Which Lean Tool is Appropriate?

Lean Nation,

During my workshop this week, I was asked the question, "How do you know what tool to use and when?"  This is a very common question asked by new lean practitioners.   Having done a quick scan on the number and types of quality improvement  tools, I quit counting at 240.   Yes , there are over 240 discrete quality improvement tools.   When you consider that there are dozens of applications and techniques of  these tools, picking the right one, at the right time,  can be a daunting task. 

By application of the tool,  I mean that the use of takt time in a process that repeats every 50 seconds is entirely different than a process that repeats every 14 weeks.  Time observation on a repetitive process is different than time observation on process that occurs annually.

Fortunately,  for lean thinkers there is some great news!  There are a core group of tools that can be mastered (or at least we can become competent with) that will carry us a very long ways.  Some of the tools help us to see waste and some of the tools help us to eliminate waste.  The following table lists the tools and their purpose.

I refer to these tools as the common tools used to see and eliminate waste. Over the coming weeks, I will publish thoughts on some of the applications and techniques of these various tools individually. 

In my years as a Sensei, I virtually always stay within this tool set when initially trying to understand a problem.   For more complex problems there are some other tools and techniques that will come into play,  but mastering these will enable 10 years of probelm solving within virtually any organization.

Lean Blessings,

Ron

Ron Bercaw
President and Sensei
Shingo Prize Winning Author
www.breakthroughhorizons.com

Takt Time in Healthcare

One of the comments I get from management, team members, and even fellow lean consultants is that takt time doesn't apply in healthcare settings. This question came up again during a management training session I delivered this week.

If we go back to the most basic applications of lean, we are trying to see and eliminate waste (continuously improve), and simultaneously show respect for people. In seeing and eliminating waste in the manufacturing sector, we always begin with the takt time calculation. refreshing everyone's mind, takt time is defined as the available time to do the work divided by the volume of work to be done. This theoretical calculation leads to understanding the rhythm of output. The entire lean system runs to this rhythm. Space requirements, kanban inventory levels, staffing levels, shift schedules, and equipment utilization all are determined from the takt time calculation.

To presume that space requirements, scheduling assignments, inventory levels, and equipment utlization are not concerns within healthcare would be incorrect.

The challenge with the takt time calculation in healthcare is due to the variability in demand. To overcome this variability, we often have to look at takt time based on the day of the week and often by the hour of the day. We even have to look at takt time differently by season (trauma season and flue season come to mind)

Once we are looking at the appropriate time intervals, the takt time calculation and all the corresponding tools of time observation, cycle time -takt time loading diagrams, standard work in process, etc. will start to make sense and deliver great information to the improvement teams.

So for those who think that takt time does not apply to healthcare, I respectively disagree.

Ron
www.breakthroughhorizons.com