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2020 | Buch | 1. Auflage

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Lean Management and Kaizen

Fundamentals from Cases and Examples in Operations and Supply Chain Management

verfasst von: Marc Helmold

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Management for Professionals

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

The book provides a holistic and practical approach to lean management throughout the business value chain. The lean management framework and tools demonstrate the optimal design and use of methods, tools and principles for companies and organisations. The author describes comprehensively how lean management enables companies to concentrate on value-adding activities and processes to achieve a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. A wealth of best practices, industry examples and case studies are used to reveal the diversity and opportunities of lean management methodologies, methods and principles. Moreover, the book shows how lean management principles are ultimately applied in industries like automotive, healthcare, education and services industries.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Basics in Lean Management

Abstract

Lean management is a modern concept for process optimization throughout the value chain (Helmold and Samara 2019). Lean management is focusing on making inefficiencies (waste) transparent and on altering these into value-adding activities (Ohno 1990; Helmold and Terry 2016). The value chain reaches in this context from the upstream (suppliers) over the own operations to the downstream side (customers) (Slack et al. 1995). Inefficiencies are everything, e.g. an activity, a process, and a product, which is considered as something for which the customers are not willing to pay for or to spend financial means. The customer is the central point in the lean management concept. The primary objectives in the lean management philosophy are to create value for the customer through the optimization of resources and create a steady workflow based on real customer demands (Ohno 1990). It seeks to eliminate any waste of time, effort, or money by identifying each step in a business process and then revising or cutting out steps that do not create value (Bertagnolli 2018). The philosophy has its roots in Japan and operations, but is presently widely spread across the world and industries. Lean management focuses on:

Marc Helmold

2. The Cultural Change Towards Lean Management

Abstract

Lean management and processes have positive effects on the performance of the organization in terms of quality cost, delivery, and other improvements. However, it is necessary to establish organizational infrastructures which required for effective lean implementation and continuation (Fatma 2015). The Cultural Web, developed by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes in 1992, provides one such approach for looking at and changing your organization’s culture. Using it, you can expose cultural assumptions and practices and set to work aligning organizational elements with one another and with your strategy. These infrastructures must integrate cultural elements as illustrated in Fig. 2.1. The challenge to implement and sustain lean management processes lies in the need to identify the organizational culture infrastructure that will allow this system that was first used by Japanese firms to operate well in other organizational contexts. The values and norms that underlie lean processes may create conflict with the culture that already exists within the organization; such divergence retards adoption and performance (Helmold and Samara 2019). Johnson and Scholes identified six distinct but interrelated elements which contribute to what they called the “paradigm”, equivalent to the pattern of the work environment, or the values of the organization. They suggested that each may be examined and analysed individually to gain a clearer picture of the wider cultural issues of an organization. The six contributing elements (with example questions used to examine the organization at hand) are as follows.

Marc Helmold

3. Kaizen: Continuous Improvements in Small Steps

Abstract

Kaizen is a Japanese management concept and targets improvements in small steps. Kaizen means all personnel are expected to stop their work when they encounter any abnormality and, along with their supervisor, suggest an improvement to resolve the abnormality. Kaizen has the aim to be applied in daily life and routines, not only during working hours. The improvement should be gradual and infinite. It should pursue the perfection. The employees should be continuously engaged in company’s life and improvement of every aspect of the company (processes, products, infrastructure, etc.). This improvement throughout all aspects of life is related to the great attention that is paid to needs and requirements of customer (Helmold et al. 2017).

Marc Helmold

4. Waste and Value-Added

Abstract

Added value can be defined as products, services, processes, and activities, which generate a certain value to the organization and enterprise. Value-added must be regarded from the customer viewpoint and is everything for which the customer is willing to pay for. It is important that value-added is recognized and perceived as value by the client. Many studies have shown that we only add value to a product for less than 5–15 percent of the time; the rest of the time is wasted (Helmold and Terry 2016a, b). The opposite is non-adding value or waste as shown in Fig. 4.1. Waste (Japanese: muda, 無駄) is anything which adds cost or time without adding any value, or any activity which does not satisfy any of the above conditions of value-added is a waste or a non-value-adding activity in a process. The focus in operations management must therefore be in eliminating such activities like waiting time or rework (Ohno 1990; Liker 2004). Enterprise must target value-added process and eliminate or reduce waste, whereby waste can be visible (obvious) or invisible (hidden) as shown in Fig. 4.2.

Marc Helmold

5. Lean Management as Part of the Corporate Strategy

Abstract

Lean management must be the integral part of the corporate strategy (Helmold, Dathe, and Hummel 2019). Strategic management is a framework that is dealing with recognizing and making the important changes towards its lean mission and vision by using resources and assets in the most efficient way (Helmold and Samara 2019). It is a framework which links strategic planning and decision-making with the everyday business of operational administration. Strategic management is very important for an organization’s long-term success, which is making companies able to compete in a hostile and competitive environment (Johnson and Scholes 1997). Translation of strategic management plans into practice is the most important aspect of the planning itself in any organization. Strategic and lean plans can include actions like entering new markets, global sourcing, make-or-buy strategies, deployment of new products or services, centralization or decentralization of activities, or aligning leadership and resources as outlined by various authors (Johnson and Scholes 1997; Mintzberg et al. 1995; Porter 1980; Helmold et al. 2019).

Marc Helmold

6. Leadership and Empowerment

Abstract

Leadership is defined as the way of motivating and directing a group of people to jointly work towards achieving common goals and objectives (Helmold & Samara 2019; Fatma 2015). The leader is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction. Leadership implies formal and informal power distribution. The Tannenbaum-Schmidt Leadership Continuum is a model showing the relationship between the level of authority you use as a leader and the freedom this allows your team (Tannenbaum & Schmidt 2009). At one end of the continuum are managers who simply tell their employees what to do. At the other end of the continuum are managers who are completely hands off. As you move from one end of the continuum to the other, the level of freedom you give your team will increase, and your use of authority will decrease. Most managers and leaders will lie somewhere in the middle between these two extremes. The Leadership Continuum was developed by Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt in their 1958 Harvard Business Review (HBR) article: “How to Choose a Leadership Pattern”. Tannenbaum was an organizational psychologist and Professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Schmidt was also a psychologist who taught at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Most leadership models ring-fence a leadership style and analyse it in isolation from other leadership styles. However, in practice, a single leadership style is not appropriate for all situations. Sometimes you might want to borrow elements of another leadership style to use with an individual within your team. Other times you might completely change your style if the situation requires it. Tannenbaum and Schmidt argued that there are certain questions to be considered when selecting a leadership style (Figs. 6.1 and 6.2):

Marc Helmold

7. Lean Management in Operations

Abstract

Operations management was previously called production management, clearly showing its origins in manufacturing. Operations management is the area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services. Operations management is the transformation of goods and services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that all company activities and business operations are most efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is part of the value chain and in between the supply side (procurement of goods) and the demand side (marketing and sales) as shown in Fig. 7.1. Operations management is primarily concerned with planning, organizing, and supervising in the contexts of production, manufacturing, or the provision of services (Helmold and Terry 2016).

Marc Helmold

8. Lean Management in the Product Development

Abstract

Design for lean manufacturing is the process in the product development phase, in which lean principles will be applied in the design and product development phase. The term describes methods of design in lean manufacturing companies as part of the.

Marc Helmold

9. Principles of a Lean Production System

Abstract

The just-in-time production system or lean production system can be described as the ideal combination of four principles (Imai 1986). These principles are the (1) zero-defect principle, (2) the pull principle, (3) the tact and the (4) flow principle as displayed in Fig. 9.1 (Helmold and Samara 2019).

Marc Helmold

10. Lean Management on the Upstream (Supply Side)

Abstract

The term supply management as key value-adding function replaces old definitions of procurement or purchasing. This definition is in line with Porter’s description of value chains (Porter 1985). A value chain is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product, service for the market. The concept comes from business management and was first described and popularized by Michael E. Porter in his 1985 best seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, in the upstream supply management or the supply side.

Marc Helmold

11. Lean Management on the Downstream (Demand Side)

Abstract

In the present competitive market environment, it is important to apply lean tools across the supply chain. Lean concepts provide supply chain agility to produce and deliver products in a flexible, timely, and cost-effective manner with the highest quality standards (Helmold and Samara 2019).

Marc Helmold

12. Lean Management KPI and OKR

Abstract

Lean management must be an integral part of any enterprise and organization. Performance improvements and permanent adjustments are important factors for the successful implementation of lean structures. Performance management therefore integrates a cycle from performance measurement and analysis (Plan), the performance action and implementation (Do), the performance management controlling (Check), and the performance improvements and adjustments (Act) as illustrated in the lean performance management cycle in Fig. 12.1. The figure shows the lean performance management cycle as an iterative and continuous process for the control and improvement of processes, products, or services. The original P-D-C-A four-step framework is also known as Deming circle (Slack 1995).

Marc Helmold

13. The Human Side of Lean Management

Abstract

The human factor is one of the most important aspects in the enterprise. Even though machines and artificial intelligence are taking over some work, people are the most crucial element in achieving the company’s goals (Helmold and Samara 2019). Management has to enable a human culture, in which problems in the shop floor are understood and can be addressed by employees in order to implement corrective measures (Helmold and Terry 2016). To give the best of their capability and skills, employees must be motivated to do so. Managers must be able to provide a motive or a reason for doing something or make people want to do it. It is of little use for management to prepare elaborate plans or give instructions for carrying out various activities if the people who are supposed to carry out the plans do not to do so, even though they may have to (Kalkis et al. 2019). Human resources have therefore to implement strategy and leadership culture, which centres the employees in the organization and enterprise as shown in Fig. 13.1. A lean culture must address the values of empowerment and autonomous work groups, in which employees can make and propose improvements (Ohno 1990). Clear structures and transparent processes will help to implement this lean culture inside the organization (Liker 2004).

Marc Helmold

14. Lean Management and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Abstract

Production systems are not like they used to be. The twenty-first century will confront enterprises and manufacturing companies with completely novel generations of technologies, services, and products based on computer technologies (Schuh and Gottschalk 2008). In order to meet competition on global markets and to ensure long-term success, the companies need to adapt to shorter delivery times, increasing product variability and high market volatility, by which enterprises are able to sensitively and timely react to continuous and unexpected changes (Wiendahl et al. 2007). One of the major cornerstones to meet these challenges is the implementation of digital information and communication technologies into production systems, processes, and technologies, which allow novel developments by combining the physical world and fast data access and data processing via the Internet (Industry 4.0).

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15. Sustainability and Lean Management

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is also known by a number of other names. These include corporate responsibility, corporate accountability, corporate ethics, corporate citizenship or stewardship, business ethics, responsible entrepreneurship, and triple bottom line, to name just a few. As CSR issues become increasingly integrated into modern business practices, there is a trend towards referring to it as “responsible competitiveness” or “corporate sustainability”. CSR is understood to be the way firms integrate social, environmental, and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision-making, strategy, and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices within the firm, create wealth, and improve society. A key point to note is that CSR is an evolving concept that currently does not have a universally accepted definition. Generally, CSR is understood to be the way firms integrate social, environmental, and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision-making, strategy, and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices within the firm, create wealth, and improve society. As issues of sustainable development become more important, the question of how the business sector addresses them is also becoming an element of CSR. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has described CSR as the business contribution to sustainable economic development. Building on a base of compliance with legislation and regulations, CSR typically includes “beyond law” commitments and activities pertaining to:

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16. Lean Management in the Service Industry

Abstract

The term “service sector” refers to an economic sector that, unlike agriculture and industry, produces no goods, but provides a service that satisfies a need. Education, health, finance, government, transportation, and trade are service sectors. The statistics show the gross value-added in Germany in the years from 1991 to 2018 by economic sector. The gross value-added in the service sectors in 2018 was around 2068.18 billion euros (Rudnika 2018).

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17. Lean Management in Healthcare Sector

Abstract

Lean starts from the refusal to accept waste as defined by several authors like Helmold and Samara, Ohno, or Liker. Credited to Taiichi Ohno the lean system was developed through the 1950s and 1960s to provide the best quality, lowest cost, and shortest lead time through the elimination of waste. The Japanese term for what American companies usually categorize as waste is muda and was defined by Fujio Cho of Toyota as “Anything other than the minimum amount of equipment, space and worker’s time, which are absolutely essential to add value to the product”.

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18. Lean Management in the Education Sector

Abstract

Leaders who first brought up the idea of applying lean to the educational sector were confronted with some unexpected pushbacks. Many academics and practitioners consider lean as a concept within production and operations, where it was first developed by Toyota in Japan. It was assumed that the goal of lean management was to create something of an assembly line in universities, colleges, or schools. As both groups, teachers and scholars, dislike the idea of education as a kind of assembly line and factory for mass production, the resistance was quite high.

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19. Lean Audits and Quality Management Systems (QMS)

Abstract

Audits can be described as a systematic and structured performance evaluation and assessment of a system, process, or product or any other area by internal or external auditors. The aim of an audit is to evaluate and approve or disapprove the assessed area by standardized criteria and questions, to define areas for actions, and to ensure the sustainable implementation of the actions and improvement areas. Assessment criteria in audits are based on customer and stakeholder expectations.

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20. Outlook of Lean Management

Abstract

For several decades, manufacturers have used lean principles and tools to reduce operational complexity and improve productivity. The lean approach provides the foundation for operational excellence by standardizing processes, instilling a culture of continuous improvement, and empowering workers on the shop floor. However, given the increasing complexity of operations, many companies have found that lean management by itself is not sufficient to address their operational challenges.

Marc Helmold

Backmatter

Titel: Lean Management and Kaizen
verfasst von: Marc Helmold
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-46981-8
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-46980-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46981-8