-04:00

First entry in over a year. Lets try again.
This entry focuses on teamwork. I'm trying to build our management team. Its going to be a long and hard and difficult process....but amazingly simple too. I started by asking everyone in the management team to read Pat Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team". Good start to a long process.
Pat bases his theories on a set of five dysfunctions, starting with an absense of trust, which spawns a fear of conflict in the team. Since there is no conflict, and people do not voice their concerns, they cannot commit to any given resolution, and if they are not committed, they are certainly not accountable. Failure to bring accountability to a team leads to inattention to results. So quite simply, it all starts with an absense of trust, and leads right up the ladder to lack of results.
This is where we are going to start. We are going to start by building trust within the team.
We're going to need help.
We're going to need time.
We're going to make mistakes and we're going to fall apart, but hopefully only to come together stronger in the end.
After all, the only true competitive advantage is the team.

Leadership and Project Management - according to Leonard Cohen

2008-05-28T14:37:00.002-03:00

Last night I attended the Leonard Cohen concert at Holy Heart auditorium, in St. John's. Small intimate setting for the concert. Leonard was humble, gracious and a true entertainer. This was without question the best concert I have ever seen in my entire life. His words impacted me like no other live performance has. The only other live performance which runs a close second is the performance I have th chance to see each year when I visit Preservation Hall, in New Orleans.

Leonard Cohen's lines I remember most from last night:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

I had to present at the CME Leadership convention this morning. At 5 this morning, I threw out the notes I had prepared and wrote new notes on Leadership according to Leonard Cohen.

According to the Canadian military when I undertook officer training camp in 1987, leadership is "the art of influencing human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission or a task".

The bells you ring are the resources, the team, and the skills you have at your disposal to get the job done. Use them with all your heart. Use them sincerely. Honesty is the key, and when you are honest, you open yourself as necessary to build the relationship.

Your perfect offering is the perfect solution. It is the data you must collect, the research you must complete, the work that must be done before you make your decision. Forget it. Make your decision. Take the risk. The risk of inaction is paralysis.

There is a crack in everything. You will make mistakes. You will find them, and others will find them. Through these cracks, you will build trust and respect, as long as you hold yourself accountable.

That's how the light gets in.

One must open themselves to looking at project management in a new light. Standardize the process where you can, and schedule a self-monitoring process.

VSM the project management process.

Break your meetings into manageable categories, such as daily technical, weekly tactical, and monthly strategic. Keep the subject matter narrow in each meeting.

Stage some schedule freezes. Make the stakeholder take notice and get involved. Make them notice and approve, before the project proceeds any further.

Standardize all work possible that must be scheduled. Free your time to manage what's going wrong, or changes, or risks.

Project management has a crack. It needs to be looked at and analyzed. It needs to be critically shortened and tested for value.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

The Quality Cycle

2008-04-17T14:05:00.005-03:00

We’ve been away from the blog for a while but still working away on the lean projects discussed last time. Our designers have been very busy with production design project work and we’ve had some growth in the last months adding new staff and projects.

We’ve added another initiative to our lean work that ties together existing lean projects and complements our human resources plan.

The Quality Cycle Project, which I’m leading, links standard operating procedures, employee expectations, quality checks, error tracking, employee communication, training and development, and performance management.

The current state of quality control is not clearly defined and checking of work before release to clients is performed but not to any particular set of standards. Reliance on the expertise of project managers and senior designers is now the cornerstone of the quality process. It works but project managers needed a way to ensure consistency in the process and streamline it to reduce rework and ensure errors are not missed during our period of business and employee growth.

We met with project managers and decided that the whole cycle needed to be addressed and not just the quality check piece. There needed to be standard operating procedure for design and quality checks, error tracking for improvement purposes, an understanding by employees of what was being checked, and a feedback loop including, training and best practices. All of this is linked then to human performance management, which includes the training and development piece, coaching, and performance improvement.

It’s important to note that all of this is to be achieved with the lean principles in mind. Foremost in these principles is that the view of this process is from the customer’s perspective. The quality cycle objective is to deliver quicker with higher quality. It’s also about improving the performance of the value stream and that can only be achieved with employee involvement and participation in the process. The quality cycle is not about individualizing and tracking employee performance. It is designed to improve overall company performance.

It is about individual accountability though. Managers will review through feedback, coaching, and documented training objectives how employees develop skills to improve performance. If a skill deficiency exists, a training plan is established and employees are accountable to improve the skill. In relation to what is measured, the process is very open and employees will be provided the list of deliverables that will be reviewed during the quality check process.

We are now at the check stage where we will run a trial of the future state starting the end of this month and then review and adapt before implementation company wide.

Go Montreal!!

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Five Lean Projects Underway

2008-02-18T11:30:00.002-04:00

In a recent blog I discussed Lean Level 1 Certification through CME. Since then, the classroom portion of the training is complete and we’ve selected three projects for these teams.

In addition, two other lean teams are up and running and we've made significant progress.

In each case, project charters including scope, deliverables, and milestones have been established.

Team projects are summarized as follows:

1. Training and Development Team

This team was established in November to assess current skill levels and create a means to improve performance and develop employees. Led by Senior Designer Brian Newhook, the team has completed a skill assessment of all employees, established company skill level requirements, identified areas of risk, and put together the plan for improvement.
They are presently focusing on minimizing the risks identified in specific areas through a mentoring program to ensure expert level capability exists in all areas, with a minimum of three employees meeting the expert criteria. They also have an excellent plan that will be launched this week to all employees that will see individual skills improved using training plans to close skill gaps.
Employees will submit their individual training plans to the team who will approve training plans to raise the overall skill level at Genoa.

2. Total Productive Maintenance Team

Led by Gus Slaney, IT Support Specialist, the team will review the current maintenance requirements for all of our computer equipment. The objective is to provide solutions that will remove the need for individuals to run the various programs that scan for viruses and clean up hard drives. Ideally, automation of these functions will free up systems and operators to concentrate on design work. Presently, relying on manual interventions increases risk of infection and slows operations.
A cost / benefit analysis completed as part of the project will allow Genoa to decide which solution options are practical.

3. Cut the Waiting Team

One of three projects undertaken by the leaders trained by CME, this project is looking at sources of waiting that impact production, and cause delivery delays. The team, led by Project Manager, Chad Mercer has identified many sources of waiting and divided the list into two categories. External waiting includes all issues outside the direct control of Genoa. Studying these issues will identify issues in which Genoa can influence outcomes and improve lead times as a result. Internal waiting is directly within the control of Genoa and with corrective actions can greatly impact lead time. Both categories have been assessed and assigned to a priority matrix. Impact on operations, and ease of correction are criteria used to determine areas to work on.
Next, the team will meet with senior managers selecting items to work on.

4. Value Stream Mapping - Modeling

Led by Project Manager, Kyran Pennell, value stream mapping techiques will be used to analyze the modelling process. The objective is to identify waste, create flow, and introduce lisp routines minimizing designer effort. A training and best practices component of this project will allow designers to share knowledge and create learning opportunities improving performance. Of the projects ongoing, this one will identify and eliminate the waste within the work. In all other projects, waste identified could be considered as external to the design process.
Experienced designers on this team have their work cut out as the nature of the work lends itself to creativity and operator-unique approaches to completing tasks. The challenge will be in finding methods of improvement without removing the creative aspect from designers.

5. Standard Operating Procedures, Checklists, and Tools

Senior Designer, Angela Porter leads this team to formally identify, document and/or establish standard procedures and tools for the performance of all tasks. The goals and objectives of the SOP Project include standardization of procedures, work instructions, checklists and other tools relating to Genoa's operations and project deliverables.
It includes items such as, consistency in standards related to Genoa deliverables, assisting new employees with clearly defined procedures and documentation, assist training and development, and creation of an environment promoting employee involvement.The team will compile and index existing procedures, review them for relevance, opportunity for improvement, standardize a format, and identify needs for new procedures. It will develop a mechanism for continuous review and renewal. A communication component ensures awareness of procedures.

This is great progress and many thanks to team members for remaining focused and to employees for contributing to the results.

Ken Hogan

Lean Guy at Genoa

Data Analysis Term Paper

2008-01-24T09:20:00.000-04:00

In our search for takt time, Allison Kennedy, a Memorial University Naval Architecture student, wrote a final work term paper on, "Lean Principles in a Marine and Shipbuilding Engineering Environment."

This detailed analysis used data collected from past projects at Genoa and tested theories of production rates existing in the marine engineering design field. This is something we've been working on as a R&D project and I've referred to it in past blog postings.

While the entire paper most accurately describes the process and findings, the following is a summary of Allison's conclusions and next steps.

It doesn't read like a John Grisham novel but contains some valuable information.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

"Lean Principles in a Marine and Shipbuilding Engineering Environment"

Conclusions
Implementing lean into a virtual marine and Shipbuilding Company is not a straightforward process. There are no physical objects to count or measure in order to determine the production rate. It is still unknown if a valid production rate can be determined by analyzing accumulated data from past projects. This may be an aspect contributing to the fact that there are hardly any similar companies worldwide that have attempted to implement lean. Since there are no guidelines to follow, the process is deemed as research and development and this adds to the level of difficulty of the problem.
There were a total of six tests completed using the accumulated data from past projects in an attempt to determine a valid production rate. Five of these tests were based on the same idea, which is to use the collected data to find parts per volume and parts per hour value. These general values were used to determine the number of completion hours required to complete future projects. The first step taken was to determine the calculated number of parts by multiplying the calculated parts per hour value by the known volume. Next, the number of completion hours could be found by dividing the calculated number of parts by the calculated parts per hour value.
Tests one through five grew increasingly more detailed in attempt to determine a smaller completion hour variance. The first test was general and determined ppv and pph values from analyzing the entire data set. The second test divided the data based on ship type assuming that similar ship types would have similar ppv and pph values. Test five was the most detailed test in which the data was split into ship type, ship section and ship length. The outliers were also removed in this test. The results prove that as the testing process moves forward, the completion time variance between actual and calculated values becomes smaller. Test five provides the best results having a variance of approximately 23 percent. This variance is still high and therefore the production rate calculated would not provide beneficial results. However, one must note that the results are continually improving as testing continues. This is a positive factor, which gives hope that an accurate production rate can be achieved.
Test six was based on the determination of a volume per hour value from the analysis of vessels of similar types. The idea for this test was sprung from the thought that additional inaccuracies are introduced from the calculation of a number of parts and that this uncertainty was introduced into the calculated number of completion hours. The method used in test six is more direct than that of tests one through five because the completion hours are calculated in a single step. The results of test six are poorer than that of test five. The barge results of test six are compared to the results of test five since test five was completed only on barges. It can be seen that test six produces a variance that is higher by approximately ten percent. This was the first test completed using the volume per hour method, further testing will undoubtedly determine a closer approximation.

Recommendations
There are a number of recommendations which should be taken in order to develop the most efficient and effective method of completion time determination. These are all outlined below for review and consideration:
1. The validity of data should be studies to determine usefulness. As discussed, old data is less valid than newer data for various reasons. A study could be completed to test variations in new and old data and remove any old data which falls out of a certain range.
2. Data capture process should be more accurate. A process should be put in place so that employee time recording must be done at the end of each day. This will decrease the chance that time is allotted to the wrong task and increase the validity of the collected data.
3. There should be consideration put into performing an analysis based on the input of design drawings received from the client. Some details contain less detail causing more PM, set up, modeling etc.
4. An analysis should be done in which the actual hours worked are compared to bid hours. This will give an idea of the variations in bid and actual hours.
5. Additional columns should be added to the ‘Time Estimation’ spreadsheet to ensure the user compares the vessels, which are indeed the most similar. For example the overall length, draft and hull form coefficients should be displayed for each of the completing vessels so that they can be compared with the proposed vessel.Research and development should continue in this area so that an efficient and effective method of determining completion time can be found.

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

It's a new year, and the air is full of resolutions.

I just received Jim Womack's latest e-newsletter concerning cadence, and the fact that he has resolved to write one e-newsletter per month.

Personally I have set goals that may very well exceed my capabilities in 2008. Writing this blog once per month may be an example...or may not.

Already, my to-list list is far too long to see an end.

How to prioritize? How to start the lengthy task that we know will take 2 days to complete, when there are other tasks of similar priority that only take one hour and can be easily stricken off the list? How on earth does one organize such a mess? Throw on top of this a Lean Project that will occupy the Lean focus within our company for the next 5 years? With so many items that need attention, focus, teamwork and research, how to pick which Lean project or task to accomplish first?

Cadence mixed with prioritization mixed with low-hanging fruit dangling around our heads...

I believe that this is why we have a tidy little tool we call the Lean Diagnostic. This handy-dandy tool enables us to self-evaluate in an organized fashion, within a variety of topics that span the complete spectrum of running a business.

So as we analyze, it becomes obvious through the low scores, where the weaknesses are, and where the priorities lie.

So as we analyze, we create pull.

Isn't that what a good to-do list should do? It should pull our efforts from us. But the to-do list must be developed intelligently enough that it pulls from us as the customer demands, not in an arbitrary fashion that depends on our moods, or our likes or dislikes. One can compare this to brain "setup" and batching in our brain according to our likes of the day. Every good Lean practishioner knows that batching ain;t good.

Back to cadence. Introduce cadence into the customer pull, and you come up with a way of setting daily goals to strike to-do items off your list. But how do you know how many to accomplish per day if you have not levelled the individual tasks? How about conducting a Value-stream mapping exercise on a to-do list to see which items are wasteful? How about levelling the tasks into equal efforts so that we can set a cadence for ourselves? Not quite Takt, but the cadence that Jim refers to.

So...with these things in mind, I should be able to insert this blog-writing task, which is of equal effort to other items, into my to-do list, set the day, accomplish the task, and strike it off my list once per month. Thus, I too have cadence, and the blog gets done regularly.

This is not the final frontier, but when we can start using Lean lessons and tools to change the workings of our brain, we start making some tremendous hits. To 5S the brain is like finally letting the 5S team enter your office to mess with your drawers. After all...we all know that 5S is good for the other people, but will never work for us.

I think this year I have made some resolutions:
1. Let the 5S team into my drawers.
2. Set a cadence for my to-do list.
3. Get the blog out once per month.

A couple of fun resolutions:
4. Change my voice mail daily, so people know they are leaving messages on a dynamic system, not a useless tool.
5. Run a road race.

Leonard

Genoa Lean Update

2007-12-03T15:58:00.001-04:00

A lot has happened since the last blog post way back in October, so here are brief updates on some of the things that have been going on:

International Trade Shows - We've attended both the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) Maritime Technology Concference and Expo in Fort Lauderdale and the International Work Boat Show in New Orleans. Leonard and I presented at both shows innovation sessions on how a company can get lean started. Both sessions were well attended. We also had a lot of interest at our booth in what we were doing in lean and how our pursuit of lean is helping clients success. Besides rising our lean profile, the new business from the shows is impressive and will keep us busy back at the shop for a while, OK maybe a little longer than a while.

Congratulations to Genoa's employees on the excellent reputation you've established in the industry as evidenced by feedback we were getting at the booth. Also, the Kirby 90ft Towboat won a "Boat of the Year Award"...production lofting work done here.

Training and Development Team - I discussed this a few blogs back and I'm pleased to report that we are moving ahead most excellently. Brian Newhook, Chad Mercer, Angela Porter, and Dimitry Kapiturov are the team members focused on improving the skill level of employees at Genoa and have already begun the work by completing the scope and identifying the year 1 milestones of the initiative. This is in keeping with our five year plan of sorting out the skills of our people and improving our production processes through training and development. They've been meeting regularly and right now are in the process of verifying the information we've collected and determining skill level requirements.

Lean Level 1 Certification - Six employees have been selected to complete the Lean certification program offered by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. In addition to Brian, Chad, and Dimitry; Penny George, Kyran Pennell, and Dean Noseworthy will attend six days of training and complete three lean projects over four months to attain certification Level 1.

Search for Takt Time - Allison Kennedy is heading into the final term of her Bachelor of Naval Architecture program at Memorial University and is writing her workterm paper on Lean Principles in a Marine Engineering Environment. She's done a fabulous job of analyzing and summarizing the data that's been collected. So much so that we will be using it to bid some potential projects (we'll test it the old way of course). If you want to learn more on our search for takt time read blogs of May 10, June 14, and Sept 5.

On a related topic, Angela Porter has been assigned some responsibility for the bid process so she'll be working with Allison and Leonard over the next weeks to understand the data and use it to work up the bids. When Allison leaves we'll be looking for a "champion of the data"!! Angela???

Lean and Project Visuals - Cheri-Lynn Chafe is back with us and has been assigned the new role of Planner and Projects Administrator. She is currently completing the Project Management Masters Certificate at Memorial University's Center for Management Development and learning Microsoft Project. We want to get better at managing projects and this role at Genoa will accelerate that process. Picture every ongoing project accurately set up, updated, and visually displayed using Microsoft Project. We'll visually represent project completion status, deliverables, milestones at risk, etc.. We will eventually set-up projects using our production rate data to set the pace. "Big job" Cheri Lynn....good luck with it.

First Christmas gift arrives at Genoa - As I write here, several employees are playing with the new toy that arrived today. Genoa's gift to employees. Nintendo Wii, 32 inch flat screen, and leather couch. Nice!!

Ken Hogan

Lean Guy at Genoa

So you want to be LEAN when you grow up?

2007-10-18T14:55:00.000-03:00

I wrote a draft of this blog last week but didn't post it because I wanted to give more thought to getting my message across to those who may be thinking about, or have begun, implementing lean. I have to admit that upon reviewing my draft from last week, I framed the prospect of going lean as a rather frightening proposition. Even the title, "So you want to be LEAN when you grow up?" is, I admit, a little daunting.

Since last week I attended a presentation delivered by Dave Hogg of High Performance Solutions on World Class Fundamentals. His presentation focused on what it takes to become a world class organization and how companies can get there.

So here's what I wrote last week:

When you explain the merits of lean to companies who are considering implementation it's an easy sell on the benefits of reduced lead times, improved work in process(WIP), adding value for customers and the obvious benefits of continuous improvement.

What's most difficult to impress upon company leaders is the level of leadership required to move away from the status quo and take on a different approach to business. In particular a change from traditional production methods to lean systems that create flow and value from the customers perspective.

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters surveyed companies implementing lean, asking them to name the obstacles to lean implementation. Amongst the leading obstacles is middle managements inability to sustain lean systems.

Of course this is not unique to lean as it applies to all types of business initiatives, but this is a lean blog so I'll focus there.

This blog's title, "So you want to be LEAN when you grow up?" is a serious question to senior leaders in companies about what it is you're really in for when you say you want to be a lean company. More so; do you really know what it will look like when you get to what you said you wanted?

When people ask what I do, I ask if they know what lean is. Almost all the time they say they do not. Two types of people ask the question. Those who are being polite and really could not care less what I do and those I meet through business networking who might be interested. For the first group I tell them it's process improvement stuff; for the latter group I try to simplify what it is by what it looks like in my mind. Here's what I say: "Did you ever see a bucket brigade in action? (everyone says yes)...... well, it's creating that kind of materials flow in a production environment and I help companies do that."

Lean is a bucket brigade in a production environment. It's about level production and reducing lead time. That's a simplified version but it is the true essence of lean on the floor and every lean effort must be about getting there. I will say that you can make tremendous operational improvements by focusing on lean without ever building the operation to takt time but, in my view, it's the pursuit of operating to takt time and getting there that defines the true lean companies.

So, that's what I wrote last week. Having spent the day with Dave Hogg I realize I missed one very important point that I sort of made, but didn't stress enough. His main point throughout the day; "Lean is a people system". It was a recurring theme during the day and he's 100% right. So, back to the question, "So you want to be LEAN when you grow up?" If you do it most importantly means operating a system that relies heavily on the involvement of people and committment of leaders in the company to achieve a world class status. It also means pursuit of operating to takt time with production steps operating at the same rate, continually removing waste and adjusting the process to maintain flow.

So, is starting with lean frightening? It doesn't have to be at all. Learn as much as you can by reading first, talk to those who have started, seek advice, join a consortium of lean companies, and when you start....begin with the end in mind.

For more on Dave Hogg and High Performance Solutions go to http://www.hpsic.ca/.

Ken Hogan

Lean Guy at Genoa

Genoa Skills Assessment

2007-09-24T08:33:00.001-03:00

One of objectives in the first year of our lean plan is to sort out (from 5S) where we are with lean, sort data we've collected, and among other things sort our people. By this I mean assessing where we stand from a skill perspective across the company.

This assessment tool is used in various formats and is generally formatted to fit the needs of the company. However, the intention is to assess skill level, identify training needs, set priorities, and track progress. It will also identify operational risk by highlighting areas where few employees are proficient in critical tasks.

So far, we have the major task required to assess the skill level completed. We recently sent to every employee a categorized list of skill requirements for the fields of design, human resources, lean, and software. We used excel and inserted a comment with a detailed description of each skill requirement and employees assessed themselves on a scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being completely unaware and 5 being at a proficiency level where the employee could train others in the particular skill.

Additionally, each employee identified their interest level in upgrading skills or the need for skill in each particular category. For example: administrative assistants would have no requirement to train in design work and, structural designers expressed interest in piping design. Employees indicated their interest or need with a simple A B C scale with A representing high priority, proficiency essential. Simple colour coding gives a visual representation of the results for both skill level and training requirements. There is also an area to capture employee comments.

Now that we have all of this information, what do we do with it and how can it improve our company?

1.) Time has to be taken by management to review each of the completed assessments for accuracy and ensure management is aware of the actual skill level within the company. It is often different from their perception, both from an individual perspective and overall.
2.) Each skill needs analysis to determine the overall company proficiency level, and a determination of whether or not it's satisfactory is required.
3.) From this analysis, deficiencies need to be prioritized and an overall plan to improve proficiency developed through training, workshops, or mentoring.
4.) Employees who have expressed interest in achieving proficiency in areas outside their normal work need to be identified and development decisions and plans undertaken.

In any case, once the assessment is analyzed and the plans are set in motion, the company begins to improve, remove waste, and offer value to the customer.

Every company can obviously benefit from this type of analysis and it is not difficult to achieve. The key though is actually setting out to get it done. Assign a champion, and begin. The results can be astounding.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Survey Results - Lean Diagnostic

2007-09-17T08:55:00.000-03:00

The Lean Diagnostic is a tool used to measure lean performance across a number of categories. It enables a company to benchmark lean performance, set goals for improvement, and compare performance against other lean organizations. It's a scorecard based assessment and when completed assigns a percentage of lean implementation in each category as well as an overall score. For more detail see blog “We Changed our Goal” July 12, 2007.

In April, we completed an assessment based on Genoa’s performance to date and scored 32%. Scores across categories ranged from 0% in categories such as Lean Lean Product and Process Design and Lean Accounting and 60% in Value Stream Mapping and Total Productive Maintenance.

Following this initial assessment, we compiled a survey in July based on the category criteria and sent it to all of Genoa’s employees asking them to rate performance in each category based on their current knowledge. We did not alter the criteria language because it is our intent to ask these same questions annually improving employee knowledge through training and teamwork as we execute our plan.

We also added two categories that were included in older versions of the diagnostic; Safety, and Mistake Proofing. We included a feedback section and some other general questions on lean knowledge and how Genoa communicates with employees about the company.

The results of the survey were pretty much as expected with the group scoring 43% and higher than the lean consultant in most categories. This was probably due to a lack of complete understanding of the lean tool scored.

The good news is that the category scores, as well as the communication and lean knowledge scores will be improved with the implementation of the five-year plan. As well, the issues raised in the employee comments sections will be addressed through various parts of the plan.

This is a good baseline measure as we progress toward our goal of 38% at the end of year 1 and 80% at the end of five years. The complete results of the survey will be shared with employees soon.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

The Team...

2007-09-05T15:01:00.001-03:00

Notes on trying to run the company and also stay tapped into the Lean project at hand.

It is so easy to become engrossed in day to day activities, marketing, human resource issues, fires, emergencies, floods, requests, proposals, hiring, planning, strategic sessions, and all the other "stuff" that seems to interfere with running a business. Let alone trying to grow and develop a business under the umbrella of Lean principles.

As an infant might cry... "wah wah wah".

This emphasizes the importance of a Lean Champion. Someone who's primary mission in life is to push ahead with Lean improvements.

Thank goodness for "The Lean Guy at Genoa".

Thank goodness for our VP Operations, Darren, who works closely with Ken to get the right data, analyze it in the right context, identify the opportunities and help Ken push.

Thank goodness for a staff who care and are open to a shift in culture.

Thank goodness for the plan and action to bring the shift in culture about.

But to bring it full circle...one loose spoke, and the wheel fails.

I have learned that one person can only do so much. The answer is bringing the right team together.

I believe I have said this before...but it's worth repeating.

Testing continues…

2007-09-05T14:45:00.000-03:00

Posted by Leonard...

Written by The Lean Guy at Genoa...

When we set up this blog we had a couple of purposes in mind; document our journey and share our successes, failures, and lessons learned with others. As I mentioned previously we’ve collected reams of data from past projects and loaded all of it to an excel file knowing that somewhere in there was the path to establishing takt time in our design world.

Well, I’ve just completed a high level analysis of the data and have worked out some basic production averages including parts per hour and parts per volume. This is broken out by ship part regardless of type of ship and all project hours are used. There were some obvious outliers in the data so one standard deviation was used to establish upper and lower control limits to arrive at a more “reliable” average.

The data looked great in scatter diagrams with some obvious patterns emerging.

Remember, one of our goals is to use historical data to calculate project hours based on volume or weight or some other parametric. That said, we took the rates and tested them against a project that had already been completed, calculating parts based on the known volume of each unit, and calculating hours based on the calculated parts.

The results were a little disappointing with calculated parts off by as high as 85% but on average 20%. Calculated hours were off on average 33% but as high as 70% for one unit. I thought they would be better but have to keep reminding myself that this is data from all types of ships applied against one particular type.

A positive result of our analysis, which has shown to be consistent across all ship types and unit types, is the percentage of total project hours that can be applied against modeling, assembly, nesting etc.

Lean Product and Process Design at Genoa

2007-08-02T11:30:00.000-03:00

A couple of blogs back we shared the categories from the Lean Diagnostic Tool that will be used to measure the progress of Genoa's lean journey. An updated version of the diagnostic has categories added and some dropped. One of the categories added is Lean Product and Process Design.

Without detailing all of the steps or elements of this strategy, I'll attempt to describe how our path to Lean Product and Process Design (LPPD) will bring value to Genoa but more importantly to Genoa's customers.

We need to view the total effort of the work through to the actual fabrication of the ship in the yard and break out the effort in value streams:

1.) The Development Value Stream - The work Genoa does
2.) The Operational Value Stream - The fabrication work the customer does

Operational Value Streams are the result of Development Value Streams!!

Inherent in the Development Value Stream there are Operational Value Streams as well; that is, the steps Genoa does to provide deliverables to the customer. In order to ensure value for the customer, this value stream requires analysis to remove waste, improve lead times and quality, and add value for the customer. Most important in this analysis is to determine what value can be provided to the customer so that waste can be removed from the operational value stream before fabrication during the development and design phase. Remember the second line of Genoas mission statement ..."deliver waste-cutting work packs to clients". Genoa needs to ask itself, how can this be achieved.

Genoa can do this by ensuring that a number of events occur in the development phase;
- develop employee knowledge and sharing
- problem solve immediately, share results, and sustain improvements
- manage design flow by eliminating waste and variability
- standardize the design process
- design with assembly front of mind

Genoa needs to ensure that items within their control and influence make the customers operational value stream consistently profitable!!

In most manufacturing cases the owner of the development stream is the same as the owner of the operational stream. At Genoa the operational value stream owner is the customer. More importantly viewed as the partner in the effort. Everyone involved in the effort must work toward the success of the operational value stream which is the profit making stream.

I look forward to the day when we form a team with a partner towards this end. Right now it would be unfair to state that Genoa and it's clients operate independently because I see a lot of examples of cooperation and teamwork. I will say, that to achieve true excellence, there needs to be an effort where both value streams are viewed as one.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Before signing off, I'd like to introduce one of our designers..Brian Newhook. Brian is in his fourth year with Genoa and is responsible for most of the pictures of Newfoundland scenery on Genoas website http://www.genoadesign.com . Brian loves to kayak and his weekend activities have taken him to some spectacular places including very close to some amazing icebergs. Check this out. http://www.newfoundlandseakayaking.blogspot.com/

Fluent Consortium Meeting Last Week

2007-07-23T10:00:00.000-03:00

Last week Genoa hosted the Fluent Consortium meeting to share our experience and gain valuable feedback from members on our lean journey. The consortium meets reqularly and consists of a number of companies that pursue lean as a means to improve and offer customer value. The meeting was well attended and consisted of information on Genoa, our lean strategy, a shop tour, and lots of feedback.

Hats off to our Project Managers, Chad, Dean, and Kyran for speaking to Genoas background, processes, and view of lean. A very good job.

Leonard and Darren presented the five year plan and how we are pursuing takt time at Genoa. We alowed a lot of time for feedback and got great advice from all participants. We are already including that advice in the plan. Thanks to the consortium members for their input.

My contribution was minimal besides set up and the odd comment during discussion. To me, this is an great indicator of our progress to date. I'm hired help; employees and guests need to hear about lean from the people who have a long-term stake in the company, the senior management and project managers. The people who have a stake in the company need to be current and able to talk about the lean direction and the lean methods used to achieve the goal. If the hired help does the communication then there is no need for the leaders to learn, remain current, and progress along the change curve. This approach is essential to success.

On another topic, we met with Dave Haire of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) to discuss Lean Certification for key stakeholders at Genoa. We are trying to determine what the CME has to offer and whether it meets Genoas needs. We have a very good idea of what we require based on the 5 year plan. We have some specific unique needs because of our type of work and we have to ensure that the training addresses those. We have a framework for a cirriculum from CME and are awaiting details on each module so we can see if it's what we'll need.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

We Changed our Goal???

2007-07-12T12:54:00.000-03:00

That's right, we have changed the goal!

In the last blog I outlined the goal, the principles, and deliverables. Our goal was to "embed the lean culture at Genoa". Since then, we've met to discuss an upcoming consortium meeting and to review a lean poster we are working on which includes the goal. Gina thought the goal was vague so for some time we discussed what it should say, debating the key ingredients of a goal.

The goal needed to be specific, measureable against standard criteria, and attainable. "Embed the lean culture at Genoa" just didn't stand the test. Another importantant characteristic of our goal was that employees could form a "mental image" of what the goal looked and felt like as we were moving forward and when we got there.

So, after much discussion and numerous lessons from Gina on english languge sentence structure, such as you can't end sentences with prepositions, verb tenses, and something about linkages, we changed the goal (I'm sure Gina is cringing at my sentence structure as she reads this). We finally caught on to what Gina was getting at.

So the new, improved goal is; "Attain an 80% World Class Rating as Measured by Lean Diagnostics".

A couple of things to note here:
1.) Most of our employees will not have a "mental image" right now of what that will look like or feel like when we get there!
2.) How do we measure where we are right now?

We do know that the goal is specific, measureable against standard criteria, and attainable. It's up to us to ensure that our employees become aware of what 80% looks and feels like. They plan is to have employees, through communication and training, become informed and be involved in working toward the 80%.

So how do we measure? A lean diagnostic in December 2003 scored 37% and in April this year, when I arrived, I scored another diagnostic around the same. Does that mean Genoa hasn't improved in 3 1/2 years? Not at all. It is more likely that I was tougher with the diagnostic because of my mental image of what lean looks and feels like or those who scored in 2003 were more generous.

The lean diagnostic tool, which measures performance in 13 categories related to lean, is available for employee viewing on Genoas network in the lean folder (Lean Diagnostic Tool.xls), for those outside Genoa you can contact HPM at http://www.hpmconsortium.com for information on viewing or acquiring this tool.

What we will do next is survey our employees using the same criteria on the diagnostic asking them to score based on their understanding of the criteria. Does it matter that they may not even remotely understand what the questions are asking? Not at all. We will ask them the same questions every year and adjust the communication and training plan to ensure they are getting the "mental image" needed to understand what lean at Genoa looks and feels like at 80%.

We are currently discussing modifying the criteria on the diagnostic to represent Genoa's production environment because it differs from traditional production. I'm pushing for not doing that. My logic: We use the same criteria as everyone else, that way we can measure our World Classness against our competitors and others on the lean journey. It'll be up to us to figure out and show how each of the criteria relates to Genoa's world.

That's enough for now.

Here's the 13 categories on the Lean Diagnostic if you want to review them; Management Support, Culture, 5S, Value Stream Mapping, Set-up Reduction, Total Productive Maintenance, Pull Systems, Production Flow, Plant Layout, Standard Work, Mistake Proofing, Continuous Improvement, Safety.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Genoa's 5 Year Plan

2007-06-28T08:28:00.000-03:00

If you've been following this blog or go back through past posts you'll recall discussions about having a five year plan to embed lean in the culture here at Genoa Design. Last Friday we used one of our Fluent Consortium days and invited David Haire, Vice President Best Practices and Lean Management, Atlantic Canada for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association to assist us in finalizing the plan. We also invited Project Managers at Genoa for input. Darren, our VP Operations took a break from enjoying his new RV at Gushues Pond Park to join us also.

We strayed from the agenda often (we need to establish some rules around conducting meetings) but finally managed to clear up some items and confirm through the team that we were on the right track. During a meeting with Leonard on Monday we finalized key items including our goal, the project charter, deliverables, principles, and how all of the "to do's" would fit in our five year plan which you may recall are named from the five s's.

Here's the goal, deliverables, and principles:

Lean Project Goal

Genoa’s mission statement has as its primary objective, to “apply lean principles to projects”. A strategic plan to embed lean in Genoa’s culture is necessary to achieve this company commitment to employees and customers. The goal then, is to embed the lean culture in the company to meet and sustain the mission statement.

Project Deliverables

-Strategic plan for lean progression and sustainability
-Employee training and lean skills development plan
-Improved communications throughout Genoa Design
-Employee teams that are empowered to drive improvement
-Visual display of lean strategy and measurable project performance

Project Principles (our version of the lean principles you'll find in any of the lean literature)

-A business approach that defines value from the perspective of the customer
-Manage the business by defining value streams and continuously improve their performance
-Develop a production process that creates flow
-Determine a rate of production that will allow management of projects based on takt time
-Pursue perfection

On another note, we also finalized our date to host the next Fluent Consortium meeting which will take place in a couple of weeks. Leonard and I have held many discussions on how to get maximum value out of the consortium. Both from the 10 consulting days that comes with membership and value from the members themselves and the relationships built through the group. In my previous life, I represented Canada Post as a consortium member and was always an advocate of specific lean projects and reporting on and learning from lean project progress. That is, tools used, methods, solutions, mistakes, etc.

Following much discussion on this subject, Leonard and I agreed that at the meeting we host we will share these things with our guests so that it's more about them learning than us receiving feedback. That way every member benefits equally rather than the host gaining the most benefit. Our feedback will be from members who will help us build on what we've done and what we're doing and how we can help them build.

That all said, this weekend marks Canada Day. For those of you outside our country, July 1st, 1867 is when British Colonies north of the USA united under the British North America Act to become the Dominion of Canada. It was called Dominion Day until 1982. Not all of the current provinces joined in 1867, there were a few stragglers, the last being our province of Newfoundland joining in 1949.

So, on Sunday, hoist a glass of your favorite tipple and join Canadians in celebrating our 140th year.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Lean Lessons at Nor-Shipping 2007

2007-06-16T08:01:00.000-03:00

I have just finished a week in Oslo, Norway, attending Nor-Shipping 2007. I have always known that "Lean" has global significance and relevance, but I learned this week that it also faces the same casual disregard from many companies, as it does in North America. My take-aways from the show:

Competitive Advantage
As I explained our service to exhibiting companies at the show (our service - providing production design and manufacturing deliverables to shipyards) I found myself wanting to speak about the one point which may separate us from the typical marine design office, of which there are many around the world. My focal point, other than the fact that we specialize in production design and not initial design, was Lean. I explained that by being a subscriber to the philosophy of Lean, and trying to operate our business by these principles, we not only seek to continually improve our process and strip waste, but we can also pass this knowledge onto customers, which can result in savings for them.

Value-Added Service
As we make headway with improvements, we are anxious to share our results and lessons with customers. There is always something to learn, especially through failure, but we are all anxious to avoid mistakes. A great way to avoid mistakes is to learn through someone else's. When we learn these lessons vicariously, we eliminate the risk. Of course, this means that by adopting successful processes as proven by another party, we can experience success with minimal investment in addition to minimal risk. To be honest, Genoa has willingly volunteered to be a guinea pig. The risk, by our own measure, is minimal since we adopt new processes and measures under carefully planned execution, using the principles of Lean. However, not everyone understands and has faith in Lean principles like we do, and certainly not everyone is willing to change without a proven track record. It is the "Devil-you-know, vs the Devil-you-don't" syndrome. With this perspective, we have a lot to offer in added-value. I would also add, that the best lessons learned are through our own mistakes. It hurts, but it sticks.

Ice-Breaker
This week I often talked about Lean, rather than stick to a "sales pitch". Not only was I more comfortable myself in this approach, but all parties involved in the conversation were more comfortable and sometimes opened up into a sincere chat about business, process, troubles and success. These types of conversation are always valuable and enjoyable, and sometimes lead to valuable insight and market intelligence. One just has to be careful not to waste peoples' time at a busy trade fair....in other words keep the trade fair a Lean process within itself.

Casual Disregard
My last comment concerns people's awareness of Lean. After a couple of days at Nor-Shipping, it was evident that I was doing more sharing about Lean than receiving. I was not annoyed with this, but I was concerned. Third day into the show, and while walking out of the hotel, I saw one of the hotel conference rooms in use, with little kits of lego scattered around the room and throughout the tables. I then noticed the title on the white board "Using TPS To Increase Shareholder Value". It was Ernst and Young; obviously undergoing an introductory Lean course. I was thrilled! I felt like barging into the room and asking them a thousand questions! It occurred to me that Lean must be about sharing in both directions. This empahasized for me the importance of our Lean Consortium, where the environment is all about mutual sharing and helping one another. The only way to ensure this continues is to work on increasing awareness. Trying to practice Lean by oneself will not work. Lean involves analysis and specific measures and tools to achive results, but one of the most important aspects of it all is communal brainstorming and sharing of ideas. Whether internally within the company, or externally between companies, the tools and ideas we bring back from any session of facilitated and careful brainstorming and problem solving, are of tremendous value. Without sharing and communication, Lean is nothing more than micro-management. Just to bring it back to the top....when people ask me if I am concerned about sharing and talking about Lean, whether I may be giving away a competitive advantage, I can now respond unquestionably that it is the communication and sharing that will help us continue. If we don't share and communicate internally and externally, Lean will die at Genoa.

I think I had a good show!

It's Testing Time!

2007-06-14T15:34:00.000-03:00

I've mentioned a few times over the past weeks that we've been collecting data for the purpose of establishing an efficient bidding process as well as determining a production pace. Well, I've just finished the collection and assembly of all of the data in an excel file. (For those of you in the office it can be viewed on Genoa's network in the lean folder - I'll email the path to you).

To give you an idea of how much data that is, we've entered data from 18 projects dating back several years. That's data from every unit from each of these projects, roughly 200 units. There were also entrys not associated with units such as quality control and overall project management. Here's a summary of the data entered for each unit:

Project name and number
Unit description or number
Unit type (Bow, midbody, strn etc)
Number of Parts ( 5 categories)
Weight of parts (2 categories)
Unit Volume (3 -4 categories; l, w, h, area)
Hours worked per unit ( regular and overtime)
Hours worked by design function (modelling, assembly, nesting etc.)

Hours worked came from financial reports that Leonard and Darren had the foresight to set up, collecting hours by unit by design function. Parts and weight came out of reports ran from Ship Constructor. Volume information was calculated by opening up each individual unit in Ship Constructor and calculating volume. This volume information isn't readily availble just by opening a drawing so getting it was tedious to say the least. Much less tedious though because of the highly skilled Darren Letto.

Without counting them all that's over 3000 data entries not including the formulas. Very exiting stuff. After it was all entered, it had to be whittled down to manageable levels for analysis, so some combining of units was necessary and some data had to be thrown out because of it's questionable reliability.

So, what now? Well, I think we're ready for a test. Leonard is in Norway (maybe we'll see a blog post from there) so we haven't discussed this but the next step is to run a project bid using the data collected and compare it to what he comes up with using his current method. For now, we'll also use the data to run a project bid on a project that's already been completed to see how it compares to the actual hours worked.

More to come on that later but now I must mention that I'll be attending a dinner tonight where Genoa is being honored as the provincial recipient of the CBDC Business "Award of Distinction" for 2007 by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Community Business Development Corporations. Leonard doesn't boast about these things so I won't either but I thought you all should know.

Congratulations Genoa, add it to your list of distinctions...and Darren, good luck with the speech.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Genoa's Lean Plan and Lord Stanley's Cup!!

2007-06-07T11:08:00.000-03:00

During my last few days here we've spent a lot of time talking about our long term objectives related to lean and how they fit with an overall plan. A few blogs back I talked about our decision to name the five successive years of this journey and introduced the committment Genoa is making here. Let me tell you that this is a significant step and a very patient vision of the company's long term confidence in the power of lean. For me, this is a WOW!!

Because the 115 year old Stanley Cup was won last night by the Anaheim Ducks I can't help but use a hockey analogy to describe how significant this vision is:...... Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke, and, ironically Brian Murray who is the runner-up Ottawa Senators head coach, put together a plan a number of years ago to draft tough, big, skilled, Canadian hockey players (19 Canadians on their roster). They believed this was the formula to a Stanley Cup. For those readers outside Canada who don't know waht the Stanley Cup is; it's the holy grail of the hockey world. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/silver_vrtro.htm In Canada, hoisting the Stanley Cup is akin to ...well nothing really...but I did watch many men grin uncontrollably, giggle, and cry last night when they lifted it above their heads. For the lesser sports ... please forgive me for that, I'm Canadian... it's golfs Masters (Green Jacket), baseballs World Series (The Commissioners Trophy), footballs Super Bowl (Vince Lombardi Trophy), soccers World Cup (FIFA World Cup), ...you get the picture.

The formula for Burke and his team was a long term, patient approach, that involved many components including, leadership, a system of plays to execute, teamwork, training and development, a long term plan, discipline, and specific goals.

So why is Genoas long term plan a WOW! For me, as a lean professional, this vision is a company that "gets it". Too many companies approach lean with a view to get out cost as the only objective. Lean is not a quick fix, it's a way of running the business.

This past week we discussed value from customers perspective, training and development plans, communication strategy, production rates, human resource strategy, improvement teams, among other topics. Out of this discussion, we have brainstormed a list of the to do's necessary to piece together the five year plan. Incidently, lean is such a broad discipline, there is a lean tool that organizes the approach to all of these topics.

Now we need to meet to categorize this list, break up the to do's in an overall strategy and spread them out over the five year plan.

At the end, will there be a Stanley Cup. I doubt it because nothing fits in that category in terms of accomplishments, but there will be a few Green Jackets and Commisioners Trophies along the way. Please forgive me for that too.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Project Plan - Project Charter - Project Scope - Communications Plan

2007-05-30T20:21:00.000-03:00

I'm going to steal some other ideas from Ken, "The Lean Guy", and comment on them.
Ken has been working here at Genoa for approximately six or eight weeks now, and the focus for the last six of those weeks has been on an analysis of our historical data, in order to try to draw a relationship between our efforts and the particulars of the vessels we complete. The first couple of weeks were spent on some high level planning, determining that we would develop a five year program, and then communicating this intention to the everyone here at Genoa. I believe everyone was pleased that we were starting over in our Lean journey, and intending to change to approach as a more gradual and planned and step by step process, rather that the Tasmanian Devil Kaizen "All Hell Breaks Loose" approach, which tended to lack a plan for sustainment.
Ken mentioned yesterday evening that if he were staff here at Genoa, he would perceive Ken's efforts as hiding in a hole and doing detailed analysis and research, with no results or action to show to date. In order words, from staff perspective here at Genoa..."Here we go again".
This is a wakeup call.
I believe its time for some communication.
I believe its time for some action.
Ken has made progress with his analysis and determination of relationships between parts and volume and vessel type and hours and labour and takt time. I have made progress with a plan, and have a better idea how I would like to see the first two years of our 5 Year Lean program, and specifically the first year (being Genoa Seiri) will map out and what progress we can expect.
We have also finished some Kick-Off type project meetings, and the emphasis was on communications. Lessons Learned centred around poor communications plans.
I also recently attended the Annual International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) awards banquet in St. John's and listened to numerous communicators speak. Also listened to the "Communicator of the Year" speak...and guess what they talked about?
We have not communicatoed our intent to the staff lately. We have not communicated our most recent plan. In fact, we do not have a communications plan for our Lean Project?
I had to ask myself again why I have not handled this project like every other technical project that enters our shop?
Where was the Kick-Off?
Where is the scope document?
The Charter?
The Comm Plan?
In Scope? Out of Scope?
Project Goal? Can I define it clearly?
Time to regroup quickly and pull this all together before we launch into this project too fast, too far and too half-hazardly.
A meeting with Ken yesterday reinforced the need for all this.
Lets bring the goals forward into a visual format where everyone can see whats next, whats coming next year, and what the final expectation is. Lets draw up the charter, the scope document, the communications plan. Lets handle this project like every other that we start.
Refer to PIMBOK.
Refer to IABC for a perspective on communications.
Plan to follow....

Data Analysis - When enough data is enough?

2007-05-23T18:32:00.000-03:00

An old boss of mine once referred to the pace of a project as "glacial speed". Sometimes I feel that's how were moving with this data collection process.

When is enough data enough? Well this is something I've always struggled with on improvement projects. The perfectionist in me says get every bit of data you can and keep getting it until you feel you have the answers to all the questions. One project I worked on, we analyzed a full year of machine throughput numbers and the distribution of each piece across a couple of thousand possible outputs. Millions of points of data (thank God for excel and import files). The lazy side of me says "it's good enough, move on". I have to recheck my patience when that happens.

The answer to the question of how much data is enough is really a method or approach. First, you need a data collection plan before you start. You have to answer a few simple questions starting with how your data will be displayed when you get it all. This basic question really helps you focus before completing the rest of the plan. In our case we decided to display the data we discussed previously in dot plots showing variation from the mean. That way we could explain away data outliers and come to a reasonable conclusion of what the rate of production capability really is.

Other questions to ask is what data is available and in what format. Old data may not be in the same format as is newer data. This was the case with our data collection, having several different collection formats that we needed to adjust for. You will aslo need to know where to get the data and if you plan to have others collect data you must be very clear in your requirements and maybe even run some test collection to ensure everyone is clear. You also need to address conditions that introduce variability in data such as proficiency of operators or process performance at the time. For example, in our case, some of the data we're using was collected before Kyran and others created lisp routines cutting out many key strokes.

The answer to the question then is.....develop a complete data collection plan and execute it. You will be sure to get the data you need in the right amounts. Don't skip steps and be patient in getting the right data you set out to get. It is the foundation for creating the future state map. Try creating the future state with bad data and see what you'll get.

Search some six sigma and lean sites to find more information on data collection planning and how to lay out a plan.

Lean Guy at Genoa

Takt Time vs. Production Capability

2007-05-10T14:00:00.000-03:00

The concept of takt time is important to understand. People use the word incorrectly all the time. Not particularly here at Genoa because it's hard to relate to takt in a project management environment so there hasn't been much talk of it, but it's used to describe everything from rate of production to cycle time to lead time. Takt will be used at Genoa eventually but first we need to determine production capability.

First it's important to realize that takt time is a measure of pace based on customer demand. In other words, at which rate is it necessary to produce in order to deliver on time to the customer.

Takt Time = Available working time / customer demand.

What we are currently seeking is the actual rate, or production capability, at which Genoa can produce. Using historical data we will know that we can model, assemble, nest and stiffen midbody's in a barge at a rate of 3.5 parts per hour (if that's the rate it turns out to be when the data is analyzed and verified). This is not sufficient if the customer needs Genoa to do this work at a faster rate.

When we first understand the production capability a customer will tell us what they want ie: A 160 ft boat that is 140 thousand cubic feet in volume has 8,600 parts. We can do this boat in 1700 hours all work included. That's roughly 5 parts per hour worked for everything. Now, if the client tells us they want all deliverables complete in 100 days we know we need to produce at a rate of 86 parts per day. We work 10 hour days so we we need two people, the second one only needs to produce at 36 parts per day in order to maintain pace and deliver on time. We can asign this second person to other work.

How can we do this and maintain visual indicators of pace? We already use MS Project to lay out the project tasks. We can calculate production rates by ship type, unit type, and volume. We can use these production rates to populate the project data in MS Project based on customer demand and the visual indicator of pace is simply whether or not we are on time using the project network diagram in MS Project. If everything is running as scheduled we are on pace if we are behind we know immediately and have to react to get back on track.

I was going to attach a file with data but I couldn't seem to attach it here.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

Consortium Value and Presentations

2007-05-03T00:17:00.000-03:00

I recently missed another consortium meeting, and am kicking myself for wasting company money and being a stereotypical non-committing male.

In our Newfoundland Consortium - Fluent- there are approximately 10 companies that meet on a monthly basis and share everything Lean.

Typically we spend time on presenting a status report of each company, from a Lean perspective, and spend time on a trouble-shooting exercise at the location of the meeting. This can involve a process evaluation, a 5S problem, a Takt time problem, or simply applying outside eyes to a new implementation to pick apart potential problems. This trouble shooting exercise may also be replaced with an informative tour.

Recently, our Consortium has welcomed a new member; a mining company.

By not attending, I have lost focus on Lean, I have not shared some of our minor successes so far, and I have not received any "outside eyes" on our strategy. I also had no idea we had an exciting new member!

The Consortium, any Consortium, possesses great potential for value and insight, networking, varied and extensive expertise, and by missing the meetings, I have thrown away any value that could have been gotten from the past two meetings.

Shame on me.

Note to self...make the committment, make attendance mandatory for myself and ideally another person from Genoa, and apply 110% like I should.

This reminds me of one of the biggest difficulties with Lean application - Sustain.

If there is any Lesson I should have learned by now, it is this. Committ. Sustain.

There...my confession is public.

Next time you see me, slap me. At the same time slap yourself. Remember that any efforts, gains and successes in Lean can be lost in a heartbeat if there is no committment to sustain.

Just like this blog. If I do not committ, and do not sustain, what will happen?

Need I say more?

Leonard

Lean Guy at Genoa back from vacation

2007-05-03T00:15:00.000-03:00

Since my April 19th post I've only spent a day or so at Genoa, poring over heaps of data and starting to actually do some analysis and put together tables grouping information. That was before a 10 day vacation trip to Alberta far from the environment of sea and ships.
Going back a few weeks, we met with all employees and gave a brief outline of where we wanted to go and what they could expect. At the time, Leonard asked everyone to suggest a name for our lean undertaking and was flooded with responses and suggestions, everything from........sorry, no suggestions..no surprise though, what do you name something you can't really visualize.
Leave it to creative Leonard though, he put some serious thought into the matter and revisited one of the lean foundations, that in my opinion, encompasses all lean principles and objectives, which is 5S. No detail on 5S here, google it. But seriously, you can link every lean tool and basic principle to one of the 5 "esses".
Being even more creative and adding some intrigue we have decided to use the Japanese "esses" and have so chosen our project name to be Genoa Seiri (pronounced say-ree). Seiri's english equivalent is Tidiness or Proper arrangement. The others S's are: Seiton (Orderly), Seiso (Clean), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Shitsuke (Self-Discipline).
Choosing Seiri represents something even more significant though. Genoa Seiri is year one of Genoa's long term commitment to lean with each of the 5 S's representing another year and level of commitment in the pursuit of lean.
Next post we'll share some results of our data analysis.

Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa

The Lean Guy's First Post

2007-04-19T22:33:00.000-03:00

This is the first blog posting for us at Genoa Design so let's start with a very brief history of our lean journey. We've been working towards creating a lean operation for a number of years now and have many successes to boast of for our efforts. We have created value for our customer by removing waste from our processes. We've been committed to getting there (pursuit of perfection) and have recently been able to begin some analysis that we've been wanting to do for a long time.

At Genoa, we believe ..scratch that...we know that there are relationships between type of ship, type of unit (bow, stern, midbody, superstructure etc.), number of parts, weight, volume of unit, and hours required to model, assemble, etc..

Knowing that these relationships exist, we've been able to collect data from previous and ongoing projects that will help us analyze how they are related. We have 16 projects under analysis with others to add, and we're capturing information on volume, no. of parts, projects hours, type of unit etc. Thousands and thousands of points of data to analyze.

What to do with all of this data? Let's get back to lean...the first question in developing a lean future state in a production environment is ..What is the takt time? ...ie: the relationship between customer demand and available working time. This information will help us get toward establishing customer demand in our environment...no small feat I assure you because in our world, you can't see widgets go down the production line, but we still want to be able to establish a sense of "flow of product" and visual indicators of pace of production.

What we will know for example, is that to model a part in a midbody on a barge it will take (on average) a certain amount of time...as it will also take a certain amount of time to do other types of units for other types of ships. This will bring us ever closer to the establishing the elusive takt time for our operation.

What else will this give us? Among other known and yet to be determined benefits this data will give us;

the ability to accelerate the bidding process by using models to estimate cost
improvements in project management
a basis to create a visual tracking system for projects based on takt time
and a base to build upon and add to as we move ahead.

This is not rocket science ( or as Don Cherry says "rocket surgery" ) but it's tedious and necessary to achieve our end. Later we'll share the results of our analysis.

Ken Hogan
Lean guy at Genoa

The First Post - The Background

2007-04-19T21:55:00.000-03:00

Welcome to the new blog.

This is a blog about Lean and Genoa Design International Ltd.

I plan to post my thoughts, insights, failures, successes, frustrations and celebrations surrounding the implementation of Lean in our company.

I will not bore you with a definition of Lean. Go look it up. www.google.com

I will not bore you with what Genoa Design does. Go look it up. www.genoadesign.com

I will, however, bore you with a brief history of Genoa and Lean as the intro to this whole blogging exercise.

I believe that Genoa Design is one of the first companies in Canada, and possibly the United States, that is trying to implement Lean in a marine and shipbuilding engineering service environment. Dave Hogg has mentioned to us that we are generally the first ones to try to tackle engineering activites.....we'll see.

We started this whole Lean stuff in 2002 with a simple introduction to Lean. This was through one, then another, then another, workshop and conference and industry conference. I believe one of the first was the Ship Production Symposium held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. CME also provided a number of workshops here in Newfoundland that introduced me to Lean. Basically, I was the only person from Genoa Design to attend and learn at this point. This was mostly a financial restriction.

In 2003, I attended a Technology visit program in Toronto, where a number of individuals representing different companies and industries in Newfoundland, visited a series of companies in the greater Toronto area, all of who were members of the HPM Consortium. I also attended various other workshops, which were mostly sponsored by the local CME branch, and attended the "Measure Up For Success" conference in Toronto...a major annual Lean conference held in Canada.

Within Genoa Design, we formed a Continuous Improvement Team, and loaded all staff on "Lean 101". We joined CME (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters) and helped to form a brand new Lean Consortium in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Fluent Consortium.

Since then, we have been through numerous Kaizens and internal continuous improvement intiatives. We have tried to sustain our lean improvements, and have failed. However, we keep trying.

I think we have the right formula to start again and properly sustain this time.

We have not abandoned our improvements to date. We have not started over completely. But we have made one major change, and that change is....we have hired a Lean Consultant. Ken Hogan used to be a part of our Consortium as an employee of Canada Post until his position was terminated. (A not-so-nice and short-sighted effect of Lean implemented by companies that don't quite have the concepts of Lean straight). We met with Ken shortly after his departure from Canada Post, and now Ken has decided to operate as a consultant. He spends two days per week in our shop.

Ken has been working on analyzing gobs of data we have been collecting for years, concerning all the hours we spend toward the various tasks required to complete our projects. So far it has managed to cross his eyes and keep him awake at night, however he is getting close to understanding what might constitute a TAKT Time. Ken believes that TAKT time is the secret to our success. But TAKT time has eluded us through the years.

Good place for the cliff-hanger....stay tuned for the next entry.

I think that about does it for the first entry.

I am also going to have Ken post entries.

Together, we may be able to provide some insight into our efforts and how confused we manage to get when trying to Lean out our complicated little process...

Good night all,

Leonard

2007-04-15T17:23:00.000-03:00