#Factory
ACT
P LA
Lean
operating
system
Hoshin
Kanri
Strategy/
Focus
People,
capability,
development
CHE
THE CULTURE
OF PRODUCTION
Maximising customer value,
people engagement and sustainable improvements
Business functions involvement
Within IMPERIAL BRANDS we started our Lean journey back in 2012 with the launch of
our operational excellence programme within MSRD (Manufacturing, Supply, Research &
Development). We have achieved big successes and now we are on the second stage of
it – focusing on people’s ownership and capability building.
L
ean is supposed to fundamentally change the
way we work and consists of two key elements.
The first element is the operating system (tools
and processes) which helps us identify and
remove waste from our processes relentlessly. The
second element is people who work with this system –
ownership, improvement and capabilities will determine
how effective we work in the Lean way.
Leaders should role-model Lean ways of work
according to the five Lean guiding principles which are
the foundations of Lean. By putting these principles into
actions, we nurture organizational culture and become
aligned to act based on these principles. The beating heart
of Lean is Hoshin Kanri (Goal Alignment), the driving
engine in the middle of the Lean house. It ensures that
everyone in the company is working towards the same
goal collectively with fully aligned objectives. A rigorous
processes of Plan, Do, Check and Act maximizes the
value for our customers while developing our people
and making improvement sustainable.
The Lean culture was shaped gradually at our
Volgograd factory and by 2014 had grown enormous
proportions with the start of the Operational Skill
project.
The project ran for nine months, during which the
factory employees were intensively involved in Lean
manufacturing training processes achieving visible and
significant results for the factory.
Lean leadership & guiding princlples
Challenge
Go & See
Kaizen
Respect
Total equipment performance improvement was 14%
upon completion of the project, while losses of non-
tobacco materials went down from 1.60% to 1.47%.
After the project, a sustainable development phase
was initiated that is maintained by a KAIZEN team from
the production department's personnel. This initiative
team supervises the 6 MAIN LEAN AREAS:
Teamwork
• Reduction of Losses;
• Standard Operating Procedures;
• Short Interval Monitoring;
• Root Cause Analysis of Problems;
• 5S+S;
• Stage Optimization.
TOTAL EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT WAS 14% UPON
COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT, WHILE LOSSES OF NON-TOBACCO
MATERIALS WENT DOWN FROM 1.60% TO 1.47%
At present, the team is staffed by 90 people. This is
the key production asset, i.e. a team of professionals
who support lean culture in all processes, helping
achieve both operational performance excellence and a
level of involvement.
Inspired by the Kaizen team's results, we decided to
move on and involve all employees at the factory in the
process of continuous improvement. To that end, we
have a host of programs such as security visits, where
independent auditors (factory employees) assess the
level of security in certain departments; 5S+S audits
that help assess the level of order in the work areas
and many others, including an improvement proposal
system. It is amazing how interesting the perception of
The Империалист | | 26