Seminar in Lean Practices

Seminar in Lean Practices

Lean Process Improvement, from the Toyota Production System (TPS), is a system for organizing and improving processes by eliminating waste. Along with this, Lean seeks to reduce costs, avoid over- and underproduction, improve the value stream, and maintain flow. Lean’s fundamental principles are often adapted by each organization or industry by highlighting the underlying causes of certain problems. After analyzing the shortcomings of an existing process, individuals implement a revised process, and follow up with Plan-Do-Check-Assess (PDCA) cycles.

One example of Lean Process Improvement is in the case of Hereford Hospitals. The hospital focused on improving the flow of patients and information for daycase and emergency patients staying over 14 days. Cross-functional staff members mapped out the existing patient journey in detail, identified areas of waste and delay, and designed a new plan. While identifying areas of waste, staff members realized that some patients did not receive sufficient pre-operative assesments, delays were caused by overlapping duties, and several wards were enforcing inconsistent discharge processes. After acknowledging these shortcomings, among others, hospital staff built an action plan and nominated individuals responsible for implementing high benefit and low cost improvements. Another example is in the case of Canyon Creek Cabinet Company, a cabinetry manufacturer, whose objective was to reduce material wastes, risks and costs. Cross-functional teams addressed both the cabinet line and the finishing department, using the lean Value Stream Mapping (VSM) method to identify improvement areas. As a result, process improvements led to reductions in lead times, work-in-process, defects, overproduction, downtime, operator travel time, and material loss and damage. In addition, the company reduced its waste and energy consumption.