Not long ago, I accompanied two of the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership’s consultants, Bob Elliott and Peter Melnik, to a Shingo Systems Design workshop at Osram, a terrific host site in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. Bob and Peter did all the work. My job, in the spirit of continuous improvement, was just to observe. There are so many things we can see when we have the luxury of just watching, and there’s one observation in particular that I’d like to share regarding the paramount importance of Toyota Process System (TPS) methods to the organizational excellence journey.
ADVERTISEMENT |
First, for those unfamiliar with the Shingo Model, the image above shows the connection between employees’ behaviors (key behavior indicators, or KBIs) and results (key performance indicators, or KPIs). In this model, systems drive behaviors, and ideal behaviors generate great results by effectively using improvement tools.
We might, for example, deploy a method like 5S workplace organization with these desired outcomes:
• Everything needed to do the job will be at hand.
• The workplace will be spotless and clutter-free.
• Set locations will be standardized across the organization.
• Workplace organization will continuously improve over time.
From these outcomes—a shared image of “what good looks like”—we might ascertain necessary supporting behaviors like:
• Managers and supervisors training the 5S method, and then...
• Letting go, encouraging frontline employees to maintain and improve the workplace over time, and then...
• Frontline collaboration and engagement to sustain the improvement and recommend improvements as needed
Expected results might include:
• Time savings through reduction of motion waste (e.g., searching)
• Defect reduction (set location for parts)
Finally, supporting systems—the links between KPIs and KBIs—might include:
• Employee training for the 5S method
• Allocation of time for improvement
• Reinforcement of practice through leader standard work
Now to my observation from the workshop. At one point in the systems design workshop, attendees were asked to list improvement methods at their companies.
Methods notable by their absence from this list: heijunka, standardized work, SMED, jidoka, pull systems, and continuous flow—pretty much the guts of the TPS house.
To be sure, there are many other improvement methods that were listed, including 5S, visual control, various problem-solving tools, idea systems, and huddle boards. But the “better methods” first introduced to the West in 1986 by Shigeo Shingo were notably absent.
Reflecting on the few dozen Shingo workshops I’ve presented or attended, it seems that many organizations can describe “what good looks like” for 5S but feel much less comfortable with just-in-time or built-in quality tools. This raises an important question for companies on the Shingo journey. Does your improvement model look like a three-legged stool? Ideal results require ideal behaviors—but the tools to which those behaviors are attached must first be understood and practiced.
What does your process improvement stool look like? Please share an opinion in the comments below.
Published Sept. 25, 2024, in Bruce Hamilton’s Old Lean Dude blog.
Add new comment