What Does It Take To Become A Lean Enterprise?

In our experience, there are 3 keys to successful implementation of Lean: Leadership Commitment, Employee Involvement and Execution. These form the foundation that will allow Lean to take root and drive results.

Leadership Commitment

A true Lean Enterprise is only achieved if it is rooted in the culture of a company. It becomes part of the DNA of how the company operates; how employees view and handle challenges as well as opportunities. Leaders need to provide encouragement, reinforcement and most of all, lead by example. Often, employees see Lean as a ―fad or like mentioned above, a manufacturing initiative. Only when they see that leadership is practicing Lean day in and day out will the employees fully believe in its power and commit 100%. They can develop the drive for continuous assessment and improvement that makes a Lean Enterprise a sustainable entity.

Employee Involvement

Employee involvement is a key to success for two reasons. First, it builds ownership of change. People are more likely to adopt change they helped design rather than change thrust upon them. Second, the people doing the work are in the best position to understand how the work gets done and are better suited to solve any issues that may arise. For that reason, involving the employees in the Lean Enterprise transformation is a key factor. There are numerous practices and tools that can be used depending on your unique situation, but from our experience there are 3 practices that ensure employee involvement and empowerment to drive the sustainable change and imbed it in the culture.

• Continuous improvement – through proven Lean tools and practices, employees are empowered to always look to eliminate waste and improve their work streams
• Communication process – employee suggestions and transparency encourages continuous communication of changes, ideas and issues throughout the transformation and after its implementation
• Effective change management – in a transformation, employee resistance to change can be detrimental to meeting the goals if not properly managed
• When all employees – regardless of position or function – are immersed in Lean thinking, a powerful Lean culture is created. The core of a Lean Enterprise is made up of a culture that is always consciously and subconsciously thinking Lean.

Execution

Effective execution requires a focused direction and detailed plan to address near-term and longer-term needs that build the business capabilities to support fluctuating business climates. Without a structured plan, direction becomes foggy, leadership will not fully grasp the benefits of the implementation and employees will lose faith in the process. The plan should strive to be in the same form as the desired results: streamlined with a clear view ahead. The focus should be based on:

• A comprehensive company-wide plan
• Staying disciplined throughout the transformation and throughout the organization
• Clearly defining accountability for not only leadership, but for all employees
• Effective communication of accountability and progress throughout the transformation

Make sure to check out Part 1 of the Lean Enterprise Blog Series. We want to hear your thoughts on “What it takes to become a Lean Enterprise,” so post your comments below!

- Ron Sutter, Managing Principal
- Rick Nieves, Senior Manager - Supply Chain