Leadership in Lean Transformation
In 1990, the book "The Machine That Changed the World" was published for the first timeToyota Production SystemNamed Lean Production, i.elean production At that time, a group of domestic enterprises led by FAW learned this production management model and achieved remarkable results. In recent years, not only our traditional discrete manufacturing industry, but also some chemical and pharmaceutical process industries, and even some service industries such as hospitals, banks, and insurance have applied lean thinking to waste improvement activities. The lean production method is widely regarded as a major advancement in manufacturing management mode after Ford's "mass production". In recent years, AiBorui has found in management consulting projects for enterprises that many companies value the application of specific tools and methods such as 6S, TPM, standard operations, and Kanban pull, while neglecting the key element of promoting lean production: the cultivation of lean leadership.
We often say that the promotion of lean production is a transformation of the enterprise. Change requires leaders, and without capable leaders, it is impossible to achieve change. So where do leaders come from? The first step after collaborating with the company is to establish a three-level organization: the leadership group, the promotion group, and the implementation group, which actually covers the top, middle, and basic change leadership of the company. The behavior of a company reflects the behavior of its senior leaders. Leaders are the wind, while subordinates are the grass. Wherever the wind blows, the grass falls. But like all leaders, they must also work through their subordinates. Toyota's leaders are always hands-on, and their presence can often be seen in the offices and work sites of subordinates. They are truly practicing the concept of "on-site reality", mastering how to go deep into the "site", understand and grasp the actual situation of every matter in the enterprise. No matter where they go, they receive personal training and guidance. In the project, the first lesson that AbbVie taught the company was that leaders need to "present things on the spot", because the place where the company creates value is "on-site", and more than 90% of the company's fixed assets are also "on-site".
Change always inevitably leads to rejection or rejection, and there are always people who feel that change will harm their own or their department's interests. Let me give you an example. In 2008, a company in the south signed a consulting contract with AiBorui. This enterprise is a traditional equipment industry in China with a history of one hundred years. The original production method of the enterprise was the "ants gnawing on bones" production method, where assembled products were placed in fixed positions and assembled by a large team from start to finish. The original production operations often encountered technical problems, material shortages, quality issues, etc., resulting in work stoppages. There are a large number of intermediate workers within the enterprise, and when products move, even the next shift's workers need to spend a long time finding workstations, resulting in low production efficiency and frequent product quality problems. After detailed research by the consulting group, it is believed that the layout of this assembly operation can be changed to a streamlined layout for single piece flow production. However, during the discussion of the plan, opposition was encountered from multiple departments. The technical department believes that the enterprise has been producing for nearly a hundred years and has been using this production method, making it difficult to accept a streamlined layout. The finance department believes that this year the company is cutting expenses, increasing revenue and reducing costs, and there were no plans to invest in improvements at the beginning of the year. Due to opposition from multiple departments, some senior leaders of the company have also wavered. Is it really possible for such a significant change in production and management methods to occur because the enterprise has been producing in a systematic manner for a hundred years? This is what they are concerned about. In the end, it was the general manager of the company who stepped forward, communicated with relevant leaders one by one, and went to the "site" to discuss the feasibility of the plan with relevant personnel. Finally, he implemented the plan completely according to the consultant group's plan. Ultimately, it created tens of millions of yuan in value for the enterprise. Here are two sets of data before and after improvement:
1. Increasing production efficiency
2. Decreased product quality defects
精益的推动总会不断的遭遇各种困难：财务的压力、人员的阻扰、必要部门的支持、有人半途而废等等。企业的领导必须要顾全大局：精益的改善可以使企业变成一个高效的、学习型的组织。精益变革过程中时刻不能忘记最基础的原则：“管理决策必须以长期理念为基础，即使因此牺牲短期的财务目标也在所不惜”。
根据爱波瑞的经验，让企业的高层领导看到精益变革的效益，并对精益变革充满热情，是比较容易的事情。但是成败的关键不单是高层领导口头或会议上支持，而是要采取实际的支持动作。在项目的开始我们就给企业建立了“沟通、点检、汇报”机制，明确高层领导在什么时间、什么地点、做什么、做到什么程度。这是一套严格的执行标准，同时要对高层领导完成情况进行检查和评价。精益是一个理想，领导需要提出一个“打造精益企业”的愿景，并致力于愿景的实现。即使在面对反对的压力时，领导仍然要坚定不移的支持精益变革。如果领导有所动摇，下属必然也会同时随之动摇。哪怕领导总是将精益改善做成本效益分析，下属必然会觉得领导的信念有所动摇。真正的精益领导要提供各种相关的资源支持精益改善，包括一流的人员投入精益、财务的支持等等。领导者必须让全公司的人员清楚的知道此行动对公司的重要性，全员参与是必须的，没有可以选择的余地。
我们在项目的咨询过程中经常给企业说“精益是干出来的”，其实精益是一门边干边学的学问，很多事情并不是简单的一个工具的应用，也不是经过简单的培训、一点效果就证明我们是精益的企业了。精益领导不应该在办公室收发电子邮件、开会、出差，而是要亲自实地视察精益进展情况。要多鼓励下属应用精益的工具、方法。要真正的全身心投入到精益改善的具体工作，当然这就要求领导必须懂得够多，才能真正的了解他们在现场所观察到的情形。领导深入“现场”，作业现场就必须有显示精益方案进展的视觉指标及相关的绩效指标，这就是“可视化管理”，一进入现场就能够看到目前精益推进的实际情况。精益生产的最高境界是“全员参与，持续改善”，改善是永无止境的，企业的发展、人类的发展是永无止境的。我们必须抱着一颗长征的心，投身到我们所坚信的事业中，永不放弃我们的愿景“打造精益企业”，只有这样我们的员工、我们的企业才会茁壮成长。推行精益是一次学习之旅，就算我们很多企业取得了很大的成果也应抱着这个态度。
信息来源：天津爱波瑞科技发展有限公司
