As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin lean initiatives, but if it only talks the talk, the initiative soon becomes just talk.

The transformation to a lean enterprise isn’t easy. Senior management, while being driven by the labor force, must lead the process. More importantly, employees between these two levels must focus on using the tools and training provided on a consistent, daily basis to enforce the concept of culture change. They’re truly the change agents.

This is a weakness in many implementations. Department supervisors and managers receive useful training, yet fail to transfer the knowledge to real-work events. The causes for this may be numerous and valid, but they can’t be accepted. Why does this happen? Can it be prevented?

Why does this happen?
One reason is those people are the change agents and often don’t have time to use the implementation tools, because they’re always too busy. Routinely, floor management spends the majority of time looking for lost or delayed products. When they find the problem, they can’t take the time to determine the root cause of the problem. Once one fire is put out, another one develops. They repeat this cycle day in and day out.

 …