New employees entering into support staff roles also need training that sets correct expectations for work in a lean organization. These individuals should go through the same training curriculum as production workers: product overview, quality training, lean training, and mock line training. Are you surprised? Many Japanese manufacturers require their new managers and engineers to work on the production floor for a certain period of time. It allows them to see how the products they will be supporting are made, and it also encourages the development of working relationships with the operators. Working on production lines also provides insight on issues that create obstacles for operators. Although I am not necessarily recommending this approach, it is certainly worth considering.
Managers
As new managers come into the organization, they should be briefed on the company's lean journey, preferably during the interview. Some companies make lean experience a requirement and list it in the job description for managers. If your company adopts the structure of the company kaizen program described in Chapter 3, your new managers should be trained on this structure and taught how they will be expected to contribute.
The kaizen steering committee is an integral part of the lean program, and new managers may become part of this decision-making group. Employees from their departments will be asked to participate in kaizen events. If the concepts of kaizen and lean are foreign to these managers, they will not be
prepared for what takes place. New managers should be aware that their input, contributions, and involvement are required for the continued success of the lean journey.
Engineers
New engineers also play an important role in the lean journey. Manufacturing, industrial, and process engineers will assist with data collection for time studies, waste analysis, process analysis, and value stream mapping. These individuals should go through some form of waste identification and standard work training to learn about the tools used in performing the technical side of lean manufacturing. If the organization has hired a full-time lean or kaizen champion, new engineers should meet this person, because they will help each other capture the current state of individual processes. At some point, the current kaizen champion may leave the process or the company, and new engineers must be prepared to take over this role.
As with job descriptions for new managers, the descriptions for new engineers should reference the company's lean journey, stating its importance. Possibly, new hires will already be familiar with lean concepts and will be perfect candidates to step into their new roles. Although such familiarity is not a requirement, it would certainly shorten the time needed for training. New engineers should also be informed that they will be asked to participate in kaizen events and perhaps even take on a leadership role.
Chapter Wrap-Up
Training is critical. Companies often require salaried staff to attend extensive training programs and to engage in continued education throughout their careers. Their performance plans often cite educational objectives related to salary increases and promotion, and they are expected to keep current on topics in their fields of expertise. Organizations should place just as much emphasis on the training of production workers. Production workers are value-added employees, and an investment in their training equates to profit for the company.
It is difficult for some companies to justify the type of new-employee training I have outlined in this chapter. This approach challenges some of the existing management methodologies and therefore can cause management resistance. However, many companies view training as an important element of the continued success of their lean journey. Upper management must decide whether or not training is considered valuable.
Often, the issue is simply the lack of a training budget. A good friend of mine operates a small fiberglass manufacturing company. We discussed training and budgets, and I asked him to tell me his constraints. He replied, "I don't need a budget to train my people. If it is needed, we do it."
7. Lean Manufacturing as a Growth Creator
As a lean practitioner and consultant, I need to be a salesman, selling the idea of lean manufacturing and kaizen principles to potential customers. This part of the job is not as fun as guiding my clients through their lean journeys. But it isn't difficult to sell the concept of lean; I simply explain how it contributes to growth. Lean is a business strategy, and strategies usually give you ways to improve your company financially and aid in its future growth.
Lean is a companywide approach to continuous improvement, and as time goes on, increasing numbers of employees are involved in the process. Organizations that truly embrace lean manufacturing and continue to fight through the battles of culture change find ways to return the favor to the people in the company who made it happen. Operators, line leads, production supervisors, engineers, and managers represent about 90 percent of the people who do the hands-on work of lean implementation. As the company begins to see the return on its lean investment, there should be a way to trickle some of the profit back to the employees.
Although adding product lines and the processes to manufacture them contributes to growth, giving back to your internal change agents is also critical. In this chapter I outline a variety of approaches for offering lean incentives and the structure that should be in place to encourage this program.