Often times companies want to be LEAN without really knowing what it is or how it can be achieved. I believe there are several levels of ‘lean’ and I believe that having a good foundation is crucial for developing the latter stages. Below I’ve listed the different levels of ‘LEAN’ and some short keywords that describe each phase.

• 5S
  • Focus on structure
  • Examples: clean work environment, up 2 date work instructions and visual management
• Kaizen
  • Focus on overview & insight
  • Examples: setting up KPI’s and Dashboards, having WIP Control and implementing a Continuous Improvement culture
• LEAN
  • Focus on stability
  • Examples: setting up stable processes and eliminate waste, looking at you processes from a push/pull perspective
• 6 Sigma
  • Focus on capability
  • Examples: implementing DMAIC project focused on reducing process variability and doing more statistical analysis

More information about LEAN can be found in my knowledge base. Here I will also go more in depth into how to go about implementing LEAN and I will describe some of the pitfalls I’ve seen companies make leading to sub optimal implementations.