In this article I want to go through some tips on conducting a
Lean evaluation for any process.

Introduction

I really like that quote. It always makes me laugh; which leads me to the main topic of this article:

"Become a Lean expert in evaluating the current condition"

I recently posted the following topic for discussion to a group of experienced Lean Practitioners:

"What are the top five things you look out for when you first walk through a process to evaluate the
"current condition"? i.e. What is the "Lean" mental checklist that you use ?

The answers were both frank and interesting.

So, in this short article I want to take you through a broad mental checklist that you should find useful.

This valuable information will equip you with a focused list of questions to ask, and observations to
make, as you set about evaluating a process for the first time.

This information will give you a solid framework of ideas that you can use for the evaluation of any process.

So without further ado here are eight areas that you can use as your own mental checklist.

As you walk through the process you should make some notes about each focus area. When you r
eview these notes you will get an overall impression of the state of Lean in the process and the
potential areas for improvement.

 Area of Focus : 5S / Workplace Organisation

5s is a process and method for creating and maintaining an organized, clean and high
performance workplace

In terms of Workplace Organisation the main thing we need to understand is the overall condition
and implementation of 5s.The bad news is that if a place looks disorganised then it probably has
lots of waste. The good news is that there will be a huge potential to make some dramatic
improvements:

Potential Questions to Ask:

Observations to Make:

  Observations to Make:

Area of Focus : Standard Work

Standard Work can be defined as the best combination of people and equipment utilizing the minimum
amount of labour, space, and inventory.

For a process to be truly 'Lean; then there needs to be strong vidence of the use of Standard Work
i.e. 'The best known way of doing something". As you walk round you need to get a sense of whether
Standard Work is alive and well or whether each person does things their own way!

Potential Questions to ask:

Observations to make:

-Is there obvious standard work in process ?
-Is there repeatability on each process step ?

Area of Focus : Customer Demand and Takt Time/ Cycle Time

Takt Time is the required process rate needed to meet 'true' customer demand.

Potential Questions to ask:

Observations to make:

Area of Focus : Waste

Waste is defind as anything that does not add value to the final
product or service, in the eyes of the customer. The Seven Classic
Wastes in any process are:

1. Defects
2. Over Production
3. Inventory
4. Over Processing
5. Motion
6. Waiting
7. Transportation

Potential Questions to ask:

Observations to make:

Area of Focus : Layout/Flow

A well designed layout is key to creating flow ,which is one
of the building blocks for any Lean System.

Potential Questions to ask

Observations to make:

Area of Focus : Inventory

Lean processes should have mimimum inventory to help
improve flow, reduce batch sizes (one piece) ,reduce
the amount of space required and ultimately the cost
of doing business

Potential Questions to ask:

Area of Focus : Lean Culture

Potential Questions to ask:

	Does the Organisation have a Continuous Improvement Culture ?
	How do people get involved in improvement activities?

Observations to make:

In conclusion

Hopefully you can now create a mental check list from the preceeding
information that will work for you. Happy Lean hunting !

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Graham Ross