A company with an Op Ex mindset is one with
a focus on continuous improvement. ‘Lean’ is a
very successful approach to Op Ex, which aims to
eliminate “muda”, the Japanese word for waste.
All organisational waste can be classified into 7
different categories:
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Transport – unnecessary external movement of
goods or people.
Inventory – all unfinished parts of a product or
service.
Motion – unnecessary internal movement of
goods or staff.
Waiting – where a person or a product is idle,
waiting to be processed.
Overproduction – making too much of a
product.
Overprocessing – too many unnecessary steps
involved in delivering the product or service to
the customer.
Defects – a defect is an error or mistake that
gets accidentally baked into the product or
service.
Every step within any process is classified as either
value-add or non value-add, all from a customer’s
perspective. If a step is deemed to be non-value add,
then it is waste and should be eliminated. All waste
within an organisation adds to the operating costs,
which in turn must be passed on to customers in
order for the business to be profitable. Therefore,
when a business reduces its waste, it can either
increase its profit margin or reduce its selling price
in order to become more competitive.
When problems do arise within a Lean organisation
they are found and fixed quickly. Problem solving
involves a standard, simple methodology that any
employee can follow in order to first focus on the
problem itself, then identify and eliminate the root
cause. There is also a big emphasis on the use of
data in decision making. It is important that people
do not just act on gut feeling or let emotions bias
their decisions.
In order for a company to become Lean, it is not
about changing how management thinks; it is about
changing how the whole organisation thinks - from
CEO down to the shop floor level. As a result, it
often requires a change in culture, something that
takes time. Implementing Lean is a daily job that
requires the engagement and understanding of the
entire workforce.
The suitability of Irish companies and their
workforces for Lean will make it a key strategic
tool for the revitalisation of the Irish economy and
ensure our future competitiveness in the global
market place.
Front Square enables accelerated and sustained
Lean transformation programmes through social
media technology. Using online simulations,
employees learn how to improve processes
through experimentation and collaboration. This
pioneering solution is both engaging and scalable
across large numbers of employees simultaneously,
thus facilitating the spread of Lean across the
organisation. The result is an engaged workforce,
an effective programme and a fast return on
investment.
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