Where to start with lean?

[SQCGuy]

My biggest hurdle implementing SPC... It absolutely can NOT come from the top down.

If you were hired to be a stooge for the manager who wants XYZ done, because he says so and he thinks SPC is the way to go about it, quit.

Upper management buy-in is important, but unless your process champion is willing to participate, not dictate, don't bother.

When you do get to the point where you're attacking individual processes, the most helpful tool I can suggest is this: PF/CE/CNX/SOP.

Process Flow, Cause & Effect, Control/Noise/Experiment, Standard Operating Procedure

Start with a process flow, determine areas for improvement and then complete a cause and effect (fishbone) diagram. Mark that diagram up, identifying each variable as something you control, something you can't (noise) and something that's unknown (eperiments). Once you have your control measures documented and proven, your noise eliminated or otherwise accounted for, write clear, actionable standard operating procedure documents, then ENFORCE them.

In my experience, this will eliminate 60% or more waste.

[Erik Nikkanen]

it's also that, unlike most manufacturing, the print manufacturing process is very often determined by the print buyer/specifier (in the request for quote) rather than the print supplier/manufacturer.
This typically leads to an unnecessarily inefficient print manufacturing process. For example, there are solutions, like Kodak Spotless printing, that virtually eliminate all the washups, ink inventorying, drawdowns, extended make-ready times, print-ability issues etc. associated with spot color ink usage, Implementing such a solution requires that the printer turn their thinking 180 degrees. Rather than simply manufacturing the job as per the print buyer's instructions in the RFQ, the printer using this solution delivers the spot color value - which is really what the buyer wants -
gordo

Gordo,

This touches on several good points.
One is that in the printing industry Standards are not about what the customer wants but are too much related to how the process is supposed to be done in a "Standard Way". Standards based on dot gain or gray balance are not at all related to any target colour and can not guarantee a reproduced colour. An appropriate standard for printing would be one that says that every small region or point on the reproduced image should be within a + or - tolerance of the designer's target colour values in his image. The size of the region could be defined and the tolerance could be defined. The graphic designers image defined properly would be the specification that needs to be reproduced.

A separation is a part of the tooling process and graphic designers should not be involved with tooling. One can design a part in North America and have it manufactured half way around the world and get exactly the result one wants without worrying about the tooling. The tooling is the responsibility of the manufacturer. It is because the part can be defined in a clear specification that allows this to be possible. If images were defined properly, the customer would have a better chance at getting what they wanted. They should not care about the details of the method.

Your example regarding spot colours produced with process inks plus maybe some other inks, is good. It would save a lot of time if it is printed consistently. I am pretty sure you are talking about your FM screening which runs more consistently than conventional and that should help greatly to reproduce the spot colours. But it can also be done with conventional AM screens but the density control has to be much tighter, since a spot colour is made up of multiple inks, the density tolerance on each ink has to be much tighter to avoid visible variation. Yes, of course you know I am getting at the need for more consistent ink feed on presses. Enough said.

The final point is that a Spot colour produced with CMYK is exactly the same as any other colour printed in an image. If the Spot colour can be defined easily in your Spotless printing method, so can any other colour in an image. It is a mapping exercise from the ink/paper/screen construction to the printed colour.

Maybe Kodak should expand on this present Spotless method and apply it to the specification and reproduction of total images. That would be different and interesting and potentially very predictable.

[Karroog]

This is a more of a catch 22 question, not sure how this is gonna get answered:

I have read on this forum that a lot of information you need to know is by reading books that deal specifically with lean manufacturing and the specifics relating to it. Such topics would be 5S, SMED, quick changeover and so on. I can agree that to know how to solve a problem you need to understand the process that you are getting yourself into to correct the said problem.

The biggest issue for me is my superior. I was hired as the "champion" of his setup. That concept is within the 5S teaching realm as far as I can tell. Basically, he had brought up the whole "champion" terminology in my interview, however he never gave me information concerning 5S or what tactics to use until after I was hired and I had fished around for information of what was out there. Once I mentioned it and tried to push ideas of what we could do, he gave me a powerpoint presentation of 5S and let me read through it, basically pushing what ideas I had out of the way.

I can tell already his mentality is not of a teacher. I want to learn these concepts and bring them into the company, but I feel as if his thoughts are of what he knows within workshops that he has taken and not of any reading material that is out there. This issue of communication is seen throughout the company, and it seems like I am in for a complicated process to getting these concepts into action.

I am curious to get some advice on how to move forward. He has only given me information when I have brought it up from my own research or, IMHO, when he wants to just stop me from expressing my ideas and give me information that he has gathered himself. I know the first step in making these things possible is to create a plan and get administrative support. I have created a plan to move forward on, and I know my superior wants these concepts to improve the company. But I also feel that he just wants what he has learned to go into effect. I am not sure how to deal with this, and I am open to suggestions if anyone has any.

[gordo]

You wrote:

" I was hired as the "champion" of his setup."

That seems to be pretty clear.

best, gordo

[Karroog]

Gordo:

I know it doesn't sound promising, but its at this moment the environment I have to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I know my supervisor means well, I just don't think he understands entirely how to achieve certain goals he has for the company. Granted, there are many issues within the company in terms of how everything operates. I believe he sees the big picture and nothing more while I'm suppose to fill in to create the big picture from the ground up. Again, advice on how to start this process would be most helpful.

[David Dodd]

Karroog,

I'm not at all sure that I understand your situation. Were you hired to be the "lean" champion in your company, or to be the "champion" of your supervisor's ideas, some of which have nothing to do with lean? In your last post, you mentioned that your supervisor had "certain goals" for the company. What are those goals, and are they related to the benefits of lean?

[Karroog]

David:

Thanks for trying to understand my situation a bit better. I apologize for what seems a confusing topic, its been a rough few months.

The premise my supervisor pitched to me was to be the "champion" of the company. This position was created for the purpose of making the company more lean. He didn't mention lean manufacturing when I was interviewed. It seemed that my overall position and its job description was still up in the air even after I was hired. I had understood the position to be to make the workflow of the company more efficient, particularly within Account Managers at the beginning. The more efficent the Account Managers are, the more accounts they can handle and so on. Eventually, I have slowly move into both administrative as well as manufacturing issues.

I have been trying to work on a plan to organize our manufacturing facility. The plant is decently organized. There is a section for finishing equipment, small press equipment, large press equipment and so on. However, each section isn't as neat as it should be. There are ink containers everywhere, used plates are stored in multiple locations, cut paper ready to be used on press do not have a specific place to go, the stock room isn't labeled and so on. That's when I started researching. I came across 5S, which is a system to organize and clean up a facility in order to start making it more efficient. I thought this would be the perfect way to start it off.

As usual, there are steps in getting any idea into a reality. I learned all I could about 5S in order to better implement it when the time comes. I've even setup a team with the plant manager, a facilitator and a team leader. For the next two weeks I had planned out meetings so we could discuss each section of the plant and what section needed the most work and so on. I feel I have made significant progress in that area of my plan.

The next issue that comes up is administrative support. Of course, I was hired for this very purpose so I believed I had my supervisors support. However, it seems that what he thinks I have learned is inferior to what he has learned. I gave him all the documentation I had found on the 5S system, showed him a plan of how we could implement these changes and so on. As he heard out my plan for the plant, he said what I wanted to do was not going to work. After giving some further explanation on how I believed my plan would succeed, he basically gave me a Powerpoint presentation on 5S that I guess he had received after completing a workshop on the subject. I was then instructed to read through the powerpoint and get back to him when I had a different plan.

I went over the workshop information, and it was literally all the information I had gathered from bits and pieces that I had found online, in magazines, catalogs and books I have acquired. I expressed this to him afterwards, but he his reaction was nothing short of aggressive. I could write more out but I feel this could give a clear picture of his mindset. In my opinion, I feel that he has "his" ideas on how to implement lean but he doesn't know how. In a sense, I really do feel he just wishes to dump his impression of what he has learned onto me so I can make it happen to his specifications

The problem I see is that to start any sort of major project like this the team or individual doing this needs to make sure certain building blocks are in place. One of which is a plan. I feel I have created a comprehensive plan to ensure the success of this project. The next would be administrative support of that plan. At this moment, I feel as if we both wish for the same thing, but he wants it done his way. He just doesn't know how to make it happen, so he gives me his "big picture" idea and puts me to fill in the blanks.

To me, its a complicated situation and I don't expect anyone to fill in all the blanks for me. I'm still working on how to even approach what he wants, but I feel this project has already gone off course. I am seeing one scenario from talking with the plant workers, seeing their environment, noting their ideas and creating a plan for how it would work. My supervisor barely comes into the plant, only comes in and does snapshots of where equipment is and not of what the workers are doing. I can tell he doesn't have the whole picture, but he still has the "big picture" of what he wants.

Yes, this is complicated I know. I'm trying to figure out how to make this all work. Ensuring the plant workforce can trust me enough to give them the power to improve their work environment, make a plan that everyone can get excited about; including my supervisor and finally implement the changes and start the 5S process. Again, any advice on anything that I commented on would be most helpful, but it is a complicated situation. Thanks for hearing me out, that is my rant for the day.

[David Dodd]

Karroog,

As you have already determined, you are facing a very difficult situation. From your post, it sounds like your supervisor wants you to do the work, but he wants the work done exactly like he would do it, down to the minute details. If my perception is correct, then what your supervisor really wants is a clone of himself. I wish I could be more positive, but I think your supervisor's approach and attitude pose a real threat to your success with lean. For example, let's suppose that you implement a pilot 5S program in one of your work areas. We'll even assume that you use the approach described in the PowerPoint. You create a team, and the team works hard to make the 5S project a success. After the project is completed, your supervisor visits the work area and immediately begins to criticize many of the small decisions that the team made. "You should have used different kinds of tool bins." "You should have installed different shelving." And so on. If that happens, you will find it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to get employee involvement for your next lean project.

Again, I wish I could be more positive, but I've seen this kind of situation in a number of companies I've work with over the years. In many cases, the only real hope of success is to have an "outsider" come in to the company and talk very "plainly" with the company leader.

[Karroog]

Karroog,

As you have already determined, you are facing a very difficult situation. From your post, it sounds like your supervisor wants you to do the work, but he wants the work done exactly like he would do it, down to the minute details. If my perception is correct, then what your supervisor really wants is a clone of himself. I wish I could be more positive, but I think your supervisor's approach and attitude pose a real threat to your success with lean. For example, let's suppose that you implement a pilot 5S program in one of your work areas. We'll even assume that you use the approach described in the PowerPoint. You create a team, and the team works hard to make the 5S project a success. After the project is completed, your supervisor visits the work area and immediately begins to criticize many of the small decisions that the team made. "You should have used different kinds of tool bins." "You should have installed different shelving." And so on. If that happens, you will find it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to get employee involvement for your next lean project.

Again, I wish I could be more positive, but I've seen this kind of situation in a number of companies I've work with over the years. In many cases, the only real hope of success is to have an "outsider" come in to the company and talk very "plainly" with the company leader.

David:

Thanks for your honest take on my situation. I had a feeling it would probably go like this, but I'll still try my best to do it the right way. If it comes to the point where he's on the ideas of "should of done this and that" I'll know I just did everything I could to make it work.

The idea of a consultant or an "outsider" to talk to my supervisor might not be such a bad idea. I'll keep that in the back of my mind in case things go awry. Might come in handy later on.

Thanks again!

[Erik Nikkanen]

David:

Thanks for your honest take on my situation. I had a feeling it would probably go like this, but I'll still try my best to do it the right way. If it comes to the point where he's on the ideas of "should of done this and that" I'll know I just did everything I could to make it work.

The idea of a consultant or an "outsider" to talk to my supervisor might not be such a bad idea. I'll keep that in the back of my mind in case things go awry. Might come in handy later on.

Thanks again!

Karroog,

Your problem is not about Lean but really about employer/employee relations. I would suggest that you do not know what your role is. Let me make some comments and maybe they will help or maybe not but I think they are valid.

First of all, you do not work for your company. You work for your boss. It is your responsibility to help your boss meet his goals. He in turn is trying to meet the goals of his boss.

Now your manager might not be the best manager there is but that is a given in the printing industry which has probably a very high level of terrible managers. That is not the point. This is not about right or wrong. There are very many ways to run operations and to do things. Some are better than others but that is not the issue. You work for someone who needs to get something done.

So you might have a problem with the substance of what your supervisor wants done but you should not defend a position at all cost. Make a comment on how you see things but if that is not accepted, do what he wants and in his way. That is what you are paid to do. You are not paid to specifically accomplish anything. You are paid to support the direction and effort of the management.

The "way" he wants it done is more related to his style of management. Some managers want to see lots of details and others don't. Both styles are OK. Don't confuse style with substance. Provide a few different suitable methods and ask which one he likes. Then ask how he would want it done. You will soon learn what his style is.

Sometimes people think that when they are in a job that they are working for the greater good of the company and that they need to fight for the best solution. To a point this is admirable but the problem is that there is no best solution. Let me repeat, you don't work for the company, you work for your supervisor so he can reach his goals.

Put yourself in the supervisor's position. Let's say he has five people reporting to him. The supervisor has promised his boss that he will deliver on some goals. The supervisor needs his reports to support that effort. If he finds that the reports are working in different directions because they think it is better for the company and continually questioning and arguing about what is the best direction, the supervisor will never be able to deliver what was promised.

The responsibility to help meet the goals of the boss goes all the way up the ladder. Your boss has to meet his boss's goals and his boss has to meet the goals of the next guy up. You can not be a leader unless you know how to follow.

In your situation, I would suggest you try as much as possible to do what your boss wants and in the way he wants it done. If you can do that well enough, he will have more confidence in you and give you more room to do things in your way. At this early stage in your employment with him, he just wants to know that he has someone he can count on and who doesn't waste his time. It is not about doing the right thing or doing something perfectly.

Good luck.