LEAN ASSESSMENT

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It is not uncommon that organizations choose the pursuit of Lean Principles as their way of doing business in to the future.  It is also not uncommon that those same organizations have gone through some forms of continuous improvement in the years prior to choosing Lean Principles.  The critical issue here is to reduce or eliminate any confusion in the minds of the workforce regarding what has been done and what is about to be done to evolve the organization.

Lean Velocity recognizes that many past improvement initiatives can contain elements of the Lean Principles.  We wish to build on those previous changes rather than toss out everything that has been accomplished and replace it with concepts and tools that could be very similar to what the workforce has been working with.  This is what creates the confusion. 

To prevent this Lean Velocity believes it is necessary to conduct a Lean Assessment to better understand what the organization has undertaken in the way of improvements in the past.  We will then teach your organization how to integrate those changes into the improvement direction of the future.

Our Lean Assessment consists of applying our “Rapid Plant Assessment” tools to measure the current degree of “leanness” currently practiced in the organization.  These tools have been tested extensively throughout North American manufacturing facilities and have been found to be accurate in their analysis and unobtrusive to daily operations during the assessment phase.

Our Lean Assessment begins with a tour of the organization to “see” the current methods of operation being employed.  The tour is followed with a review of the organization's Key Performance Measures.  This helps us understand the messages being sent to the management team and the workforce.  As we all know, what gets measured, gets done.  The last element we look at is the culture of the organization.  Is it ready for change and can it sustain the change?  Interviews with management and non-management personnel are used to help us ascertain the current culture.

The assessment is followed with a report that indicates;

• The elements of strength that the organization can build on.
• The current “leanness” of the organization.
• The elements of Lean Principles that have yet to be addressed.
• A complete action plan to fully integrate Lean Principles into the organization.

Contact us today if Speed to Solution is important to you!