three informative new podcasts in the Rexroth lean manufacturing podcast series. In the first of these podcasts, GBMP president Bruce Hamilton offers his insight on three fundamental components of success with lean manufacturing: foundations, management and countermeasures. Each of these components is extremely important for creating and sustaining lean, but the Foundation of the lean system is perhaps the most critical. The foundation explains the reasoning behind a particular operation or system, in this case, the Toyota Production System. “When you’re not starting out with that foundation, you’re asking people to do something without explaining why it’s important,” says Hamilton. “You’re not creating the culture shift or the change in the management system that allows employees to fully grasp what the process is about.”
The Management component means that management must support the lean system in a visible way, because it likely represents a major change in the way business is done. Hamilton explains, “In order for this process to work, management has to accept changing the management system so that they’ll promote behaviors with employees that are conducive to improvement.”
Countermeasures are often what receive the most attention in lean environments, and people often mistake the pursuit of lean manufacturing with the implementation of lean countermeasures, such as Kaizen events. Instead, countermeasures are not a means to an end, but rather a part of the overall solution. Work environment conditions can change every day, so employees should always be thinking of ways to improve their work area to perform at a higher level.
When implementing the three components of a lean system, consider these tips to help develop and improve your lean manufacturing work culture:
Developed by Bosch Rexroth’s Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies group, each eight- to ten-minute lean manufacturing podcast episode presents guest experts and information to help manufacturers and OEMs understand and apply lean principles and practices in their businesses.
GBMP is a not-for-profit corporation based at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, whose sole focus is to help companies become more productive, competitive and profitable through continuous improvement education and hands-on implementation of best practices. In addition to consulting and training with a broad group of clients, GBMP also administers the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in the Northeastern region of the United States.
Bosch Rexroth AG is one of the world’s leading specialists in the field of drive and control technologies. Under the brand name of Rexroth the company supplies more than 500,000 customers with tailored solutions for driving, controlling and moving machinery used in industrial and factory automation as well as in mobile applications. Bosch Rexroth is a partner for industrial applications, factory automation, mobile applications and renewable energy development. As The Drive & Control Company, Bosch Rexroth develops, produces and sells components and systems in more than 80 countries. In 2008 Bosch Rexroth AG, part of the Bosch Group, achieved sales of around $8.3 billion (5.9 billion Euro) with 35,300 employees.
