The construction industry has been mired in an environment that has been siloed and antiquated for years. The view has been that things have always been done a certain way and there is no reason to change. Meanwhile, numerous industries have embraced lean methodologies and have significantly reduced waste, improved efficiency and delivered higher quality products which meet or exceed customer expectations. Surveys show that at least 50% of processes involved in planning and construction are wasteful. The industry has adopted lean construction methods, which are starting to change an industry that lagged behind others.

Learn more here about lean construction!

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Muda is all about waste and Lean manufacturing is about eliminating Muda. It is any activity that adds no real value to the product or service being created or delivered. The diligent attention to the elimination of waste in how work is performed is a fundamental tenet of Lean manufacturing, the operational excellence strategy that was developed over many years and is widely used in business today.

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Muda means waste and refers to a wide range of non-value-adding activities; eliminating waste is the key to efficiency. When you look at the Toyota Production System (TPS), eliminating Muda waste is one of the main principles of the Just-in-Time system. Some things that are considered waste are unnecessary financing costs, storage costs and worthless stock of old items. Toyota divides Muda into seven categories:

1. Transportation – increases risk of product being damaged, lost or delayed.
2. Inventory – Outlay of capital that doesn’t immediately produce income.
3. Motion – Damage inflicted through the production process.
4. Waiting – Product sitting idle.
5. Over-processing – Doing more work than is necessary.
6. Over-production – Making more product than is required by the customer.
7. Defects – Replacing faulty parts or products.

Processes consumes resources and naturally, waste can occur. The more resources that are used, the more opportunity exists for waste. The tools of Lean manufacturing and the TPS help focus on the elimination of Muda waste and create a heightened awareness. Understanding exactly what waste exists and where it is exists is crucial to any Lean manufacturing process. Even though products differ between manufacturing organizations, lean practitioners understand that the types of wastes are very similar.

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Boeing builds the venerable 737 workhorse at a rate of one every nine days! That is a monumental feat of Lean manufacturing. The Boeing 737 is the workhorse of many airlines across the globe, flying short and medium range flights. It was originally designed in 1964 and took its first flight in 1967. In 1968, Lufthansa airlines put the Boeing 737 into service across their service areas. Since its inception, the aircraft has been through numerous upgrades and modernization changes that continue to make it an in-demand aircraft among airlines. As of 2006, there were an average of 1,250 Boeing 737s airborne at any given time, with two either departing or landing somewhere every five seconds. 

Watch this video and see how they do it!

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Since 2006, Great American Cutlery has built the reputation for making the finest quality traditional pocket knives in the US. Located in historic Titusville, PA, the brand focuses on a hands-on process which yields the most beautiful and high quality pocket knives on the market. Their products exceed expectations from customers by producing a product that first became a mainstay in the late 19th century.

Check out the unique insights to the process that is Great American Cutlery!

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Since 1906, the name Rolls Royce has been recognized as quality and luxury in transportation. Throughout its legendary history, discerning people from around the globe have chosen Rolls Royce vehicles for their transportation. They are understood to be the finest example of luxury and comfort in motor vehicles. Take a few minutes and immerse yourself in the luxury of Rolls Royce.

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Take a step back in time with a vintage Honda factory tour! Since 1959, Honda has been setting records. They are the largest manufacturers of motorcycles and internal combustion engines in the world. In 2001, they became the second largest Japanese auto manufacturer. Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft, power generators, and other products. Since its inception, Honda has applied the principles of Lean manufacturing, and this timeless video will take you back and show you how they do it.

Take some time and enjoy a flashback in Lean manufacturing!

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With Tesla and Elon Musk hitting the news almost everyday on a variety of topics other than manufacturing, it seems like a good time to refocus and revisit one of the most innovative manufacturing processes in action. Tesla, under the leadership of Elon Musk, is breaking the mold in manufacturing and doing just what everyone said he couldn’t do. Musk is confident that Tesla will become the example for mass car production of the future.

Take a few minutes with Elon Musk and enjoy the tour!

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Walters & Wolf are a premier commercial cladding manufacturer. They have established the industry reputation of being able to produce products of every cast and color, to precise and exacting specifications. They draw and engineer all systems in-house, both shop and fabrication drawings for project submittals and shop fabrication and field installation. Their quality and customer satisfaction could not be reached without engraining a firm core of Lean manufacturing in their culture and everything they do.

Take a few moments and learn from Walters & Wolf!

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The concept of Hoshin Kanri provides clarity and focus to an organization, by aligning strategic goals through all levels of an organization. It creates an organic flow of information which runs through an organization, where goals run down from management, through the mid-level operation to the production floor. In return, the flow reverses and the production floors provides resulting actionable data flowing up through mid-level operations to management, thus providing alignment.

Taking the first step of implementing Hoshin Kanri begins with developing long-range strategic goals for the organization. A good rule of thumb is to limit the strategic goals applied to five or less to be truly effective. It also allows the focus of energy and resources on what efforts are most important to the organization. Remember, if everything is important, then nothing is important. They should also be either evolutionary or revolutionary. Evolutionary is incremental achievements through continuous improvement. Revolutionary is all about taking big strides, making breakthrough changes with dramatic scope. Both types of goals are crucial to the life of an organization.

The next step would be to develop the tactics for implementing the goals identified. This step is the purview of middle management operations. They are the experts at implementing and allocating resources. There should be a respectable period of thoughtful back and forth between management and mid-level management to ensure goals are clearly understood and that there is a strong alignment between tactics and goals. Over time, tactics can be adjusted and should be, as things changes. Results must be measured and calibrated.

In the final stage, production operations at the supervisory and team levels work out the details on strategy and clearly understand the strategic goals. This is where the action takes place and success will be measured. Management and leaders must stay connected with actions being implemented, mainly through Gemba walks and monitoring of production data flowing up from the production floor.

The flow created with Hoshin Kanri closes loops and ensures focus, clarity and highly efficient operations. It allows organizations to be agile and flex to changing situations in an efficient manner.

Learn more about Hoshin Kanri and download a template

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The alignment of strategic goals in an organization can be frustrating for some organizations. Leadership is thinking in one direction, mid-level managers are running in another direction, and production is trying their best to appease both sides. It can be a frustrating and wasteful situation for all. The process of Hoshin Kanri aligns strategic goals up and down the organization and ensures everyone is working in precisely the same direction.

Take time and watch this informative video!

https://youtu.be/wJGGfkvmjtU

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America is known as the manufacturing powerhouse of the globe. Time and time again, the power of America’s manufacturing prowess has made this country strong for over a century. Technology over the years has played a role in that strength. Our manufacturing operations have figured out the most difficult challenges and produced the best products. The one thing that played the biggest part in that story is the American worker. We are a country of immigrants and a strong work ethic, with a sharp competitive edge. But we cannot forget the struggles those workers endured during their rise to the top. In the early 1830’s, American manufacturing workers were paid poorly and struggled with a 70+ hour a week schedule. Over the years, those conditions have significantly improved. Today, American manufacturing workers enjoy safe and productive work environments and are compensated in a fair and reasonable manner. Lean Six Sigma methodologies have contributed to the advancement of of the American workforce over the past few decades.

We can never forget the sacrifices and tireless efforts of the American manufacturing worker. Today, we should celebrate Labor Day with the thoughts of a grateful nation!

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Kanban is a lean method to manage and improve systems and process across an organization. The methodology balances the demands with available capacity, and improves the handling of system level bottlenecks. The Kanban board is a tool within the methodology which will allow the visualization of any process. The goal of a Kanban system is to limit the amount of work in process so the work flowing through the system matches its capacity.

Check out this informative video on the Kanban Board!     

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Push and pull models of manufacturing are two major approaches implemented by organizations. The decision on which approach to use is often based on their business strategy. Push and pull-based models in manufacturing starts at the planning phase and continues through the execution stage.

Watch this informative video on Push/Pull Production!

https://youtu.be/a7YvJB0n16I

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The Kanban board is a lean tool for managing flow in a process. From simple processes to the most complex, the board will visually represent a every step in a process process and show the status at any given time. During the late 1940’s, the line workers at Toyota displayed colored Kanbans to notify downstream workers that a demand existed for parts or assembly. As early as 2005, the Kanban board tool started being applied to knowledge work, where processes are typically more opaque than in the manufacturing sector.

When a process is mapped out on a Kanban board and Kanban cards properly represent the work, the process becomes visible and hidden aspects of the work becomes more clear. By mapping out the process, the entire team process is visible to every member and provides more clarity in their sense of purpose. The information displayed will answer the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why and how. There are three basic steps in establishing your Kanban board.

Map Your Workflow – Documenting the steps of a process. The starting point is exactly what it is in the real world. For every step, consider the tasks required to complete the step. Now it is time to build your Kanban board.

Visualize Work in Process (WIP) – Once your process is mapped on the Kanban board, start adding the tasks. Every task that should be done or worth doing, name them so everyone understands and put them in place.

Set Your WIP Limits – Early on, it will be a challenge to understand the ideal amount of work in a process. Start with your best guess. With your WIP limits in place, put them on the Kanban board.

It is important to remember, Kanban is a pull’ concept. This means when someone is ready to do work, they look on the board to see what needs to be done and will pull the task into the next column. The task is then their responsibility until it is complete and someone pulls it to the next step. The natural process of the Kanban board will start revealing bottlenecks in any process and quickly identify inefficiencies. Learn from mistakes and move your processes forward!

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