Kanban boards were originally invented as tool to link the information flow between work cells, but in the last couple of years this concept had been adapted to steer the delivery of IT teams. However, it may also be used to facilitate the coordination efforts for a purchasing & import department, as I like to show in…
Category: Lean Services
No Gantt Diagrams please – SO&P in Manufacturing and Services
In the service sector the planning efforts often lack of effectiveness because the wrong tools are used, namely project planning software. MS Project, for example, allows you to create very detailed plans of tasks and resource allocations, which can be presented in nicely laid-out charts and tables. So it seduces any manager to embark on…
WIP limits matter
One objective of Lean should be a continuous reduction of inventory levels. But while there seems to be a common understanding about the benefits of low inventory levels in manufacturing, the folks in indirect areas often refuse to embrace the idea of WIP limits. In fact, indirect areas process so much projects, tasks and activities in…
7 types of waste in Lean Manufacturing and Lean Services/Lean IT
How does Lean Services/Lean IT differ from Lean Manufacturing? Do we actually have the same types of waste? While everyone is comfortable with the 7 types of waste in Lean Manufacturing, there seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the classification of waste in the service and IT sector. I often hear comments that the…
Graphic: 7 types of waste in services/IT
A simple illustration of the 7 types of waste in Lean Services: Overproduction, Handover, Searches/Movement, Overprocessing, Waiting, Backlog, Errors.