Cash on the barrel with Lean.

• Author: Teeuwen, Bert

Lean is hot. Many people have come to see Lean as a persuasive set of improvement tools that incorporate a compelling philosophical approach. A number of government organizations are interested in using this improvement program, or are already doing so. However, managers often say Lean programs ultimately don't deliver quite what they were expected to. Controllers often wonder why department heads are waxing lyrical about Lean's results when the final numbers don't show anything significant. Does that mean it doesn't work, after all?

Too often, staff enthusiasm for Lean implementation is temporary. In practice, the redesigned processes are frequently left on the drawing board, or the predicted improvements in performance don't materialize. But this doesn't mean that Lean isn't a powerful improvement tool. There are plenty of examples of successful organizations, including government organizations, that can call themselves Lean, not only in their approach, but in their results as well.

There are many possible reasons why Lean might be unsuccessful, or only partially successful. This article deals with three scenarios the public sector often observes after starting Lean:

1. Our improvement plans never got off the drawing board.

2. Colleagues put up too much resistance to the improvement plans resulting from a Lean event.

3. We expected the new process to save us a lot of time, but we haven't seen any quantifiable benefit.

The key to addressing these challenges is to think of the Lean journey in the context of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Plan-Do-Check-Act is at the heart of Lean thinking. If you think of Lean as a series of Kaizen events (in which a team makes improvements to a process), you are more likely to experience the issues described above. Plan-Do-Check-Act completes an entire circle of Lean activities, beyond just the Kaizen event. This article reviews the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and then, in that context, examines specific issues that can prevent your organization from creating real value with Lean.

THE CYCLE OF LEAN THINKING

Theoretically, Lean process improvements should follow the eight steps of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, which are explained below. (See Exhibit 1.)

Plan. This is the thinking process, which starts by thoroughly defining the assignment, including the reasons why the process needs to be improved. A team produces a value stream map to illustrate the process as it is now and to specify all its deficiencies, and then it designs the ideal process from the client's point of view. After that, the team draws a value stream map of the desired situation and produces an action plan that includes all the concrete solutions needed to make that redesign a practical reality. (This is Steps 1-5 of the cycle of improvement.)

Do. In this phase, the participants perform all the actions listed in the action plan or delegate them to others. (Step 6.)

Check. In the Check phase, participants evaluate the effects of the improvements that have been carried out. They compare the results of new measurements with old ones and with the goals set for the improvement assignment. (Step 7.)

Act. In the Act phase, participants adjust the redesign based on their assessment of the effects they've observed. The art of improvement is to make things run better, and to ensure that they continue to run better. Team members think of ways to make sure the redesigned arrangements continue working...