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KWTC Member Profile:
Founded on experience and research
The Institute for Lean Systems was founded in 2006 by five former faculty members of the lean program at the University of Kentucky who have researched and taught the principles of the Lean Production System in direct partnership with leading national and transplant manufacturers. Our combined personal experience and expertise spans over 80 years as well as three continents and includes focused research and hands-on experience in processes ranging from manufacturing to services to healthcare, with topics like: mapping and managing value streams; practical problem-solving; shaping individual behaviors; creating a comprehensive lean culture in organizations; and the design of effective systems of lean governance.
Passionate instructors and coaches
The ILS team has highly diverse yet fully integrated expertise to clearly explain lean concepts from different perspectives. Our passion, insightful simulations, and thought-provoking exercises accelerate practical learning and keep it fun while building strong improvement teams within your organization. Our breadth and depth of experience in applying lean to organizational settings ranging from automotive to aerospace, from job-shops to process industries, from healthcare operations to engineering design processes, enables us to develop customized programs to meet your organization’s specific needs.
Strategic transformation program
We have taken the best elements of world-class systems, adapted or reinvented them, and packaged that knowledge to provide truly integrated education and transformation solutions for our clients. Our experience in developing learning systems, both academically and for professionals at work, gives us a unique capability to structure solutions for our clients. One of those solutions is our Strategic Lean Transformation Program.
Action-oriented, people-focused
Our approach is action-oriented and delivers results that can’t be ignored. Our people- and learning-focused programs create a highly capable lean culture at the same time they create lean value streams within your organization. Beyond that, our knowledge-based interaction in organizations creates a fiery passion in people to participate in positive organizational change and to accelerate their personal learning and growth. It is this combination of knowledge and passion that promotes a lean culture that sustains your transformation and enhances your performance year after year.
Total system perspective
We teach the business, operational, and human systems within a lean organization in a holistic and integrated fashion based on 14 years of experiential research and direct study of the pioneer of the lean system, as well as of many other leading companies. Our total systems perspective on lean is what our clients say sets us apart. In our programs, we have created the architecture for the synergistic interaction between the human, managerial, financial, and technical components of business and operational systems. It sets us apart - and we can set your organization apart from your “lean” competitors who haven’t progressed beyond a tools-focused implementation. We can enable your business to truly operate The Lean Way. Whether you are seeking to build your personal lean expertise or setting out to transform your business from top to bottom, pursuing excellence throughout your organization, we are here to support you every step of the way.
International education partnerships
ILS faculty have taught the lean system at the university level for many years and are founding members of the Lean Education Academic Network, a partnership of over 40 universities world-wide offering lean education programs. We continue to develop partnerships with leading educational institutions around the world. We collaborate with the supply chain management program at Pennsylvania State University, with Swinburne University in Australia in the area of modern manufacturing, have offered our certification program through the Universidad Politécnica de San Luis Potosí in Mexico as well as at various colleges in the US, work with The Monterrey Institute of Technology and are expanding our academic affiliations into Europe. We also conduct lean manufacturing benchmarking trips to Japan in collaboration with Norman Bodek, President of PCS Press and founder of Productivity, Inc., the original translator and publisher of the Japanese lean knowledge base in English, to expose executives to the practices of best-in-class companies.
Points of contact
If you would like to explore how the Institute for Lean Systems could help you with improving your business, please call the ILS Executive Director, David Veech, at (502) 517-1845, or Dr. Joachim Knuf, our specialist for enterprise strategy development, at (502) 322-6582. Both will be happy to sit down with you and explore your opportunities. We work with businesses of all sizes and in all industries.
Transformation example: Invoicing process
A national subsidiary of a multinational corporation ($6.5B in 2006 sales) contracted with the Institute for Lean Systems to support the lean transformation of their invoicing processes. A Learning and Improvement-Focused Transformation (LIFT) activity was held over a full week. ILS provided two facilitators. The client put together a multifunctional team of eight office personnel directly involved with the invoicing process. The team had full access to the invoicing operation and also to management. Senior managers were invited and encouraged to visit the LIFT whenever possible; all executives attended the reporting session at the end of the week.
A review of the current state quickly identified a number of problems, most of which occurred in combinations:
- absence of requisition numbers
- lack of evidence of authorization of purchases
- incomplete ordering information
- incomplete receiving documentation
- discrepancies between quantities ordered and received
- discrepancies between prices quoted and billed
- lack of payment authorization
Most invoices were deficient in multiple ways and eventually had to be resolved by senior management.
Further analysis, supported by value-stream mapping, identified the following contributing factors:
- unreliable distribution of invoices through the internal mail system
- misdirection of invoices to wrong departments
- long wait times due to managers’ absences from their offices
- lack of back-up signature authorization
- requirement for multiple levels of authorization (five and more)
- extremely low financial authorization limits for middle managers
- lost receiving documentation
- lack of tax identification codes for vendors (especially temporary subcontractors)
- inability to group multiple items in the computer system
Documented delays even on complete invoices conforming to all requirements exceeded 150 days in many cases; incomplete invoices occasionally had delays of as much as 360 days, limited only by the need to close the books on the year. The current-state value stream map of the invoicing process identified only around 1.5% of the time spent processing invoices as value-added.
Countermeasures adopted by the client included:
- color coding to identify invoices by problem category
- visual control boards in all departments tracking status of non-conforming invoices
- problem-specific routings
- internal expediting by dedicated personnel
- mandated turn-around times tracked by public spreadsheet
- signature authorization tree in each department
- significant increases in spending authorization for lower and middle managers
- simplification of authorization levels
- weekly invoice clinic.
The LIFT activity produced a significant immediate savings in penalties and interest, leading to their elimination, as well as that of overtime. The client team has created a number of additional spin-off projects.
Transformation example: New assembly line design
A major automotive parts manufacturer required an assembly line design for a new product that was being introduced. A LIFT activity was held over a full week. ILS provided one facilitator. The client put together a multifunctional team of ten personnel directly involved with the new product launch. The team had full access to and knowledge of the new product. They also had access to all new machine suppliers and the customer. Senior managers were invited and encouraged to visit the LIFT whenever possible. All executives attended the reporting session at the end of the week.
The objective of the LIFT was to design a process meeting the following requirements:
- fit four different products into one line
- meet full customer demand within a two-shift operation
- execute with the machines and resources allocated one year earlier
- no major design changes on the machines purchased.
- ability to accommodate any change in demand mix as created by the customer on a daily basis.
- develop internal and external material handling systems.
- design a line layout and develop a 3D model.
- develop a table-top simulation of the line to train all operators and to demonstrate how the pull system and production control (scheduling of line) will work
- capacity calculation to estimate the utilization of the line.
- creation of this line as a lean model line for the facility
The objectives outlined above were all met and a detailed execution plan for the assembly line was developed. This was the first time that the product launch team in this company had collaborated to implement a new line in a lean way. Everyone embraced the concepts eagerly and devised multiple solutions to existing problems. This was also the first multifunctional team in the new product launch process; collaboration on the project greatly improved relationships amongst the functional groups and helped the whole division focus on value delivery.
Transfer of ownership was successful: the project is sustaining extremely well without direct ILS support and has spun off follow-up projects. The client has another 120 new product launches scheduled globally for the next 12 months and will be able to take a similar approach in most cases. This is the client’s first-ever model launch using the lean system.
Some other transformation examples
- Detailed planning to merge three separate plants into one building with continuous flow
- Facility layout and definition of production control concepts for an electrical products facility in China
- Change-over reduction of a food processing operation for a major European client
- Merger of machining and assembly operations from three separate locations into one facility, producing around one million heavy truck components annually
- Reorganization of major enterprise value streams across multiple locations for a leading forest products manufacturer
- Value stream analysis of a complex metal casting operation in preparation of its transformation
- Ongoing due-diligence assessments for capital equity firm
Lean Champion certifications
The ILS Lean Operational and Managerial Excellence Certifications are the primary education programs to create the knowledge, ability and skills among those charged with leading the lean transformation to conceive, plan, design, and continuously support that process. The week-long courses listed below instill a total-system, cross-functional awareness of the characteristics of the lean system, combining cultural, operational, technological, strategic and economic perspectives. Certified lean champions enable organizations to conduct their transformation with their own resources and to work outwards spreading their success into their value streams. Graduates of the program speak to its power to increase their capability to promote change in the organization, to energize its people, and to create outstanding customer value leading to expanded business opportunities.
Course 1: The lean work system
Course 2: The lean organization
Course 3: Designing lean systems
Course 4: Lean coaching
Course 5: Transformation technology
Course 6: Strategic leadership and lean governance
Please see the ILS web page, www.theleanway.com, for further details and the current public course schedule.
Lean Executive Diploma
This week-long course carefully weaves the human, managerial, technical, organizational, and financial strands of the lean business model together to thoroughly and accurately explain the structure, function, and resulting performance of lean organizations. It provides your key executives the foundational knowledge they need to lead the lean transformation of your business and to establish the architecture and systems needed to support and sustain a lean culture.
The Executive program is highly interactive with lectures supported by hands-on simulations, intense question and answer sessions, plant visits. This course features plant visits, often including a public tour of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, and the experiences and wisdom of speakers from industry who are navigating their own lean journeys.
This course is also available as an on-site offering to interested organizations and has been integrated into their executive education programs by leading companies in the Americas, Australia and Europe.
For other ILS lean education and training programs, please visit our web site: www.theleanway.com.
Institute for Lean Systems Success Stories:
Guidance, Support, Cultural Change, and Financial Results
‘We’ve seen very substantial savings . . .’At first, we had difficulty seeing how Lean could fit in with our operation, but our production manager attended a certification class taught by David Veech and his associates and came back with a much clearer understanding. Then the company president, John C. Schroeder, and I attended a one-week ILS executive seminar and later invited ILS to our plant. They put together a plan that enabled us to implement Lean systems throughout the company.
Our goal all along was not to install little bits and pieces of Lean, but to change the culture of the whole company. We felt very strongly that employee involvement was the key. So every employee has gone through extensive training. We’ve seen very substantial savings each time we’ve implemented a group of machines with a team leader. We’ve reduced the amount of material handling needed because of lower inventories, and we have less scrap and less rework.
Best of all, the employees have accepted this extremely well. Once they go through the training and they’re on the team, there’s more enthusiasm and understanding.
Ed Furniss – VP/Plant Manager, Wabash Plastics, Evansville, IN
Wabash Plastics is a provider of high-quality custom plastic injection- molded parts and professional design assistance. The company employs 240.
II
‘They guided us through the whole transformation process . . .’
We never could have made the transformation to Lean without ILS. They guided us through the whole transformation process. We worked closely with Parthi (Damodaraswamy, ILS director of operations). In fact, Parthi’s leadership was so critical to our success that we even named him an honorary Director of Lean Transformation at Columbia Forest Products.
Education is the key to any transformation of this magnitude. It’s a matter of constant reinforcement. This is a huge concept, and you have to get people to understand that we’re trying to improve everything we do. We had to address employees’ concerns and reaffirm that the only reductions in workforce would be through attrition.
But it has been well worth the effort. We’ve seen annual savings of over $2.5 million. We were able to accomplish this by looking at every aspect of our operation and by making better use of our resources – labor, energy, equipment and so on. I talk to other people who are well schooled and well known in the Lean field, and ILS comes highly recommended. Their expertise and their ability to get things done are second to none.
Bill Duarte, Lean Transformation Director, Columbia Forest Products
Columbia Forest Products is North America’s largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer, and a longstanding leader in the sustainable wood products industry.
III
‘They were always there to support us . . .’
It has been a partnership from the very beginning. ILS taught us the basic skills, and as we implemented changes, they were always there to support us, give us direction and show us new ways of thinking to help us move forward. We’ve adopted Lean in every part of our operation. Using the Lean principles we learned from ILS, we’ve doubled our sales growth without increasing our headcount significantly and actually reduced warehouse space.
Suzy Whatley, Director of Operations, Rev-a-Shelf, LLC., Louisville, KY
Rev-a-Shelf, LLC, makes quality, functional residential cabinet storage and organizational products.
IV
“The greatest accomplishment is the cultural change . . .”
We engaged the ILS team early in our lean transformation and asked them to assist in the education part of our transformation plan. Our strategy, developed with their assistance, was to teach lean and develop a thorough understanding of lean principles within the organization. This foundation could then be used to implement the changes to reduce wastes, establish process stability and flow, foster broad team member participation, and in the end, create a learning organization.
In the two years since we started, substantial changes have taken place within the company. We have noticeably improved flow, streamlined material delivery, freed up space, and improved product quality. We have begun putting in place Standardized Work. Bottom line is we have a strong start on building an effective production system. But the greatest accomplishment is the cultural change our people have experienced. We have established strong teamwork, broad participation in improving operations and problem-solving and better communication. For many employees, the improvement philosophy has even carried beyond the workplace. This type of transformation could never have been achieved without the lean educational program championed by ILS.
Brad Denning Skier’s Choice, Inc. Maryville, TN
Contact:
Joachim Knuf
Director, Enterprise Strategy
Institute for Lean Systems
502-322-6582
joachim.knuf@theleanway.com
www.theleanway.com
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