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…
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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…
Visual Management for Maintenance Operations
Compared to manufacturing processes the operation of maintenance areas face particular challenges: The scope per workpiece varies a lot. Levelling of workload must be flexible, due to unpredictability in urgency and required man hours. The idea of Takt is can’t be implemented easily because physical and/or technical constraints, paired with the problems mentioned above, might…
VSM, Swimlane and Flowchart: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Imagine you are analysing a value stream and instruct your team to create a VSM (Value Stream Map) for any kind of administrative or software development process. When you return a couple of hours later, all you see is a giant flow chart. “That’s not a VSM, that’s a Flow Chart”, you might say. But usually you…