42

BUSINESSVANCOUVER
JUNE 1117, 2013 OPINION
1233
20130611
PAGE
Category
1233
20130611
42
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PODIUM
DAVID CHAO
The principle of lean
philosophy or thinking says
that companies must shed
everything that does not add
true value to end customers
I
f you dont know anything
about lean, Six Sigma or
TPS (Toyota Production
System), youd better pay atten-
tion because virtually every
industry, from every corner of
this earth is embracing these
new principles to lower cost and
improve efficiency and quality.
In fact, these process
improvement philosophies or
tools are spreading like wild fires
and are now influencing every-
thing from the way McDonalds
flips burger patties to the way
Boeing builds aircrafts.
First introduced by the auto-
makers, these proven company-
wide methodologies are making
it possible for car companies to
develop new vehicles 20% to
50% faster, reduce defects by
another 40% or more and mar-
ket feature-rich cars without in-
creasing price to the consumers.
Havent you noticed that in
recent years, car manufacturers
are bringing out technologies
and features faster than you can
blink?
So what do these terms mean?
What is lean ? No, it doesnt
mean that Jenny Craig is sud-
denly involved in car design
or manufacturing, but there
is a definite parallel between
the weight-loss clinic and lean
methodology: both focus on
reducing unwanted waste from
your system. In Jennys case,
that waste refers to fat. In a
business situation, the waste
refers to anything that is viewed
as waste of time by the final
buying customers (that is, non-
value-added time).
The principle of lean philoso-
phy or thinking says that com-
panies must shed everything
that does not add true value to
end customers. That means they
have to consciously work toward
removing wasted time, space, or
materials from the whole cycle
of designing and manufacturing
cars so that we as end custom-
ers who buy them get more
bang for the buck. Lean is ap-
plied through teams who work
together to generate ideas for
reducing waste.
The original lean concept was
first developed by Henry Ford,
who applied this thinking to
produce Model Ts at astonishing
rates at least by early 1900s
standard.
Toyota then took the basic
concept and worked on it for
more than 40 years, creating
the flawless Toyota Production
System, or TPS for short. The
TPS philosophy is so widely
used around the world that even
emerging countries like Viet-
nam, which likely produced your
newest Nike shoes or Old Navy
T-shirt, now embrace lean and
TPS as key business drivers.
Here in Vancouver, hundreds
of organizations are already
involved in lean transformation
from manufacturing, ware-
housing, banking, insurance and
hospitals to schools. Companies
and organizations are apply-
ing the concept of lean and TPS
to dramatically improve their
speed, quality and service while
improving their companys cul-
ture and even their corporate
strategy.
And we are excited to hear that
Jeffrey Liker and Mike Hoseus
(the authors of the bestselling
TPS books called the Toyota
Way books) are coming to Van-
couver to speak about the latest
trends in lean, Toyota Way and
TPS. They are part of the Lean
Summit, which is scheduled to
place at Vancouvers Terminal
City Club from June 18to 20.
Highly acclaimed authors
Liker and Hoseus will share the
methodologies and practices
that lean organizations embrace
to rise above the level of medi-
ocrity in their quest to create
exceptional organizations.
In addition, local and inter-
national industry leaders in the
financial, health care, medical
and manufacturing sectors will
share their triumphs, challen-
ges and stories about their lean
journey.
Local executives scheduled to
speak at the conference include
Launi Skinner, CEO at First
West Credit Union; Stu Mc-
Intosh, Cascade Aerospace vice-
president; John Kalbfeisch, COO
at Alpha Technologies; and Scott
McCarten of Vancouver Coastal
Health. More information can be
found at www.leansummit2013.
com.
Ill make one bet with you:
within the next few years, your
employer will ask you to take
some training on lean, TPS or
Toyota Way. Its only a matter
of time before every corporation
is going to be endorsing these
ideas. Be ready.
David Chao is a columnist and the
president of Lean Sensei International.
Chewing the fat about lean production processes LETTERS
Readers need to arm
themselves with a
wide range of energy
information to avoid
falling prey to
partisan power points
Re: Peddling non-partisan
power points (Timothy
Renshaws Public Offerings
column BIV issue 1232; June
4-10)
What a refreshing read!
It surprises me that we
have a lack of non-politicized
information on energy in
Canada.
My impression was that the
U.S. was the king of politi-
cized debate.
Just goes to show that
you should research before
making up your mind. Im
definitely going to follow up
on some of the points in this
article.
In particular I want to know
more about what Mr. Michael
Cleland is saying.
Time for everyone to get
informed so that when the
partisan hacks push their
agendas at you, you can re-
spond intelligently.
Adrian L. Jacob
Vancouver