(404) 735-1199 LetsDoIt@askldi.com
Select Page

BLOG

All Posts

Videos

Food Production – Kaizen

 

We are a $25 billion food business company and our plant that produces dried product for industrial and food service applications.

 

Throughput on machine #3 has slowly reduced from 13,500 lbs. / hr. to 12,000 lbs. / hr. over a period of 3 yrs. This increased the number of days the machine must be in operation to complete the annual workload that lasts approx. 5 months. This resulted in $140,000 of additional operating costs. Several ad hoc changes to the machine have been made over the past 3 years with no measurable impact on throughput.

 

Using a Kaizen process, my team (Practitioner Certified) facilitated a team of Operators, Mechanics, Engineers and Supervisors to utilize problem-solving tools and techniques to restore machine #3 throughput back to 13,500 lbs./hr.  The start of the next pack season was only 3 months away, so corrective actions needed to be implemented immediately.

 

The Team members used the Kaizen approach with documented Kaizen sheet. The appropriate root cause analysis tools were used to attack this problem

A detailed execution plan was finalized with sign off by the Management Team.   

 

The Team took a GEMBA walk to fully understand and validate the function and current condition of the equipment. We then created and grouped the info into 4M Fishbone diagram. The top 5 issues in frequency were run through the 5Why analysis to identify root causes. A complete list of key issues/counter measures(using the countermeasure ladder) was generated and an action plan to close was agreed upon by the team and presented to plant management for buy in.

 

After completion of the action plans, machine #3 throughput reached 13,500 lb./hr. throughput. All changes were documented, visual controls were added to the equipment, a maintenance plan developed, and key operators were trained on proper set up and operation of the machine.

 

 

AskLDI Case Studies – food production kaizen

The Energy industry is getting more and more price competitive. Our competitors are under cutting prices to win the business. We have defined a key KPI in the market that enables us to keep prices on a somewhat higher level, if this KPI is at an outstanding level. The KPI is Lead time from order to delivery. A major part of that lead time is design and release to manufacturing

The Lead time for Design request to delivery of product is too long averaging 38 days. We have lost business as a result.

My Team was set with the task of a reduction of lead time from incoming design request, to product release for manufacturing.

The target was set to a Lead Time of 10 days

We used a universal cross functioning team of internal stakeholders from Sales, Customer Service, Design, Quality and Production.

We used the PDCA approach with an internal Practitioner Certified led facilitator, to ensure sustainability and expanded the process on an international level.

We created a Process map to understand the current state and identified the losses. The Team was trained in flow and design to deliver methodologies. We developed a future state map and identified 8 projects that would take us to our target. All projects were successfully executed using Practitioner Certified support, with all project KPIs met.

 

The results were Lead time reduced from 38 days to 3 days

We secured mew business as a direct consequence with annual revenue of $850,000

AskLDI Case Studies – Energy Industry

We are a $40 million hydraulic component business company and our plant that produces cylinders to mobile equipment.

 

We had done a flow analyzes and found that a CNC machine was limiting our ability to produce the number of variants we needed. The set-up time was too long and the variation between operators around 100%.

 

Using a SMED process, our team (they are now Practitioner Certified) worked with the team of operators and followed parts of the SMED process. We chose to concentrate on two things.

  1. Training of operators
  2. Moving internal work to external work

 

We used an A3 sheet and worked for one week. We followed the PDCA approach to the focused areas and had Management visiting every morning to get support and to allow them to be informed. A detailed execution plan of the training for all shifts and replacement operators was finalized with sign off by the Management Team.   

 

We video filmed the set-up we chose to focus on and chose the most experienced operator to learn as a team, he also learned since some team members had a really good way of dealing with some tasks. We watched the video together and discussed the content and mad e the detailed plan together before developing One Point Lessons and started to train everyone.

 

After completion of the action plans, the machine set-up for the chosen set-up type was reduced with 53% and the variation was +/- 5%. We kept the follow up on our daily meeting board to. Make sure we hold the gains.

 

AskLDI Case Studies – Component Production SMED

We are a $90 million Automotive product business. We make components for cars.

In one of our production cells we found that our OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) was just over 50% and we struggled to deliver. The OEE was varying a great deal and we found it stressful to try to meet the demands.

We started to collect data for short stops (minor/small stops) because we didn’t have that many breakdowns. Our data showed that we had operator missing for 38% of the time. We added a spaghetti chart for some operators to understand movements.

Using a Kaizen approach and PDCA thinking, we gathered the data and found that operators where asked to do several activities away from the machines, such as first piece inspection, moving material, data logging, SPC, etc. We locked at the countermeasure ladder and as a team we developed an idea to add a water spider. The reasoning we had was that the activities outside of the machine has to happen, so we have to find a way to do that without losing production time. A cost and benefit calculation showed that if we could add one person, we could eradicate close to 100% of the short stops.

The presented the findings and the calculation to the management who realized that we were correct.

We added 1-person per shift and followed the short stops for 2 months.

We found that we still had shorts tops and the team met again. It became clear that we needed a signaling system to alert the water-spider. We added Andon lights to support that and kept following the data. Loss eradicated.

We increased the sales and output and the cost was deducted from the calculation. (I’m not allowed to share the USD for that)

We made sure we had SOPs for all activities and trained all persons.

AskLDI Case Studies – Automotive production kaizen

In the past, I struggled to speak in front of people. It was a real struggle and I was very fortunate to break that mindset.

I meet people who feel that speaking in front of people might kill them. For them the fear is real and I totally understand that.

Here’s my story. I hope it inspires you.

I used to struggle terribly to speak in from of others. What about you. Here’s my story.

When customers ask me how I create visions I ket them know how I practice…they are always surprised.

How do you Practise dreaming? I use a surprising technique…what’s yours?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Drawing from Shortcut To Fame Ltd

Audits a key part of any business

In today’s business world Audits are a common component. Examples are Supplier Audits, Quality system Audits, Compliance Audits, Environment Audits etc.

The idea is that an outside resource Audits to find Gaps that highlights key areas of attention, if improved the business is a step better.

The issue is often that an Audit or the Auditor has the focus to find what’s wrong, that is often a uncomfortable approach for the one being Audited.

I have been to businesses that hide tools that aren’t calibrated, give answer cards to employees and basically try to doctor the results. A bit crazy since the Audit is supposed to help and drive improvements but the consequences can be severe and the business finds it important to Look Good.

When it comes to the Audits related to Improvement systems they should be handled totally different and below I go through the process of that.             

The word auditing comes from the Latin word audītus which means listening, so an Auditor is a person who will come and listen. (More about the State of Mind the auditor and the audited should be in can be found The Article Taking Charge of Your Change published on LinkedIn in my name.)

This means that for an improvement team you should ask someone from the outside to Audit you. The definition of outside is outside of the team that needs the Audit. For example, if you have a steering committee or any type of management/leading team, in some different types of program you might even have pillars (a team of people who focuses on a limited part of the improvement system) they are good choices of Auditors.

Let us assume that you are running a 12-week improvement team, as a minimum I recommend that you have 3 audits, after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The 12-week audit is also called the final audit. The objectives of an audit are to support the team to stay on target, to ensure that they understand the process and that they follow the process of the improvement team. I choose to follow the PDCA approach (Plan, Do, Check Act) in this example. I also promote that the 3 Phases of change are followed, the 3 phases are…Basic Condition, Improve and Innovate. To complete a phase, you go through the PDCA cycle, so the PDCA cycle could be gone through 3 times or more if you follow all 3 phases.

2 Min Drill 3 Phases of Change                     

An Auditor should follow that approach and should also be aware of which phase the team is in and to ask questions according to the PDCA approach and in tune with the Phase, to ensure that the process is followed and understood by the team. A good auditor also leaves the team with energy after the audit. The Important role of an Auditor is highlighted in the fact that the team must understand where they are, what could be needed to develop further. What an Auditor needs to understand is that the team needs support and energy; a bad auditor will leave the team deflated only considering all the problems.

            A good audit process could look like this, the team is waiting for the auditor or auditors and will present where they are now using a team board, that I recommend every team have. They will tell the story about where the team is, the team leader or a representative, preferably several people that are a part of the team is presenting the status and what is achieved, and what they are looking forward to do. The Auditors are listening to where the team are and will ask questions according to the PDCA thinking.  They will ensure that the planning phase, the do, check and act is done properly. The questions are normally asked open ended so that you do not have “yes” or “no” responses, and that you explain the way of thinking and the auditor will then have a better understanding. This will help confirm that the team has understood the concept and the process. Sometimes an auditor can ask a question implying that something should have been done. For instance:  during the planning phase an auditor could ask “What type of root-cause analysis did you use?” This implies that you should have done a root-cause analysis and nobody can answer with a simple “yes” or “no”. This can drive the behaviour that you want in a team as an auditor. After the audit the team leader should make sure that the team understands the auditor’s comments, support and questions, as well as have a lesson learned session after the audit. Lessons learned are key for a team to gather along the whole process, the lessons learned are transferred to the next team that starts a similar type of problem-solving initiative, so we do not run into similar types of problems again.

As an Auditor, you have a choice to Put Pressure on the Team or To Inspire the Team to accomplish something. The inspiration path often has a positive effect on the climate and leaves a team energized.

If this process is followed and the principle of listening is the focus, the Audit has a positive effect on the people involved. Understanding what is done well can that being highlighted can induce energy in a team.

Johan Majlov, CEO Lean Dimensions International

LetsDoIt@askldi.com

Auditing for a positive climate

Drawing from Shortcut To Fame Ltd

I was contacted by a management team, this wasn’t too long ago, I was talking to them and they had a need of hiring more engineers. It’s a wonderful feeling, right, because you develop your business, you need more people and such. I love that myself.

Here’s the thing though, they weren’t thinking about the possibilities of improving that specific area first. The problem that many companies face, I think, is that when it comes to business processes, they have never mapped out the process to fully understand the losses they have. They’re often organized in about ease of management, so people who have the same type of job title and job function report to the same manager sit together and they are most likely never working together with any person close to them. So, they always have to walk around and find people in the organization that they actually work within the process.

This company specifically, they had eight engineers. They needed to up the level of new products coming into their organization and they were looking at maybe hiring two more people. Here’s what we did. We mapped out the process. We understood where the losses were. We saw that the lead time was a little bit over 400 days to implement a totally new product. We worked together with the team to reduce the lead time by doing a certain number of activities that takes away the time between all the tasks you do, so the lead time went down to approximately 200 days, a 50% reduction in Lead time.

What if this is a situation that you could have as well? What if you could reduce your lead time with 50%, what would that mean? In the previous 400 days, you could introduce one product. You can now do it in 200 days. That means that you have basically doubled your capacity, right? You can develop two products in 400 days. To me, that will be a double capacity. They didn’t have to hire any engineers. They already had them in house. They increased their production or output 100% without adding any people. Imagine, I’m just saying imagine if that is true for you as well. What would that mean for your organization?

Being a leader, a modern leader, means that you constantly look for how the organization and its individuals can develop. Having a structured approach like this will lead to success, I’m sure of it. You can do it too, dream about it, smell it taste it…it’s called success.

 

Johan Majlov, CEO Lean Dimensions International

LetsDoIt@askldi.com

The hidden secret in Business Processes

WCM Results

What are the results you can expect from world class manufacturing, and more importantly what results you should look?

It is very common that we look for financial results. We want to lower the cost; maybe we want have lower inventory levels. We might want to turn over our money faster. This is one of the key parts; I guess that people want to start working on. But there are other results that you should look for as well, but let me come back to the financial results a little later.

When I talk to potential customers and most of them are potential customers because they haven’t seen the results yet. I am always a little worried that I’m going to seem to be naive, because I can show improvements that are greater than what they can expect, so it sounds like I don’t know what I’m talking about.

When you get into world class manufacturing, you’ll start speeding up and get more and more people involved in it, if you do it the correct way. The results you can get financially are often surprisingly high. Savings are 5 to 10 times higher than the cost, for example of hiring a Consultant Company.

If you look at one key result, it is the process that you have built and left behind, while solving the problems and saving money that you did during the implementation. So, one result is that you have built a process where people can execute the process. So, if you leave capabilities and process behind, it can bring that value to you and make sure you save the money, or move any needle in any KPI that you want to move. That’s a key part of the results.

A third part is the emotional part for people to feel that they have grown as a person. That they are allowed to be engaged in something, that they feel that they really own something that they’re working on. It’s such an important part for people, and it should be a part of the result you’re looking for, because here’s what it will give you. Sustainability.

One of the hardest things to achieve in any system is to make sure every result is sustained. We truly believe that sustainability comes from not only a well performed executed project, but also the heart, that people are in it and own it. It’s a key part of it.

If you want to achieve results like this, here’s what I suggest you do. Email us or book a call, and we can discuss how we can help you to achieve the same results as many of our customers have got already. And the cost, you’d be surprised how much we can save and how little investment is compared to the cost you’re going to save.

I hope this makes sense to you. If you have any interest in understanding more of how this could work for you in your business, please contact me. A free call or click on the link below. Let us know if you want to talk more about world class manufacturing. And also like and share this article. I’m sure there are a lot of other people who would like to know more about it as well, and thank you for reading

Johan Majlov, Founder and CEO Lean Dimensions International

LetsDoIt@askldi.com

Result expectation from World Class Manufacturing

People in your organization, do they feel that they are empowered? Do you have a structure to it? Do you have a plan how to empower people or not?

 

I’m thinking a little bit about the experience that you get in the workplace, the things that happens to you. How often do people feel in your organization that they are really are in charge of what’s happening? What I mean with that is that if a person doesn’t feel respected, listened to, appreciated and somewhat also being allowed to be accountable and responsible for what they do, it’s very hard to get the maximum of anyone.  Sometimes we make improvements way too complicated. If you go back to basics a little bit and think about what is needed in your organization, to make sure that people can perform?

 

First, they need to know what your strategy is, your overarching goals. They need to know their immediate goals themselves as well.

 

Surprisingly often people don’t know that. They need to have a way to find the information that they need.

You don’t have to serve them with information all the time, but obviously, people don’t know what I don’t know. Sometimes you need to make them aware. You also must make sure there’s a way for them to contact you, to discuss, to ask for help, to whatever they need to do when they need any sort of contact with you. You need to find a way where it’s obvious. So, people meet you once a week, once a day, whatever it could be.

You also need to make sure that the people are trained to do it. Just measuring them and saying that if I measure them, everything’s going to happen. We all know that doesn’t work.  You know, you need to make sure people have the capabilities. That’s a portion of trust. If you feel that you cannot trust the person or they, they feel more importantly that you don’t trust them or even worse, they don’t trust you. There is something you need to address. You need to sit down and have a discussion on that and establish some type of ground rules around it.

 

Then also the side of making a mistake. If people can’t make mistakes, they never going to do anything that is worth doing when it comes to improving.

 

It’s going to be more about adjustments than improvements. And they’re going to make sure that they don’t mess up. As soon as organization is worried about messing up, then that organization is not going to do a lot of dramatic steps forward. Obviously, people need to be awarded as well for the right things. If you have a strategy, you award people towards the strategy. If you have these things in place, you’re going to build them a very strong, empowered organization and empowered people who will be very happy coming to work. They also have a chance to grow as a person by being allowed to be responsible accountable for the work that they do. I think a lot of people needs to notice. And I think that there’s a trick to it. There are things you can do and things you shouldn’t do. I think that it’s not common knowledge for people in the industry. Let people know and let them think about these topics themselves.

 

Johan Majlov, CEO Lean Dimensions International

LetsDoIt@askldi.com

 

The empowerment journey

A few years ago, I was a goalkeeper in a sport called handball, it’s an international sport. It doesn’t necessarily exist in the US, but it does internationally. It’s an Olympic sport. It’s amazing. It’s very fast paced sport and shaped my future. It is a team sport and the goalkeeper is very much on point, which is obvious since there’s only one person in the game. I enjoy it and I would say I was reasonably good at it. When I was 15 years old I was asked to be a part of the senior team and the guys that were a little bit older than me, most of them anyways, I had a few guys in my age really, talented guys.

The starting goalkeeper was very talented and a very nice man. He was so focused and a successful business man today. As a team, we travelled around, we had something like six hours to go to one game, same back of course in a bus. I was sitting on the bench being the backup guy and didn’t play anything basically. One day he (the starting goalkeeper) came over and he sat with me and he said, how do you feel traveling with the team? I said, um, well it’s nice to be a part of the team but of course I like to play more. He said, do you know why you’re not playing? I said, I guess is because you’re better than me. He said, yeah, because I’m better than you, but here’s the thing, if you want to get to be better than me. You need to practice more. You have to practice more than I do.

If you practice as much as I do then I will be better than you all the time and he continued, unfortunately, if I know you’re practicing more, I will also practice more. So then, you’re going to be number two anyway. I was thinking “where is he going with this” it makes no sense. He said, listen to this, the backup goalkeeper, often feel that they’re kind of not worth anything, they sit there the whole entire game just watching. The way you act in every practice and every preparation, everything you do to try to take my spot drives me to be better. The team that has the best backup goalkeeper will win the division. Don’t think you’re not important, you might be the most important player.

Hearing that from a senior guy when you’re 15 years old that was powerful for me. Then, every practice after that he was pushing me to be better. He gave me exercises, feedback, everything you can imagine so I can be better. I was thinking, why is he doing this, because I can take his place? Why would you do anything like this? Then I realized, and I’m sure you have already, he was pushing himself to be better, of course he did. He gave me everything he knew. While I was learning that he was learning something new, clever, I stole that idea from that day.

I love teaching and showing and sharing my knowledge with others and I believe if you hold on to your information, maybe to be unique and important for the organization, your knowledge will become old. Your value decreases since you’re not pushing yourself to learn new. If you do push yourself by sharing all the time, you become so valuable for the organization and for your own career as well because; guess what happens? By teaching others, you learn the content of the work or that theory you’re teaching people. You learn that better than anybody else. Sharing information is absolutely key for your own development, not only for others.

If you want to tap about how we can support your organization email me to set up a call, johan@askldi.com
Follow us on our blog askldi.com/blog or at LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

Johan Majlov, CEO Lean Dimensions International

Share, share, share to Grow

What is Operational Excellence 2.0™

OpEx 2.0 is the revised version of our Operational Excellence strategy. It addresses both the technical and emotional aspects of a company to produce better results by achieving both organizational and individual goals.

Our trademark model of Operational Excellence (OpEx Model) is a series of puzzle pieces that come together to create a cohesive strategy that truly helps businesses succeed.

Operational excellence 2.0 model showing the three crucial aspects of the OpEx mode

Here at Lean Dimensions International, we believe that IQ * EQ = Unity  and Results. Oftentimes, when we talk about operational excellence (World Class
Manufacturing (WCM), World Class Operations Management (WCOM), Lean Manufacturing, World Class Business Process, TPM, Supply Chain Excellence, etc), it can be difficult to understand how the entire system fits together. In our industries, engineers are often promoted into positions where they are tasked with implementing a continuous improvement project of some sort, and the risk is that engineers will often focus solely on the technical side of a project or issue, and forget the emotional side altogether.

It is crucial that organizations address both the technical and emotional aspects of projects and issues if they want to achieve excellent results. Companies that have successfully managed to address the emotional needs of their employees find that they are more likely to bond with the company’s mission, their system of operation, and the tasks at hand. When you think of Operational Excellence 2.0™ as a system, and not simply a set of tools, your employees will understand that you
are asking them to buy into a way of living and acting while at work, and not simply picking and choosing from a box of helpful tools.

 

OpEx 2.0™ Model Explained

Just like a puzzle where the pieces fit together to create a beautiful picture, Operational Excellence 2.0™gives you the pieces you need to achieve your goals, keep our employees engaged, and create a system that reflects your organization’s mission. The image below illustrates the OpEx 2.0 model.

Operational excellence 2.0 model illustration has three sides, the right side is Working On The Business as the first step of OpEx model

How Operational Excellence (OpEx) Functions

OpEx is a series of steps designed to guide organizations toward their ultimate goal. There are three crucial aspects of the OpEx model, Working on the Business, Ownership Transformation, and Working in the Business. Each of these sections directly impacts the others, and all three must be addressed if business owners wish to achieve operational excellence.

Working ON the Business

OpEx 2.0 gives you the opportunity to step back and look at the big picture to see if everything is progressing accordingly. Lean Dimensions International calls this “Working on the Business”.
The illustration above has three sides. The right side is called “working on the business”. This is about detaching yourself from the small details and examining the overall work processes to see if they are meeting your organization’s requirements. Sometimes the best way to truly understand what is going on in your business is to step back and observe everything that is going on.

 

OpEx 2.0 clarifies the direction

We work with your management team and/or steering committee and help them set a clear direction on where they want to go as a business. This will help the rest of your team understand where the project is headed and what tangible work products they will produce throughout the project.

 

What you leave behind matters

A crucial part of this process is understanding that you need to leave something in place that will bring your organization forward. Many organizations create smaller project teams to address specific aspects of the organization’s goals. These pillars may involve quality control, maintenance issues, engineering issues, etc. Each team can be in charge of a specific pillar and these pillars can all feed into your organization’s goals. It’s essential that your teams regularly meet, share information and findings, and understand how their efforts contribute to the overall goals of your organization.

Operational excellence 2.0 model, the bottom side of the triangle illustration is OpEx-Ownership Transformation as the second step of OpEx model

OpEx-Ownership Transformation

At the bottom of the triangle, we have “ownership transformation”. This refers to the overall transformation that will take place, including cultural transformation and transactional transformation.

Through the OpEx process, project leaders will define how outputs should be handed to different teams in an organization while maintaining a degree of control and the integrity of the process. It is essential that processes are put in place that inform employees and project teams about the entire transformation process.

Operational excellence 2.0 model, on the left side of the diagram, is Working In the Business as the third step of OpEx model

OpEx 2.0-Working In the Business

On the left side of the diagram, is what Lean Dimensions International calls “Working in the Business”. When you Work in the Business, you consistently use our Operational Excellence thought process every day at work to add time and reduce losses.

 

Time Inclusion

Through OpEx, we can show you how to add time or increase your company’s output without relying on overtime. Each and every person in your organization, from the CEO to your laborers, can find ways to increase their output during normal working hours.

Loss Reduction

Another thing businesses can do is reduce their losses. Losses can include anything that is less than ideal and they can significantly impact your organization. One of the key focuses of your project teams will be to identify and either eradicate or reduce losses.

 

Loss and Business Understanding

If businesses don’t know what their losses or shortcomings are, they truly don’t understand their business. Through OpEx, you will come to fully understand your business, be able to readily identify losses, and make a solid plan for reducing (or eliminating) them.

 

Performance Control System (PCS)

Our Performance Control System (PCS) helps businesses identify losses and effectively eliminate them so that they can achieve their output goals. PCS is not focused on the output, but rather on identifying and eliminating losses to achieve a specific output.

Our Performance Control System (PCS) helps businesses identify losses and effectively eliminate them

Through our performance control system, you will constantly identify and eliminate losses, every week of every month. You will analyze data to identify trends and ensure that your organization is moving in the right direction. Each week you will build upon the successes of the week before and identify new areas for improvement. When you work on your business, transform your ways of working, and work within your business, you’ll effectively build operational excellence. Your end product will be a world-class manufacturing operation that leverages lean thinking. That is the OpEx system.

 

OpEx 2.0 – a combination of brain and emotion

OpEx is based on two factors, brain and emotion. When you merge these two factors together, you can unify your staff to build a system together.

This is the Operational Excellence System, we call it “Operational Excellence 2.0” since we believe the heart has to be involved. When you bring logic and emotion together, your associates will understand that OpEx is a system, not a toolbox and they can work towards a common goal. “IQ * EQ = Unity”

If you’d like to learn more about how Operational Excellence 2.0™ can help your organization succeed, contact us to schedule a call with one of our consultants.

LetsDoIt@askldi.com

Operational Excellence 2.0 ™

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LET'S START

"The way LDI engages people in our organization is outstanding. We have worked with many consultancies but never one that brings so much value in such an inspiring way."

READY FOR CHANGE?