To Introduce the Lean Management Method, You Need to Make These Nine Points in Advance

Lean Management, also known as Lean Production, was first summarized by American production management experts from the management practice of Toyota. It is a scientific management concept proved by practice and gradually learned and used for reference by more and more enterprises. In 1996, James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones published Lean Thinking based on The Machine That Changed the World. The book theorized lean production, systematically described the principles and methods of lean, and formed a lean ideological system.

With the upsurge of learning set off by Lean Management, many enterprises are also involved in the transformation of Lean Management. Many enterprises have solved many problems perplexing themselves through Lean Management, achieved production increase and efficiency, and established a lean management system suitable for their enterprises, but there are also many unsuccessful explorations. The reason is usually that the core of Lean Management is not combined with the development of the enterprise itself. Lean Management is only understood as a series of management tools such as "5S, Kanban, Anton system, JIT (Just In Time), leveling," to apply these tools mechanically to the daily management of their respective enterprises.

If enterprises want to introduce Lean Management, they need to understand the concept of Lean Management first. And make it clear that its core is to reduce cost and increase efficiency, reduce waste and finally improve enterprise efficiency. In general, when enterprises use Lean Management, we should first understand and agree with the following nine points about the basis of Lean Management, to help the Lean Management model get more recognition in enterprises and finally achieve better implementation.

1. Lean Management Needs Long-Term Persistence

Lean Management needs a long-term manifesting process. In the early or middle stage of the implementation of Lean Management, the profit or benefit of the enterprise does not increase significantly, and there may even be short-term stagnation. However, to achieve Lean Production, enterprises need to set Lean Management to give priority to the short-term growth of enterprises.

2. Establish a Circular and Uninterrupted Workflow

The process of the enterprise needs continuous iteration and improvement to adapt to the changing market environment. Managers are guided to pay more attention to the process through the lean management method. By establishing a cyclic and uninterrupted process, the production and management work of the enterprise will run at high speed. It is possible to reduce the time spent waiting idle or cooperating with other work in the production process to a minimum.

3. Transformation of Original Production Mode

The lean management believes that the company's waste is everywhere, and there will be tangible and intangible waste in the production process. These can be avoided through the lean management model, carefully analyzing customer needs, and deploying all aspects of production through customer needs. The final supply products in quantities that match customer needs. In fact, in software development, waste can be seen everywhere, even more alarming. These wastes are mainly reflected in:

3.1 Additional Feature Settings

In the traditional software development process, many functions that people do not need will be created intentionally or unintentionally, and these excessive functional features will make the system redundant and increase the cost of the team.

3.2 Inventory

One of the seven wastes in the traditional manufacturing industry is "inventory," which also exists in software development. The common phenomenon is that the completed functions have to wait for a long time to be tested, and the tested functions will wait for a long time to be accepted by customers. All these can be regarded as inventory in the process of software development. They are the second biggest waste in software development.

3.3 Overprocessing

Overprocessing exists not only in software requirements but also in code. Many programmers or R&D teams do a lot of "preventive" work in the code to deal with possible problems. On the one hand, this practice adds unnecessary complexity to the program, and on the other hand, if the "possible" situation never occurs, the code becomes a waste.

3.4 Information Transfer

The situation that development teams often face is that it is difficult to find customers to communicate and confirm their needs, or they have to spend a lot of time and energy looking for all kinds of needed information. The time spent by the team looking for information does not directly create the value of the software, so it can also be classified as a waste.

3.5 Software Bug

In the process of software development, finding bugs, reporting bugs, locating bugs, repairing bugs, and verifying bugs all require human, material, and time investment, which is also an invisible waste in the process of software development.

3.6 Wait

From development to delivery of software, there is a long or short waiting time in the middle. Whether it's the customer's waiting or the mutual waiting within the development team, there is no value. At the same time, waiting also delays the exposure and resolution of problems, inevitably causing waste.

To avoid these wastes and make software development "Lean," enterprises and R & D teams need to change their working model into "pull" production, introduce the continuous pull of Kanban management visualization, strive to reduce inventory, improve R & D efficiency, clarify R & D needs, avoid excessive design, and minimize unnecessary waste caused by bugs. Enterprises encourage full communication among teams, reduce the communication and waiting time in the R & D process, and make the production management circulate efficiently. However, any change is not easy. Before implementing Lean Management, we need to determine to change production.

4. Establish the Courage to Pause Immediately to Solve the Problem

A culture that attaches importance to quality management from the beginning. In Toyota's production line, there is a set of shutdown devices called the Andon system. Any worker can stop the production line operation immediately because of quality, safety, and other problems. Lean Management believes that establishing an immediate suspension to solve the problem mechanism can ensure that the problem is stopped immediately and ensure the product quality.

5. Develop Standardized Workflow

The Lean Management encourages all departments to share and copy the routine work in the work by making "standardized work instructions" and other methods, and continuously optimize and improve it in combination with the daily job, to improve work efficiency and be more conducive to the Companies and departments quickly train new people.

6. Try to Use Visual Management

The purpose of visualization is to tell employees what to focus on, such as safety, quality, efficiency, cost, staff, culture, and more. The content that can be presented is not limited to this. Enterprises and managers can put any important information in production management. Visual display via electronic board or whiteboard. In this way, a series of questions such as the company's philosophy, work goals, and work requirements can be clearly presented every day. At the same time, the A3 data management method can also be used. A3 data is a standard method and core communication tool used by Toyota in Lean Management. The specific implementation method is: summarize a problem with a piece of A3 paper, and summarize the eight steps of problem-solving (clarification of the problem, decomposition of problems, setting goals, grasping the truth, formulating countermeasures, implementing, evaluating results and processes, and consolidating results) To sum up, make the A3 data of the problem to be solved, and quickly find the solution through the discussion between the leader and the team.

7. Encourage Everyone to Learn Lean Thinking

Lean Management in enterprises can not be carried out blindly. It is necessary to cultivate teams and individuals who can accept the concept of Lean Management so that the values of Lean Management can be effectively implemented. And through regular learning and training to continue to strengthen, teach staff how to lean thinking way to achieve efficient cooperation between the team, and the company to achieve business goals.

8. Determination of Continuous Improvement

Taiichi Ohno once proposed that "no problem is the biggest problem." In Toyota's Lean Management, PDCA is a continuous rolling upward cycle. Break the status quo, make continuous improvement, set goals, and achieve goals. If the results deviate from the goals, review the problems and help the company continuously explore the room for improvement through PDCA circular management.

9. "People-Oriented" Values

Toyota's lean management model comes from its enterprise values and management philosophy. Toyota's basic idea of people is "the so-called respect for human nature is to let people not do ineffective work and improve people's value." The lean management model also advocates the humanistic spirit of "challenge spirit, continuous improvement, teamwork and respect for others." Therefore, the implementation of Lean Management requires enterprises to take the spirit of "respecting individuals and people-oriented" as the leading belief and give full play to each employee's ability and personal value.

To sum up, to learn and implement lean management thinking, companies and teams need to do their homework in advance in terms of tools and management methods and the company's value level to complete the transformation of lean thinking. Build a lean culture and lean management system. Lay a solid foundation and make adequate preparations for the company's Lean Management.