Muda is the Japanese word for waste. In LEAN, we refer to any activity that does not add value to the customer but adds cost as waste or muda. There are eight types of waste: defects, motion, waiting, confusion, processing, over production and transport. Eliminating waste is not the objective for continuous improvement. Waste is […]
Gemba is the Japanese word meaning “where the work is done”. A key LEAN concept is that this is where all the value-added activities are performed. Since this is where value-added activities occur, this is where all improvement actions must take place, not in an office or boardroom. A gemba walk is actually going to […]
Process mapping is a simple, effective tool that is used to map the various steps of a process. It identifies bottlenecks. The process can pinpoint the root cause of deficiencies. In every rapid cycle improvement activity, present state maps should be prepared. Then an exercise in developing a future state maps, detailing the target goals […]
Value-added time is time that adds value for the patient or customer that they are willing to pay for. Non-value-added time does not add value for the patient or customer. Take the typical ER visit. The patient registers, is seen by a physician, has various tests, is given the results, is treated, and is either […]
The purpose of the A3 is to put all the relevant details of a project on one piece of paper. The A3 tells the story of the project in a clear and succinctly as possible. The term A3 comes from the size of the page, approximately 11X17 inches. Toyota developed the tool. They wanted a […]
The PDSA process (plan, do, study, act) evolved from a process developed by W. Edwards Deming who is considered the father of modern quality control. The Japanese in 1950 changed it to PDCA (plan, do, check act). We have modified the steps to plan, do, check, adjust. This change allows for adjustments that need to […]
The journey to becoming a LEAN organization stars with hoshin kanri, setting the organization’s long term goals and driving them down into the organization of o the departmental level. Departments develop specific, measurable key performance indicators (KPI) that benchmark the departmental goals and track them daily on their gemba board. If KPI are not being […]
Most organizations conduct annual goal setting exercises. They spend an inordinate amount of time and resources developing goals at every level of the organization. Those carefully formulated goals then go into a drawer, never to be seen again. A year later the organization laments on lack of progress and resolutely starts the gal setting exercise […]
Kanban is the Japanese word for billboard and describes a system that controls scheduling. Most people think of kanban as an inventory control system that supplies inventory when it is needed in the quantities needed with minimal or no inventory. In terms of materials management, an effective kanban system can drastically reduce inventory levels, resulting […]
This step in the Hoshin Kanri process drives core objectives down to the departmental level. It is a simple plan for achieving our goals as they relate to the core objectives. It should be completed by the department manager wth their staff. This is a critical step in the process. No one likes to have […]