The Psychology Behind Lean Manufacturing
So you have already implemented lean manufacturing in your factory. You have made your plan carefully, prepared a system and installed just like the way you learn about lean manufacturing. However, there is something wrong that just made your implementation would not work the way you want it. There is a missing piece that would solve the puzzle, but you just doesn't know what it is.
Here is the key to your success in implementating lean manufacturing.
Myth: You can adapt lean manufacturing in your factory just by training your employees about lean manufacturing.
Fact: You need to switch the mentality of your employees so they can work under lean manufacturing system.
There are five aspects of mentality that you need to lead your employees into.
1. To see is to believe
Never believe fully any information until you actually see it or do it. See something with your own eyes then believe it. Do something about it then will understand.
When something goes wrong in your factory go there yourself. Drop the report you had in your hand, and go see the problem with your own eyes. You will be amazed by the amount of information you will get just by doing this. After you understand how powerful is 'to see to believe', ask your employees to do the same.
2. Endless improvement
Improvement never stops. Today's latest is tommorow's oldies. If you stop improving then someone else will, and they will leave you behind soon or later. Nothing is perfect in this world, so there will always be something worth to be improved.
If you do not have any idea of where to start, then improve the productivity of your employees. Do some research inside your factory about the productivity of your employees. How many times they idled because of equipments breakdown? Which process of production that are the slowest?
If you cannot answer these kind of questions, then you are out of control of your factory, or maybe your own company.
3. Challenger spirit
Identifying problem only solve half of the problem. You need to think about the solution. Sometimes this task can be hard or even impossible to accomplish. This is when you need a challenger spirit. A spirit of not giving up early and keep on moving.
You need to implant this spirit into each of your employees so that they can face any kind of problems with the right attitude.
4. Teamwork
Teamwork is the essence of every corporation. There many things that one person cannot do alone. This is especially true for a company that is trying to accomplish a huge task. It is true that you can divide a huge task
into many simple tasks and have each task accomplish by one person. However, not all people have the same ability.
There are some people that can do more work compare to others. You want these people with more ability to help those with less ability, so that your lean manufacturing system would work. In order to do this you need your people with teamwork mindset.
Here's a simple way to plant teamwork mindset in your company: create events that involve all your employees, such as sport tournament, music and dance events, team contests, etc.
5. Respect for others
Nevertheless, respect for others is essential to have everything run smooth. After all, it is people that run a system. Paying respect to others will ease the way things done. For example, when asking a favor politely, you will have much better response instead of doing it rudely. Never underestimate people by their position. Each position in your lean manufacturing line, and your company is essential to keep the your business system run perfectly.
As a conclusion, installing lean manufacturing system into your company is not enough to make it run properly. It is just like installing computer hardware without software. You will need to set the right mindset in your employees as this right mindset will be the software part of lean manufacturing system. To do this could take times but it will definitely give you much return in the future.
Fidens Felix, owner of Visiac, LLC - an online publishing company. Read his insight at http://www.FidensFelix.com. Read more about Lean Manufacturing at http://www.Toyota-Way.com.
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