by Wayne Forster          July 2020

In my previous post “What is Lean Management?” I indicated that Lean was based on two fundamental principles: 1) elimination of wastes; and 2) continuous improvement. Over the years, Lean practitioners have developed a series of tools and methodologies to implement Lean principles. Some of the most commonly used tools are outlined below.

5S

A disciplined approach to maintaining order in the workplace, using visual controls to eliminate waste. The 5S words are Sort, Set in Order, Shine/Sweep, Standardize and Sustain.

A3

A one-page report prepared on a single 11 x 17 sheet of paper that adheres to the discipline of PDCA thinking as applied to collaborative problem solving, strategy development or reporting. The A3 includes the background, problem statement, analysis, proposed actions, and the expected results.

First-run Study

Trial execution of a process in order to determine the best means, methods, sequencing, etc. to perform it. First-run studies are done at least a few weeks ahead of the scheduled execution of the process, while there is time to acquire different or additional prerequisites and resources. They may also be performed during design as a basis for evaluating options or designing the portion of the work.

PDCA

Stands for Plan – Do – Check – Act. The cycle introduced by Walter A. Shewhart and popularized by Dr. W. E. Deming as a method of continuous improvement. (Sometimes called PDSA; Plan-Do-Study-Act.) Plan: Establish the objectives and identify the processes required to achieve those objectives. Do: Implement the planned changes and collect data on the results of the actions taken. Check: Evaluate the data obtained in the previous phase to determine to what degree the planned objectives were met. Act: Make any required adjustments to the process.

Plus/Delta Review

A continuous improvement discussion performed at the end of a meeting, project, or event used to evaluate the session or activity. Two questions are asked and discussed. Plus: What produced value during the session? Delta: What could we change to improve the process or outcome?

PPC (Plan Percent Complete)

A basic measure of how well the planning system is working, calculated as the “number of assignments completed on the day stated” divided by the “total number of assignments made for the week.” It measures the percentage of assignments that are 100% complete as planned.

Process mapping

A flowchart identifying all the activities and steps for a process. Process mapping focuses on reducing the time elapsed between activities by eliminating wasteful steps.

Pull Planning

A method of advancing work when the next-in-line customer is ready to use it. A “request” from the customer signals that the work is needed and is “pulled” from the performer. Pull releases work when the system is ready to use it. This is as opposed to the

traditional “push” approach to product or service delivery, where an “order” is given from a central authority based on a schedule in which materials, information, or directives are released according to a plan but irrespective of whether or not the downstream process is ready to use them.

Root Cause Analysis

A problem solving technique used to dig for the root cause of a condition by asking the question “Why?” successively (at least five times) in order to get beyond the apparent symptoms. As each answer to the “Why?” question is documented, an additional inquiry is made concerning that response. (Also called 5 Why Analysis).

Should-Can-Will-Did

To be effective, production management systems must tell us what we should do and what we can do, so that we can decide what we will do, then compare that with what we did to improve our planning.

Standardized Work

Documenting the steps of a job task and the sequence in which those steps should be performed. You can think of standardized work as defining who does the task, when they do it, and how they do it.

Time Study Analysis

A direct and continuous observation of a task, using a timekeeping device (e.g., a stopwatch or video camera) to record the time taken to accomplish a task. It is often used when there are repetitive work cycles of short to long duration, when a wide variety of dissimilar work is performed, or when process control elements constitute a part of the cycle.

Value Stream Mapping

A diagram of every step involved in the material and information flows needed to bring a product from request to delivery.

These are just a sampling of the tools used in Lean Management. While I’ve outlined some of the most commonly used ones, there are numerous others that are utilized for specific purposes or situations. I’ll discuss some of these in future posts. I’ll also write posts providing more details of specific tools.