Lean.

Before we start to discuss how to use Lean and TPS principles in IT support and IT infrastructure, it is necessary to understand it first. So, we will have two blogposts that will aim to give an understanding on Lean and TPS before we can move on. This first post will focus on Lean.

I remember the first time I saw "the lean house", I could not understand it. It was the drawing of a house, with a floor, a roof and two pillars. The roof was representing things you would like to achieve. One pillar represents the flow while the other represents the process. In the base, is the continuous quest for quality. This is a very simplified description of it. The original drawing was a bit more complex, as we can see below.

The Lean House used to teach lean principles

This was first used by the lean founders to explain the coherence and harmony of the Lean System.

The foundations of the house are build over muda reduction and kaizen. The word muda translates as waste in english. The elimination of waste is considered one of the very important steps in the lean methodology. Kaizen can be translated as continuous improvement. Those are the two elements where everything is built over. Waste elimination and continuous improvement.

The seven wastes identified in Lean manufacture are:

• Transport
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Overprocessing
• Defects

One of the systems created to reduce the waste was the 5S. 5S is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace and using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results. Implementation of this method "cleans up" and organizes the workplace basically in its existing configuration, and it is typically the first lean method which organizations implement.
The 5S pillars, Sort (Seiri), Set in Order (Seiton), Shine (Seiso), Standardize (Seiketsu), and Sustain (Shitsuke), provide a methodology for organizing, cleaning, developing, and sustaining a productive work environment. In the daily work of a company, routines that maintain organization and orderliness are essential to a smooth and efficient flow of activities. This lean method encourages workers to improve their working conditions and helps them to learn to reduce waste, unplanned downtime, and in-process inventory.

Lean production is founded on the idea of kaizen – or continual improvement. This philosophy implies that small, incremental changes routinely applied and sustained over a long period result in significant improvements. The kaizen strategy aims to involve workers from multiple functions and levels in the organization in working together to address a problem or improve a process. The team uses analytical techniques, such as value stream mapping and "the 5 whys", to identify opportunities quickly to eliminate waste in a targeted process or production area. The team works to implement chosen improvements rapidly (often within 72 hours of initiating the kaizen event), typically focusing on solutions that do not involve large capital outlays.

Periodic follow-up events aim to ensure that the improvements from the kaizen "blitz" are sustained over time.

The pillar in the left, have its base as heijunka. Heijunka translates as continuous or smooth sequencing.  Which means that the ideal work is always constant, and that variation in production should also be eliminated. Heijunka focus is to reduce the mura (uneveness) and by doing that, also reduce muda (waste).

In the same pillar we also have "Pull System", where production aims to make only the parts required by client orders (on demand). 

Based on the orders, a Takt time is calculated and measured against the cycle time of every part of the manufacturing process. The Takt time is the relation between time and client demand. Once calculated this is divided in all processes of the production, and have the goal to set the rhythm of the production. Whenever a difference in the flow appear, kaizen is used to correct the flow. It also ensures that the flow will be constant, helping to achieve heijunka.

Comparison between Takt time and Cycle time during manufacturing process.

The last element of this pillar is JIT or Just-in-Time. It focus on muda elimination by reducing the amount of goods and materials in stock. The idea is to have parts and partial products ready for the next process only when they are required, reducing the amount of inventory in each process. This concept is very align with the pull system.

This first pillar is very focused on the flow. It helps to guide how the work moves from one station to the next station, from one process to the next. The next pillar examines in more detail what should happen within the stations, focusing in the process of each production phase.

Standardize work is critical inside Lean. If you do not have a standardized process, then you can not have Kaizen in that process. The TPS principle #6 states "Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment." Use of stable, repeatable methods everywhere is the key to maintain the predictability, regular timing and regular output of your processes. Allowing people that work with the process to suggest improvements, and then incorporate those improvements to the standard is what will ensure the continuous improvement of the process.

The oldest part of the production system is the concept of Jidoka which was created in 1902 by Toyoda founder Sakichi Toyoda. This concept pertains to notion of building in quality at the production process as well as enabling separation of man and machine for multi-process handling. A group of machines would be handled by an human operator, capable of making intelligent decisions and shutting down automatically at the first sign of an abnormal condition. When the line was stopped, the problem was solved in the immediate condition, but a team would start to investigate the root cause of the issue, and once detected, a fix would be applied wherever necessary. This stopped the process from create defective material and also enhanced the quality.

Those are the principles of the Lean Process. Next post we will analyze the 14 principles of the Toyota Production System. The understanding of those concepts will allow us to better understand on how to adopt this same methodologies in our IT environment.