Lean Safety

Process Mapping at the Courthouse

2012-01-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

Late in November I received a jury duty notice from the Northern Illinois Federal District Court. My initial response was a groan when I realized I was being asked to spend the two weeks before Christmas week fulfilling a civic duty. I think a common response to jury duty notices is, Why me? Mine was very much the same. But after some thought I accepted the fact that it was indeed an important responsibility. If some day I was in court relying on a jury to determine my fate wouldn't I want a jury composed of responsible impartial jurors? Plus it was an opportunity to learn and grow for this experience would provide an opportunity to assess a “new to me” process using lean thinking.

Because the pittance paid to jurors for fulfilling their civic duty barely covers the cost of parking in downtown Chicago I decided to take the Metra rail line into the city each morning. I have traveled by train in Europe, China and Australia and all those experiences were good ones. Not so on the Metra - I rode the train for five days and the train was delayed on two occasions and was cancelled on a third. Much of the Metra experience was a relic of the past highlighted by the conductor using a hand-held hole punch to stamp every ticket. Aren’t we on our third or fourth generation of bar codes? I had to chuckle each day as I hummed the catchy Metra media ad campaign slogan, "Metra, the way to really fly!"

When I arrived at the federal district court building I was confronted with a large group of video camera crews both outside and inside the courthouse. They were there awaiting the arrival of the former Illinois governor who was to be sentenced that day for his conviction on corruption charges. This reinforced the need for all of us to respond positively when called to be a juror.

That first afternoon I and the other 70 potential jurors were called to a courtroom where some of us were interviewed for a jury. The jury selection process was an interesting one. The judge was a very knowledgeable and at times even funny woman who made the process interesting. She questioned each of us with similar (Do you watch those CSI type police and lawyer shows on TV?) but at times different questions depending on our responses. The following morning the jury selection process was completed and I found myself on a jury for the first time. I have to admit I was kind of excited given this opportunity to learn about and experience a trial.

The case was a civil case - a suit against the city of Chicago. Claims of false arrest and malice were the grounds for the suit. One thing that became clear early on is that both legal teams used witnesses to unfold two different stories about what had occurred. Somebody was not telling the truth and we would have to use this divergent evidence to make our decisions. The lawyers, rather than ask “why” 5 times to get to root cause like a lean thinker, asked leading questions that allowed the witnesses to often just respond with a yes or no answer. The witness questioning process appeared scripted and rehearsed.

After two days of testimony the closing arguments were presented and we were sent to the jury room Friday afternoon where we surrendered our cell phones and began our deliberation with a marshal stationed outside the door. The jury composed of eight unique individuals with different life experiences, education levels, and prejudices was directed by the judge to come to a unanimous decision based on the evidence presented. For the first few hours the conversations were all over the place with individuals recalling and re-stating what they believed they heard in the courtroom. Everyone seemed to be wrestling with the challenge of defining the truth from the contradictory testimony we had heard. This is when I offered up a lean tool to help us all gain some focus and come to consensus on what had occurred. I suggested we process map the steps of the situation that was described in the court room. As we did this we could make our consensus decisions on those smaller steps which would help us reach our final conclusions. Process mapping exercises are intended to engage individuals and narrow their focus and that is exactly what happened to this jury. We rather quickly finalized our decision on the false arrest charge and went home late Friday afternoon to begin our weekend.

Whenever we as humans are engaged in something that requires a difficult decision it is difficult for us to let go and not think about the situation. Much of my weekend was spent deliberating the case until about at 3:00am on Sunday morning I reached my personal decision on both counts. I was then able to let it go and enjoy my Sunday without thought of the case. Monday we returned to our jury room and spent the morning coming to agreement on the claim of malice. By 1:00 we had completed out deliberation and the marshal notified the judge. We returned to the court room where the judge read the results of our deliberation. She then asked us to join her in her chambers where we were invited to ask questions and answer some she had for us. She also presented us with certificates to recognize our fulfillment of a civic duty. When we left her chamber we were greeted by two of the defendant’s lawyers. They too had some questions about the key points we had used to make our decisions. It seemed to me that the judge and the defendant’s lawyers were as interested in the process as they were in the outcome. They appeared to be process thinkers who were completing Deming’s PDCA cycle without the awareness of what that means.

During jury selection the judge noted that often jurors who are put off by the disruption to their life caused by jury duty often state that it was a wonderful experience when it is over. She couldn’t have been more accurate. From my perspective it was a wonderfully engaging and educational experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you have the same opportunity some day if you haven’t already. And if you do, utilize some of your lean thinking tools to make the jury deliberation process a better process.

Have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

How will you view safety in 2012?

2011-12-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Your safety program is mostly likely a compliance based program. Decades of requirements set forth by OSHA and others have defined the safety focus for most businesses - to comply with the regulations intended to keep those in harm’s way safe while on the job. My mission for the last two years, since the publication of Lean Safety, has been to change how people think about safety. My background as a lean champion freed me from the traditional view that a safety program is only a vehicle used to deliver compliance. My view is that you can also use your safety program to engage employees in the continuous improvement of safety, a proactive effort to reduce injury risk, and by doing that you can advance your lean efforts.

In 2011 I was given the opportunity to present the Lean Safety story to many people. My opportunities to touch people and change their thinking regarding safety ranged from organized events like workshops and conference keynotes to chance meetings on the golf course. If you know me, you know it is hard for me not to share my passion! In an attempt to change your thinking in 2012 I thought I would share a few comments from some of those I influenced in 2011.

The CEO of a business that hosted a Lean Safety kaizen event – “We used direct labor employees rather than supervisors on the teams and I was especially gratified by their enthusiasm and involvement.”

Attendee’s plan after his attendance at a Lean Safety workshop in Saskatchewan – To involve others in safety via empowerment and create a list of safety standard work activities.

Attendee at an AME sponsored 3-day Lean Safety Kaizen Blitz event – “I really liked the emphasis on trust and people – that is the key!”

Attendee at 2-day Shanghai workshop – Most useful was the understanding gained about the integration of lean tools in the safety system.

Managing Director of a facility that hosted a Lean Safety Kaizen Workshop in Melbourne – “The Lean Safety experience was a refreshing extension on safety thinking and safety programmes.”

Attendee at Lean Safety workshop in Melbourne – “…by applying lean thinking to a Safety Kaizen event, an organization can still achieve the same positive outcomes with considerations made to the team members instead of just the process. This type of thinking builds the foundation for an engaged work force and a positive safety culture.”

Corporate Lean Champion - “Robert brings a unique skill set to his work in safety. He leverages his expertise in Lean and understands the importance of creating a strong work culture to drive improvement. My experience with Bob helped me see new ways of improving safety.”

So in 2012 my mission will be the same. I will continue to help people understand that the way to anchor lean in their culture is to focus on safety. By engaging a workforce in the continuous improvement of safety a leadership team will build a foundation of trust which can be used to move the business culture forward in a positive direction. This is possible because “Safety First” will no longer just be a slogan on a banner, but instead a way of thinking, acting and interacting in their business.

My travel and event schedule for 2012 is being finalized. Possible destinations include Shanghai, China, Melbourne, Australia, Manchester, England, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, Toronto, Canada, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Please contact me if you would like to schedule a workshop or safety kaizen event in 2012.

Thank you to everyone who I have had the opportunity to meet and work with in 2011. Many of you are the recipients of this message. I hope each and every one of you has a very joyous Christmas and that 2012 will be a year of personal growth.

Chinese Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving!

2011-11-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

I like most of you understand our standard of living has been artificially propped up with cheap goods from China. I accept the fact that much of what I buy in U.S. retail stores is made in China – I was in a Wal-Mart just yesterday. But I will not eat pumpkin pie made with pumpkin from China as I celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.

Recently my wife purchased a can of pumpkin from our local independent grocer (IGA). I have for 30 years supported this store. About eight years ago a large local grocery chain built a new store about 1/2 mile from my home. I rarely visit that store because of my unwavering loyalty to my local independent grocer. That may change. Since the canned pumpkin had a brand label, Polar, that I was not familiar with, I read the back of the label. I was more than surprised to find out it was from China. I thought, OMG, we could have made our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie with pumpkin from China! How would the average Chinese person feel if they discovered that the traditional Spring Festival sweets served at their family celebration were made in Mexico? Some things are just wrong.

I have known for about two years that the fresh garlic from the same IGA is from China. I rarely buy it for it is never very fresh and lacks the flavor fresh garlic should have. I cannot understand why fresh garlic is sourced from the other side of the world! What happened to Gilroy, CA the garlic capital of the world? The self proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world is Morton, IL where Libby’s grows and produces canned pumpkin. It is only 138 miles from my local IGA to Morton, IL! China is over 10,000 miles away! Are the margins at the IGA stores so tight that they have to resort to sourcing fresh and canned food products, which are available regionally, from the other side of the world to save a few pennies? The management team at the Independent Grocers Association should understand that the customers who support the IGA stores are the farmers and produces of food products that populate small town America where most of the IGA stores are located. Makes you wonder if the IGA in Morton, IL carries canned pumpkin from China. If so the employees from the Libby’s plant might want to talk with the store manager.

I was again in my local IGA a few days ago and as I walking down an aisle I noticed some fruit preserves that were priced at half the price of every other brand. The brand was the same as the pumpkin - Polar brand. Food safety in the U.S. has had some problems as witnessed by numerous food recalls and the illnesses and even deaths from tainted fresh produce like spinach and cantaloupe. But, at least I know we have an agency that monitors and inspects our food products. I personally have no idea how that is accomplished in China. And please do not think I am some prejudiced flag waver. I love to cook and visit ethnic grocery stores including a large Asian grocery store where I often purchase products produced in China. Ethnic groceries are a real joy for they provide me with new and unique ingredients that challenge me to prepare new dishes I have never tried before. They offer specialty products I cannot source from a U.S. supplier. If my local IGA, that I have supported for 30 years, cannot support the farmers and producers of food from the U.S and continues to stock their shelves with both the Polar brand and their own private labeled products produced in China I will start spending my food money elsewhere. Garlic and canned pumpkin are not specialty products.

Now back to the can of pumpkin. After reading the pumpkin label I returned the can of pumpkin and asked for a refund. When asked what the problem was I simply stated that the pumpkin was from China. The clerk did not look up or react in any way to my comment. She simply completed the transaction and refunded my money. If you and I do not react someday we may all be eating Thanksgiving pumpkin pie made with pumpkin from China. That just doesn't seem right.

Living the Dream

2011-11-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

When I decided to change careers at the beginning of 2010 I had a vision of my future life. I had always worked for others during my 40 plus years of full time work and I was determined to change that by starting my own consulting business. My motives were many but first and foremost I wanted to stay engaged and active by helping others improve their business operations. I have been living my dream.

In August I received an email informing me that the participants in my July Shanghai, China Lean Safety workshop had formed an informal lean safety group and had shared their company’s evacuation plans with each other when a typhoon threatened the East coast of China. A small step indeed but it supported my goal of making a safety difference while in China.

Then in mid-September Sandy, my wife, and I headed to Australia. I had been invited to keynote at a manufacturing conference in Melbourne. Following the conference, arrangements had been made for me to facilitate a 2-day Lean Safety workshop/kaizen event in a chemical plant. The conference was sponsored by the SIRF Roundtable, a consortium of around 60 companies, and Leverage Lean, a local consulting firm. Attendance was around 100 with representatives and presenters from a variety of companies like Toyota, Kraft, Wilson Transformer and diverse industries including dairy products, mining and sheep processing. Just as in the U.S. most businesses in Australia are on the lean journey and it was a great two days of meeting and talking with many new people which allowed me to become very adept at saying, "How ya goin?".

Following the conference I facilitated the 2-day workshop/kaizen event at Nufarm, a global chemical company. 30 attendees from a variety of industries participated in the workshop held on the first day. A combination of presentation material and small team exercises provided them with the Lean Safety knowledge they would need the next day. On day two they were split into four kaizen teams and were sent to four different work centers to observe a work process with the intent of reducing soft tissue injury risks. Real learning occurred based on the survey results. Almost every attendee noted they now understood how you could anchor lean in a business culture by focusing on improving safety with lean tools.

We had a wonderful time traveling around Australia for two weeks following my week of work. The people who entertained us during the conference week and those we met during our travels were friendly and always helpful. The Aussie's pace of life seems a little slower than in the U.S. and their economy still seems strong. Their historical problem of being so distant from their export markets has lessened with the rapidly growing Chinese economy. Someone I talked with noted that ships carrying iron ore valued at 40 million dollars leave Western Australia for China weekly. I may have the opportunity to return to Australia next year to conduct additional Lean Safety events and I am already looking forward to seeing my new mates.

During a week at home, while recovering from serious jet lag, Sandy and I, along with three other couples, served homemade pizza to around 70 people at a homeless shelter. The individuals at the shelter were so appreciative of the meal they gave us a standing-O as we were departing. We also reduced the cycle time to feed 70 people to nine minutes. In January we will be back and I believe we can get the cycle time to 5 minutes or less. Then over the weekend I went back on the road. I traveled to Athens, Georgia to visit Power Partners. They are a manufacturer of power transformers and have a lean culture developed by a leadership team committed to growing their people.

Two of the staff from Power Partners had attended my Lean Safety workshop at the AME conference in 2010 and I was invited down to expose more of their employees to the concept of getting lean by focusing on safety. My time at Power Partner included an assessment of their safety culture. This was accomplished by observing some of their safety processes like a safety meeting and an incident investigation meeting. On day two I conducted a Lean Safety workshop. The day ended with a tour of three work centers where the kaizen teams would spend the following day. On day three all three teams observed individuals performing their work steps while trying to identify safety improvements that would in turn reduce the cycle time of the operation. At the end of the day each team completed a report out to the management team on the results of their efforts. It is always so rewarding watching kaizen teams amaze their managers with what they can accomplish when given the gift of time.

After returning home for a few days I headed to the largest lean conference in the world. This year the AME international conference was held in Dallas, Texas. My week started by facilitating a full day Lean Safety workshop on Monday and the balance of the week was filled with a variety of volunteer activities. I had a wonderful week during which I had the chance to catch up with many friends and acquaintances. It is almost like a reunion of lean thinkers. Consider attending AME's annual lean conference in 2012 when it will be held in Chicago if you have never experienced a lean conference of this size and depth.

Now home for two weeks, the longest stretch since June, I have a chance to catch up on some home responsibilities. I only have one more scheduled trip this year. That will be a two day event in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Then it will be time to relax and enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Since my dreams have already come true someone please tell Santa no gifts this year for Mr. Lean Safety! I am having the time of my life.

Lean Volunteerism – Go Make a Difference

2011-09-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

The number of people who understand lean concepts well enough to help others improve a process has grown exponentially the last few years. Most not-for-profit businesses, which rely on volunteers to complete their mission, could use the help of a process focused lean thinker.

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post about a group of friends and I who volunteered to purchase, prepare and serve a meal at a homeless shelter. By applying some “lean thinking” we reduced the cycle time to feed our customers. In October we will be back at the same shelter intent on improving the process flow yet again. Our goal is to reduce the embarrassment time - the time an individual has to wait in line for their meal.

Earlier this year a group of lean thinkers, who make up the Midwestern AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence) regional board, volunteered to work at a facility operated by the Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB). It was a rewarding, and for some, a tiring experience. Job requirements included a lot of physical movements associated with the sorting, labeling and the re-packaging of donated frozen food items. While working the board members, because they are “lean thinkers,” observed many opportunities to improve the work processes. To follow up on the opportunity to make a difference AME will be sponsoring a Safety Kaizen Blitz event as this NIFB site in mid-January of 2012. This 1-day event will allow the attendees to perform the same work process steps and then immediately brainstorm and implement changes that will improve the safety of the work performed. By doing so, they will enhance the volunteer experience thus helping this non-profit attract and retain future volunteers due to the process improvements that will remain after the improvement team departs. I volunteered to facilitate this event because I think my lean skills will allow me to make a difference as I guide the team on their improvement journey.

Recently I helped move my 90 year old mother into an assisted living facility. It was time and she is doing just great in her new environment. Today, after a short visit, I was walking past the receptionist who was shredding paper using a small shredder located on the floor. Because I am a lean thinker, who observes processes with an eye for safety improvement, I stopped to watch. I observed her bending and reaching to operate the shredder controls, insert paper to be shredded and removing the collection bin to either push down the bulky shredded paper or empty the bin. She was working from a sitting position and had her back “out of neutral” while performing her work tasks. Because I cannot help myself I pointed out the fact that we might be able to improve the work process to reduce the possibility of a back injury. She immediately stated that the task was indeed difficult and did make her back sore. I observed a plastic mail collection tub on the floor near her. I suggested we turn the bin upside down and put the shredder on top of it to reduce the bending required to perform the task. We made the changes and she tested the concept. She quickly noted, while smiling broadly, that I could stop by anytime. That made this lean thinker’s day for I firmly believe lean is about making jobs easier and I was able to practice what I preach.

So how are you making a difference with your lean skills? Opportunities to use them as a volunteer are endless. Schools, governments and non-profits are full of process waste and waiting for you to step up and volunteer. I am challenging each of you to go out and make a difference – help lean up your community and then the world – it could use it.

Safety Reflections from China

2011-07-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Workplace Safety
I returned from my first visit to China early last week. I was invited to present a 2-day workshop on Lean Safety. Prior to my departure the consulting firm who had invited me sent pre-workshop questionnaires to the registrants. One of the questions asked them to provide information to the presenter about their working situation. One of the registrants responded to this question by stating that "Safety is not a priority in the Chinese culture." To explore this topic before I departed for China I posed this question on a Linked-In safety group discussion board. The results were emotional and mixed. Responses ranged from agreement with the statement and referencing a culture of blame and punishment as the root cause. While others noted that every country, as they went through their industrialization phase, had the same issues that China faces today. They also pointed out that it will take years and the combined efforts of the Chinese government and industry to ensure workplace safety is viewed as important in the Chinese culture.

In our global economy safety problems are not restricted to the country where they occur. A company’s safety reputation can be tarnished globally by a problem at any one of their global sites. The Internet and the many social networking tools available to all of us spread news, either good or bad, at light speed across the globe. For example, some of the shine was removed from the Apple corporate logo when a series of suicides and a fire lead to multiple deaths at their facilities in China.

The 19 people who attended my two-day Lean Safety workshop were all from large companies - most of them international firms headquartered outside of China. These firms care about the safety of the employees in their facilities. They have brought to their Chinese plants a safety culture developed outside of China and are positively impacting workplace safety in China. This was witnessed by the fact that all of the attendees were safety or operational professionals who were there to learn. They were great students who fully participated in the exercises, asked insightful questions and were a joy to teach. I left the 2-day event confident that workplace safety will continue to gain importance in China. Their attitudes about safety convinced me of that. Facilitating this workshop was a wonderful experience that ranks near the top of my consulting experiences since I began my consulting career at the start of 2010.

Personal Safety
When planning a trip to China and discovering that your doctor feels inoculations to prevent typhoid, polio, hepatitis, and a few others serious illnesses are a good idea it causes you to reflect on a different type of safety - personal safety. You can plan to prevent these unwanted medical experiences but travel is filled with new unexpected experiences - the primary reason I love travel. It exposes me to people and all aspects of their culture that are different from mine. Before the trip I had few if any preconceived notions about the Chinese people. While there I found them to be friendly, helpful and hard working. Evident were growing signs of westernization - clothing styles, restaurants (KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, etc.) and a budding middle class strolling around western type shopping centers where they could spend their new found wealth. But if you looked deeper you could find the cultural differences. At a Dunkin Donut outlet the donut choices reflect a culture clash or maybe a cultural compromise. Along with some standard offerings were donuts topped with dried pork and seaweed or Bonito (fish) flakes! This meshing of cultures will continue as the Chinese continue to experiment and develop their society into something new or at least different from what it is today. I love the Mark Twain quote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Everyone should travel for travel is personal growth.

Transportation Safety
Before departing for China I had followed news stories about a new high speed rail service between Shanghai and Beijing - the two cities we would visit in China. It began service just six days before our departure and six days after our arrival in Shanghai we were seated in a new train going 310 kilometers an hour speeding toward our destination - Beijing. My wife had had some safety concerns about this travel option due to its newness and the speed of the train. Earlier this year we had taken a torturous 19 hour Amtrak train journey from Chicago to New Orleans and I was anxious to compare the two rail services. So in the end she agreed and we booked our round trip seats. The motion sickness inducing ride on Amtrak could not be compared to the ride on the Shanghai to Beijing high speed line. It was smoother than riding in a car or an airplane. No comparison. The old high speed train option between Shanghai and Beijing was a 10 hour overnight trip. The new cycle time was just short of 5 hours! About a week after we returned home there was a train accident in China. It was reported that many deaths and injuries occurring when lightning struck a train, causing a power loss, and a second train ran into the rear of the stalled train. Obviously train safety needs to be improved. Smoother and faster is not better if it is unsafe.

If you wanted to assess the safety culture of a country observing the driving habits of the inhabitants is an unproven and unscientific method that could be used. I felt qualified to use it for the form of transport used most often on our trip was taxis. With around 50,000 taxis patrolling the streets of both cites we visited it was a convenient and reasonably priced method of transport. During the first ride I noticed the taxi drivers, rather than wait in a lane that slows or stops, immediately swing a front fender in between two cars to their left or right. In turn the rear car that is now being slowed by the taxis will move into the next lane using the same technique. Sitting in the front seat of a taxi watching this weaving ballet of traffic caused me to think the Chinese are risk takers. They and their government are trying to move forward, changing themselves and their economy without clearly marked lanes to guide them. And even when the lanes are marked, the taxis and the Chinese people may not follow them. They, in the spirit of continuous improvement, are all trying to find the path of least resistance as they change their country at a pace that is almost unimaginable. It was a wonderful experience witnessing the incredible energy and excitement of the changes taking place and I look forward to future visits to assess their progress.

Watch your dog run away - for three days!

2011-05-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks I have been on the road sharing my passion for lean safety. My trip began in Saskatchewan, a Canadian province located north of the Dakotas and Wyoming. Saskatchewan is a place where you can watch your dog run away - for three days! The treeless prairie landscape is so flat they must measure elevation changes in inches rather than feet. Winters are harsh with incessant winds and bone chilling temperatures that build character in the people who live there. The population number for the whole province, which includes many immigrants from faraway lands, is around one million. Agriculture in the South and mining farther North are why they come and stay. I found everyone I interacted with to be genuinely friendly, hard working and creative. They seemed to be a product of their harsh environment.

I facilitated two workshops - one in Regina and the second in Saskatoon. The attendees were from a variety of industries but a majority of them were connected to the mining or oil industries. The first morning began with the smell of smoke in the hallway of the hotel conference center. This was unusual because smoking is not allowed inside of buildings in this province. The source, it turned out, was a peace pipe ceremony that was occurring in an adjacent room to begin a First Nation (Native North American) meeting. I am not sure what they were smoking but I was flashing back to 1969! The workshop included nine breakout team exercises to ensure that real learning occurred. Survey feedback from the attendees validated that attending the Lean Safety workshop was a value added activity.

Thanks to Lynn Marr of the CME (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters) organization for both invited me to conduct the workshops and for all of her organizing, planning and coordination efforts to ensure all went smoothly.

Then after two days at home I flew to San Diego where I had a unique opportunity to influence a corporate leadership team. The global team represented a company headquartered in Oregon. They were meeting in San Diego to benchmark a medical device manufacturing company which has won numerous awards for their continuous improvement efforts and results. The visiting team, with a corporate safety improvement initiative already underway, invited me to conduct a short Lean Safety workshop for them at the host company site. The following day we traveled by bus to Tijuana, Mexico to visit the medical device company's primary manufacturing site. During a plant tour the visiting leadership team was charged with the task of identifying and recording lean safety opportunities. The list of opportunities to improve both safety and cycle times was given to the host company as a way to thank them for being such gracious hosts. It was a wonderful experience for me for I was able to visit two world class manufacturing sites, interact with some wonderful and talented people and share my passion for getting lean by focusing on the safety of those who do the work.

Future activities include a Safety Kaizen Blitz at Dentsply, located in DesPlaines, IL, on May 11, 12,and 13. On June 14th I will facilitate a Lean Safety Workshop at Whiting Corporation in Monee, IL. Both events are sponsored by AME so detailed information is available at www.AME.org. Plans are being made for a Lean Safety workshop in Toronto later in June. Then in early July I will present a 2-day workshop in Shanghai, China. That will be a fun and challenging event which supports my reasoning for starting a consulting business - to have fun and remain challenged as I learn and grow. Stay safe.

Lean Thinking at the Homeless Shelter

2011-04-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

This week, 5 friends (number six was home sick) my wife and I served dinner at a homeless shelter. It was a unique opportunity to help those in need by purchasing some food items and then preparing and serving a meal. We began some weeks ago by planning the menu and then deciding who would purchase what. During the day, before departing for the shelter, many of us were busy preparing, or prepping, the dishes we would serve that evening. Since I am a "foodie" and have prepared gourmet food for friends and family for many years I understand the importance of "mise en place". That is a French term for all the preparation required to have "everything in place" so when you are ready for your final preparation and food service everything will go smoothly. Since this was a first time experience for most of us we initially struggled to find some utensils, pans, etc. that we required. Although I did recognize some evidence of 5-S for each of the four large refrigerator doors were labeled with what should be behind the door. Reflecting on the fact that different volunteers fill the roles we were filling on this single night, for three meals every day, having a kitchen that was thoroughly 5-Sed would certainly improve the flow. Because I cannot turn off the lean thinking part of my brain I recognized this and many other opportunities in this food service process.

When we arrived at the shelter we started the ovens and began to heat the hot food menu items. Then some of us found ourselves standing around watching two others, who had volunteered in the past, complete some set-up prep work. Our “watching waste,” one of the seven wastes, eventually led to a conversation about how to improve the flow when it was time to actually serve the plates of food to our customers. A mini kaizen blitz took place for we quickly recognized that the layout of the stainless tables used to hold the pans of food to be served could be improved. We rotated two of them 90 degrees so that we would have two serving lines rather than just one. Proud of ourselves we soon realized this change resulted in some customer confusion when we began to serve. Our customers were accustomed to waiting in one line for their turn. With the second serving station just past the first they were reluctant to move around others to place their order despite our waving them forward. As each person stepped up to be served they had to be told what we were serving, decide on their choices and then their plate would be set up as ordered. The volunteers quickly realized that menu boards at the head of the food line would allow our customers to make their choices before they stepped up to be served. Yet another future cycle time reduction improvement idea! In total we served about 70 people salads, entree plates and desserts in approximately 40 minutes. Not bad, but not good enough for this lean thinker. I think we can get the number down to 15 minutes and we will have three more attempts to prove it this year.

Since we, as a group, have volunteered to purchase, prepare and serve food once a quarter in 2011 we will be taking what we learned this week and improving the flow to better serve our customers in the future. Speaking of our customers they were just amazing. Their heartfelt gratitude made this one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in a very long time. Some people would not view those waiting in line at a homeless shelter as customers. But I, as a lean thinker, understand the focus of any continual improvement effort has to be the customer. It has to be humbling and maybe embarrassing to stand in line for a free meal. If we could reduce the cycle-time of their wait in line it may be a small step to restoring some personal dignity. That is a different sort of goal for a lean thinker - or is it? One of the pillars of lean thinking is "respect for people" and I believe each of us lived that philosophy while serving meals to those in need. They were indeed our customers.

Lean thinkers, just like everyone else, can take their special talents and use them as volunteers to help others. This new personal experience for me was further enhanced because it was a shared experience with good friends. They may not be fully aware of it yet but I am converting them into lean thinkers. The more of them in this world the better! How are you using your lean knowledge and skill set to make the world a better place?

Worker Safety in China

2011-03-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

While working in manufacturing I could directly impact business results but now, as a workshop facilitator, presenter, and consultant, I can only influence change. My success comes through others. This July I will have a unique opportunity. I will facilitate a 2-day Lean Safety workshop in Shanghai, China. Manufacturers from all over the world have flocked to China to build a base from which they will have direct access to this emerging marketplace. I have been provided access to this market and plan to share my belief that we all have a responsibility, not only for our safety, but the safety of others. The lean tools approach to safety improvement that I will share is an honest trust building activity.

Approximately 14 workers lose their life per day in the U.S. compared to 228 in China. Their workforce is five times that of the U.S. which means the opportunity to make a safety difference is five times greater. The focus on worker safety in the U.S. has a long history. The ASSE (American Society of Safety Engineers) organization, which is committed to protecting people, property and the environment, was formed in 1911 and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was legislated into existence in 1971. Clearly effective safety management require the cooperation and combined efforts of governments, professional organizations and business segments like mining, construction and manufacturing. Managers, no matter what industry they work in, must put worker safety ahead of all else. Yet that was not always the case in the US. There is a sad history of tragedies driving legislation that in turn raised the standards for protecting workers in harms-way. My guess is the same sequence of events is in motion in China. So what can I do to influence positive change in attitudes toward worker safety?

In conjunction with changes driven by legislation individuals must be educated to better understanding what is safe, and what is not, for it is individuals who must use common sense and good safety judgment before taking actions that could result in injury. For two days I will have the opportunity to influence the workshop attendees, individuals in leadership positions, who will represent a variety of industries. If each of them returns to work with an understanding of how to use lean thinking and tools to make safety a continuous improvement activity that involves their workers I will have been successful. Then these same leaders, having earned trust, can build on that trust as they engage their workforce in the continuous improvement of their business. That is the essence of lean safety.

Do you have a facility or a supplier in the Shanghai area? If you do here is your opportunity to make a safety difference. Contact me and I will forward you a PDF of the workshop flyer that you can then forward to them. Let's together make a safety difference in China.

Customer Service on "The Ciy of New Orleans"

2011-03-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

If you are old enough you may remember the Steve Goodman song titled, City of New Orleans. It is a historical account of his journey on a train originating in Chicago and destined for New Orleans. Today the "City of New Orleans" train is operated by Amtrak so you can still experience this 19 hour sentimental train journey for yourself.

If you, like many lean thinkers, believe that time is the currency of the 21st century then you may never take this train ride. Lean is all about cycle time reduction and taking this train will not reduce your travel time. Air travel remains the first choice for most if the trip is at least 500 miles. Train travel in the U.S. is viewed as a relic of the past and the equipment and the rails upon which the equipment rides are rust belt evidence that supports this mind set. The first locomotives were called iron horses for a good reason – that is what they replaced. Train travel in the U.S. is an alternative method of transportation. It is not even considered by most people. Yet as the price of oil continues to escalate, airlines continue to focus solely on profits and not the customer experience, and the U.S. Government begins to invest in new high speed rail systems our thinking may begin to change. Mine already has.

I experienced exceptional rail travel in 2009 when I traveled for two weeks in Switzerland using a Swiss Pass. The trains were clean, quiet and always on time. It was a hassle free way to travel that included the ability to get up and move around while being whisked from one location to the next. So a few weeks ago when my wife and I, along with 10 friends, boarded the City of New Orleans Amtrak train for some pre-Mardi Gras fun my expectations were low. But as a lean thinker I understand that lean is all about the customer and the employees of Amtrak, despite the constraints of the rail equipment and track conditions made me a believer that there is a future for rail travel in this county.

Can you imagine the flight attendants, prior to your next flight, engaging you in meaningful conversation in the gate waiting area? Well, in the clean and modern waiting room of Chicago's Union Station our rail car attendants greeted us and answered our questions as we together waited to board the train. When it was time to board we were led to the correct platform and individually directed to our sleeper car by another Amtrak employee. There were no long lines, no security stations, baggage or body searches. Then while we walked to the observation car for a glass of wine another attendant prepared our sleeper berths by setting up the beds and topping each pillow with a Hersey's kiss. After drinks in the observation car we were called to the dining car for dinner. Since we had booked sleeping accommodations all of our meals were included. They were well prepared and served by a fun loving staff that made our trip a pleasure. Other than Southwest Airlines when is the last time you had a laugh on a flight?

Sleeping was like camping. I never sleep very well the first night while camping and I did not sleep very well on the train. On flights you occasionally have turbulence but on this train it was never ending due to the condition of the tracks. The train rocked and rolled and occasionally lurched from side to side as it followed rails primarily used to transport freight trains. I faded in and out of a restless sleep as I listened to the train whistle sound at every road crossing. This experience made it clear why our government needs to invest in new modern rails systems if we are to ever have high speed rail service in the U.S. A high speed train would simply fly off of these tracks! Despite the lack of sleep we were again greeted by a cheerful staff and served a hearty breakfast and later lunch. We arrived in New Orleans mid-afternoon and our friendly crew lined up on the platform and thanked us for traveling on Amtrak as we passed by. The trip had been a great customer service experience.

Will travelers trade time for great service? Not likely at this time. Flights are much quicker yet most airlines have forgotten anything they ever knew about customer service. Most flights are the equivalent of cattle car service - you are herded on, treated indifferently and herded off. If and when there is high speed rail service in this country I will be a customer. I believe customer's come first and the only way airlines will again understand that is when their flights do not fill up because high speed rail is available on the same routes. When people have a choice they will choose the service that treats them like customers. High speed rail service in the U.S. will allow them a choice.

My Personal Annual Report

2011-02-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that a year has passed since I made the decision to leave Flexco after 23 years and strike out on my own as a business improvement consultant. So how has it been? Well, like most consultants, I was under-employed in 2010 but that allowed me the time required to build the foundation of my new business. My time was spent forming an LLC, creating a blog and a Mail Chimp newsletter, collaborating with a developer to build a business website, doing volunteer work for AME, engaging in social networking (Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and spreading the word about Lean Safety - my book that was released right about the same time I changed careers. I had the opportunity in 2010 to present on the topic of Lean Safety in a variety of forums that allowed me to meet and talk with many great people who deeply care about safety and business improvement. Here are a few comments I received from some of them in follow-up messages.

• My work-based dissertation is investigating the implementation of lean, 5s and 6-sigma in my workplace (aerospace engineering) and whether this has had a positive/negative impact on workplace safety.
I just wanted to write and tell you that you’re recent book "Lean Safety: Transforming your Safety Program with Lean Management" has been a massive help.
It's a great reference for me as I was having muddled thoughts on the matter of lean - that lean and safety should not be viewed as separate entities but through lean, safety is enhanced and improved.

• I just recommended your book to our corporate HSEQ colleagues. I'm hoping to use your book to promote my goal of wider implementation of lean.

• I have already emailed my plant manager about your book and your theory that lean safety is a way to anchor lean into a culture.

• I want to thank you for your contribution to opening my eyes. It is my hope that we will also learn more about lean through our safety program and carry that knowledge into our manufacturing processes.

Obviously comments like these were more rewarding than money so I feel as if 2010 was a very successful first year for RBH Consulting LLC. My goal, to help people impact business results by engaging their workforce in safety improvement, has not changed. My 2011 business plan reflects a growth in business just as I hope yours does. If January is any indication I believe it will be a better year for all of us. Current opportunities may allow me to facilitate Lean Safety workshops in Shanghai, Melbourne, Saskatchewan and in the US. I am excited about the future and look forward to meeting and engaging many new people, as well as old colleagues, in discussions about the inextricably bonds between safety, business improvement and business culture. I hope our paths cross in 2011.

Help me help flight attendants

2011-01-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Some day in the near or distant future Boeing will finally start to deliver their long promised Dreamliner airplane to customers like American Airlines. Just imagine yourself boarding this technological marvel of a plane and 20 minutes later being confronted, or maybe rammed, with technology from 1955.

I am talking about the drink cart that is rolled, pushed and shoved down the main aisle of the plane by the flight attendants. I recently flew home on an American flight from Dallas. This flight along with every other American flight allows for plenty of time to practice the lean safety skill of “observing a work process with an eye for safety improvement.” The flight attendants I observed had to constantly twist and contort their backs and necks while leaning over in an attempt to locate the correct drink can in the trays of cans stored under the cart. They repeatedly slide out trays that were unstable and hard to slide in and out for they only lay on guide rails. If they pulled the tray out too far, it and the contents could fall to the floor. Therefore they are required to hold onto the front of the tray while bent over, in low light conditions, searching for that elusive last can of apple juice. Once the passengers in the immediate area were served their drink (no snacks like a bag of pretzels or peanuts on American) they now had to move this ancient dirty cart down the aisle. To me it looked as if it had never been maintained let alone washed. Next the flight attendant repeatedly stabbed the area around the cart wheels with her foot in an attempt to hit the lever that would release the wheel brake. Then with the help of another flight attendant they pushed and shoved the cart forward. Well not really forward - it was more of a zigzag route caused by the wheels, which due to a lack of maintenance, did not roll very well. Just imagine this vintage cart, which deserves a spot in the Smithsonian Air Museum alongside the Wright brothers first plane, scrapping the new surfaces off of the arm rests on a new Dreamliner. But more importantly imagine the effect of the contorted and stressful actions on the bodies and limbs of flight attendants. The goal of a lean safety kaizen blitz is to keep an individual’s body parts in a neutral position while working. Observing this work task with an eye for improvement would provide a lengthy list of opportunities for improvement.

That's where your help is needed. I need you to forward this blog post to anyone you know who works in the airline industry. I want to facilitate a safety kaizen blitz with a group of flight attendants and I need your help to make contact with some decision makers. The goal would be to reduce or eliminate soft tissue injury risks from the task of serving drinks.

Obviously the solution American Airlines would probably suggest would be to stop serving drinks! That would align nicely with their campaign to give customers less but charge them more. If any of you know an American Airlines executive ask them to conduct some benchmarking by taking a Southwest Airlines flight. Southwest, which I am guessing has a continuous improvement culture, must have already considered the effects of man-handling carts on their flight attendants. The American executives will be shocked to see that Southwest has eliminated the drink cart from the aisle and yet still serves drinks! Then, when handed two “free” bags of snacks, they will experience what it feels like to be treated like a valued customer. This could be game changing for American.

Southwest Airlines Disappoints Customers

2011-01-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Southwest Airlines, an airline known for customer service, just ticked me off. After a week of R&R in sunny Naples, Florida to recover from a hectic holiday season I was at the Fort Meyers airport awaiting my flight home. Out of the blue (no pun intended) those of us seated in boarding area D-7 were instructed to move to D-5. While this was occurring a large group of passengers were settling into the seats we had just vacated. They had just left D-5 and were scheduled to fly to Baltimore. It seems their plane had a mechanical breakdown and a part had to be flown in from another airport in Florida. Southwest management decided to give the customers heading to Baltimore our plane and delay our flight for at least three hours (I do not know the actual delay time yet for I am typing this on my I-Pad while smoldering in my seat in section D-5!). What was their decision making criteria to bump our flight over another? I can tell you all of the customers seated around me lost some respect for Southwest and that they will now share this story of disappointment with family and friends.

In your business do you disappoint your customers? If you have to make a decision to disappoint some of them what criteria do you use to choose the unlucky few? Do you share your decision making process with your customers? Do you somehow compensate them for the disappointment? Just saying it is a "business decision" is not enough. You earn customer loyalty one customer at a time and in this case you can turn them off by the plane load. If they somehow compensate us for this seemingly unjust business decision I will post an update.

Observing Dickson in The Idea Exchange Cafe

2010-11-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

I spent last week at the 2010 AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence) International Conference in Baltimore. Workshops, plant tours, keynote and value stream presentations filled the days of the just over 2,000 attendees. I have been an AME volunteer for about 15 years in this not-for-profit organization that focuses on continuous improvement. It is a role model organization for volunteerism. Year after year a new volunteer team plans, develops and delivers the largest and best lean conference anywhere in the world. For the last three years I have had the pleasure to facilitate the practitioner to practitioner discussions in the Idea Exchange Café. Topics are listed on the conference agenda and from 15 – 60 attendees showed up to participate in each of the six sessions. My role is to guide them through this shared learning exercise.
Since lean success is possible if employees are engaged in the change process and guaranteed to fail if they are not I often hear some very touching human interest stories in the café. This year was no exception.
On Tuesday morning the café opened for the first session. The topic was “Methods used to engage employees in continuous improvement”. Two of the attendees were from the continent of Africa. They were part of an African contingent of around 40 people from a variety of companies attending the conference. One of them, Dickson, seemed a bit nervous. He seemed restrained by something from fully engaging in the discussions that were taking place. When he finally opened up the reason became very clear. He felt uncomfortable because he, a maintenance mechanic in a grain mill that processed grain for both human and animal consumption, had been selected to go to “America.” He noted that his co-workers were in awe of this once in a lifetime experience he had been provided by his employer. Dickson proceeded to tell us about the lean implementation underway in his plant and the role he played. Because he had displayed an interest and a passion for lean he had been selected to be a lean coordinator and was now sitting in a session in America sharing his experiences. This was an experience he could not have imagined in his wildest dreams. Anyone who could have observed the expression of pride on his face as he talked about his plant, and the change processes he supported, would have had the opportunity to truly understand what lean is all about. It is not about cost savings – it is about growing the people in your facility so that everyone can make a difference. It is a universal belief that everyone, just like Dickson, wants to make a difference. Dickson reaffirmed that fact for me. Lean thinkers have the opportunity to touch people and make a difference in their lives – that is why I love what I do.

Your Best Day at Work

2010-10-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

When I conduct lean training sessions and approach the topic of employee engagement I always ask the attendees to tell me about their “best day at work”. I believe people find satisfaction in the work they perform and this question allows me to explore that topic with them. Everyone will agree that some days are better than others but what I want to explore with them are the elements of the best day. Answers I get to the question vary but the underlying theme remains the same. Some common responses are:
• I was productive
• My equipment ran great all day
• I had everything I needed to do my job that day
• I was left alone to do my job

Based on these responses people want to come to work and do a good job and, as I stated above, do find satisfaction in the work they perform. The problem with this scenario is that many people expect their job to remain the same. In this global economy doing anything the same way, day after day, will lead to mediocrity and business decline. In continuous improvement business cultures leadership expects constant change – change for the better. It is only by letting go of control, trusting that all employees can handle more, and then driving decision making downward within the organization that a management team can truly engage their workforce in ongoing business process change. When this occurs this gives many more employees the opportunity to walk out the front door at that end of their shift feeling like they made a difference that day. That is the common theme echoed in the bullet pointed responses above - anyone’s best day at work, and it matters not if they are hourly or management is a day when they personally feel, in their heart of hearts, like they made a difference. What is your experience? How do your employees feel when they walk out the front door?

The Minds you Change

2010-10-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

The kaizen blitz has long been criticized because the improvements or gains made during kaizen events often are not sustained. To those critics I say, so what? Mature lean thinkers understand that for a business to become lean you must impact how people think, act and interact. This cultural or people side of lean is the difficult “row to hoe” on anyone’s lean journey. When businesses hold multiple kaizen blitz events a week they are doing so to improve business process cycle times and to win the hearts of their employees. They understand the biggest benefit of any kaizen event is not the process you improve – it is the minds you change.
Hourly employees, those who do the real work for your customers and are the least empowered employees in any business, need to understand how “lean thinking” benefits each of them individually as well as the business. So where should you start? Start with safety. Engage your employees in kaizen blitz events that focus on the reduction of injury risks. Skeptical hourly employees, and most of them are, will quickly become lean champions when they see management giving focus to their safety while seeking cycle time gains. Remember, people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Make work safer, win their hearts and then move your lean efforts forward. It is the safe path to lean.

Empowerment Squares

2010-09-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

One of the pillars of the TPS (Toyota Production System) is “respect for people.” By not challenging all employees to continually grow leaders are being disrespectful for they are allowing individuals to leave work feeling unfulfilled. Unless people feel like they are truly making a difference (engaged) at work your operation will be on the continuously coping, versus the continually improving, track.
Hourly employees, when they initially hear the word “empowered” often think more work is going to be dumped on them, for example, they are going to be asked to take on the tasks that were once supervisions. If they have spent most of their work careers working in a top down directive environment their feelings are understandable. If they have only contributed to the business by using their hands to do the physical work then discussions about empowerment can seen unclear and threatening. Yet a simple visual tool, when used to demonstrate the concept of empowerment, will move the conversation forward.
Simply draw three squares starting with one and the other two progressively larger around the initial square. The inner square represents the work an individual performs when they are working. They do not have to consult any member of management or the support staff to complete these tasks. The decisions required for these tasks are made by the individual doing the work. The second, or center square, represents times when they may vary from standard work and they feel the need to inform someone, most often supervision, that they made a change. The outer and final square represents times when the worker seeks supervisions approval before making a change or an improvement to a work process. The goal, if you want to empower individuals, is to continually expand the inner square so that they can make more customer-focused business decisions. Explained this way it is easy to understand that empowerment is really about decision making, or more specifically, about who makes the decisions.
The ability to make decisions requires information. Therefore empowerment requires the downward flow of information in an organization. Those who have traditionally been the least empowered in any organization, those performing the hands-on work, can easily make decisions on work scheduling and component replenishment if given the signals, or information, to do so. They can also suggest and implement cycle time improvement changes to their work processes when allowed to do so. By allowing decision making to be driven down in an organization management broadens the scope of the work performed which makes work more interesting and fulfilling. Employees are more likely to feel like they are “making a difference” for their new actions forge a stronger connection to the customer. Empowerment really is a simple concept but it takes courage for management to let go of some of the decision making for it to happen? What is your experience? Do the squares still represent firm boundaries that hourly employees dare not cross or are you allowing individuals to leave work feeling like they made a difference?

Building Trust after the Downturn

2010-09-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

I recently attended an AME Lean Leadership workshop. When the attendees were asked why they attended and what they hoped to take away from the two-day event a general theme emerged. The downturn in business caused by the recession had resulting in staffing reductions at many of their facilities. What they were searching for were ways to re-engage the workforce after trust had taken a beating. How, they asked, do you re-engage the workforce in continuous improvement after the trauma of lay-offs – both temporary and permanent? What are the lean leadership tools or techniques I can use when I return to work? These were hard questions with no easy answers.
Since an engaged workforce is the foundation of a truly lean business I suggest you start to bridge the void caused by painful lay-offs and terminations by focusing solely on safety improvement. You earn trust by giving it therefore I believe you have to look for ways to engage your employees in continual improvement so that they can, for themselves, discover the value of continuous improvement. To state it in an oft used acronym they need to understand WIIFM (what’s in it for me?). Without a doubt the easiest entry point to re-engage employees is in the continual improvement of safety. I suggest this safe path to continual improvement because everyone - managers, hourly workers, unions, etc. will rally around and support safety improvement efforts. And if you’re a business leader how better to show respect for people and begin to build the level of trust than by focusing your and their efforts on improving their safety while at work. If you do nothing but focus on safety after this economic downturn you will build trust, reduce injury risks and reduce business costs. That would make you a role model leader.

A Shingo Prize Tunnel View

2010-08-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

A recent post by Kevin Meyer on the role model lean blog, Evolving Excellence, took the Shingo prize organization to task for diluting their prize. It created quite a stir so I thought I would join in the fun with my own Shingo frustration. First, I must warn you that I may be accused of “sour grapes” for writing this post. Beware - there is whining ahead!
About three months after the December 2009 release of my book, Lean Safety – Transforming your Safety Culture with Lean Management, I applied for the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award. I applied because I had read the new criteria and thought my book was a shoe in because of the following two statements. They made up two of the four sections of the written submission I had to complete.
1. Describe how the submitted work contributes to new knowledge of lean and operational excellence.
2. Describe how the submitted work extends existing knowledge of lean and operational excellence.

My book was the first to link lean thinking and lean tool usage to driving world class safety. Obviously anyone in the lean community who has practiced lean has been engaged in the pursuit of the holy grail of cycle time reduction and not safety improvement. One of the targeted audiences when I wrote the book was these lean professionals. I wanted to challenge them to help change the safety culture in their businesses by using their lean knowledge.
My second targeted audience was safety professionals and the programs they manage which are almost always solely focused on safety compliance. Lean Safety challenges them to explore lean thinking and tools to engage their workforce and bolster their compliance based programs with a companywide safety improvement initiative. The results – a new kind of safety culture focused on ongoing improvement in addition to compliance.
Finally I challenged these two groups of professionals to work together. I overviewed how together they could conduct injury risk reduction kaizen blitz events that would yield both cycle time and safety improvements. It all sounded so good when I read the criteria and then responded to the two statements above that I began to think about my acceptance speech.
As you may have already guessed Lean Safety did not win the Shingo prize. Why? Here are portions of examiner’s responses to the two sections mentioned above.
“However, examiners feel the book does not provide a deeper understanding or new knowledge and theory of operational excellence; it is more about using fairly common lean approaches and tools that focus on establishing a safety culture.”

“The author’s concept of safety as the reason for a lean transformation does expand existing knowledge, yet examiners feel the majority of the information shared in the book is basic lean knowledge and is not an expansion of existing work and current practices.”
I scratched my head after reading the feedback document and reflected on why my view of the potential impact of Lean Safety differed so from the examiners. All I could think of was the examiners were all leanies and were only thinking of the value of this book to other lean thinkers. This inbred aspect of many organizations, which are centered on a single common theme, is more often than not the norm. The Shingo examiners understand lean inside and out so my use of basic lean terminology and tools triggered their “tunnel view” response. But what would safety professionals have said? What if the Shingo examiners had been safety professionals who had little knowledge of lean? Would they have recognized the value of engaging individuals in safety improvement? Would they think this book was “new knowledge” and that it “extended lean knowledge” beyond the lean community and into the safety community? Or what if the Shingo prize organization had used a cross-functional team (in this case a mix of lean and safety professionals) to conduct the review? Would the results have been different? Here is a link to an unsolicited review of Lean Safety that appeared in the August 2010 issue of Professional Safety magazine. http://www.asse.org/professionalsafety/in-review.php Tell me what you think after reading the review. Shingo smingo - I didn’t want that prize anyway. Now pass the sour grapes to this poor loser - I have acquired a taste for them!

Lean Safety Opportunity In Paris

2010-07-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Lean zealots cannot turn off the “lean thinking” portion of their brain while on vacation. Here is a recent example to support my contention. While walking from the Notre Dame Cathedral back to our hotel in the 7th arrondissement located on the left bank of Paris, my wife and I decided to take a break. We selected a park bench on the bank of the Seine River where we could bask in the glorious sunshine and count our good fortunes. We had spent the prior 10 days in Ireland where cool rainy weather had been as much the norm as driving on the left side of the road. Then on a whim, without any existing plans, we decided to fly off to Paris to finish our vacation. It was completely spontaneous which made our five days in Paris even more magical.
While sitting there looking north across the Seine we could see the massive Louvre museum to our right and the 3,300 year-old Egyptian obelisk sitting in the Place de la Concorde, its gold top reflecting the mid-day sun, to our left. Then out of the blue Parisian sky my lean safety antenna was signaled to observe and improve a work process. Almost directly in front of me was a city worker bagging grass clippings. He, like me, was not a young man. His back, which had a gentle slope forward, symbolized a lifetime of work. The pile of grass clippings were piled in a graveled area some distance from the actual lawn that had been cut. He was surrounded by four clear plastic bags which he had already filled and was just starting a fifth. The process he was using certainly contributed to or was responsible for, depending on how long he had performed this job responsibility, his back curvature. He was using a rake but it differed from the rakes I have used. This was a four tined rake that looks as if it started as a pitchfork until someone bent all four tines 90 degrees from the handle. While holding the handle parallel to his body, he slid the tines into the grass pile. Next he stepped, with his left foot, onto the grass clipping now on the rake tines to compact them before continuing. Then, while holding a plastic bag in his left hand and the rake in his right, he raised his right arm, taking his right shoulder out of the neutral position, to align the grass clipping on the rake tines with the opening in the plastic bag. He then attempted to insert the clippings into the bag. Some made it in and others fluttered back to the pile. He was looking directly down, with his back bent, during the entire operation. Had my command of the French language allowed me to do more than order outstanding food and great wine I would have engaged him in a process improvement discussion intended to improve the safety of the work he was performing.
My eyes were now glazed, I had forgotten about the glorious “City of Lights” in front of me, and I was asking myself, since I couldn’t communicate with him, some simple questions. How did the clipping get from the lawn to their current location? Didn’t they know they make mowers with bagging attachments? Or, did they dump the clipping from the mower attachment here so they could re-bag them? I had to admit that this was indeed a possibility, for after all this was a government worker in a country and city better known for worker strikes than worker ingenuity and productivity, so I shifted my thinking from correcting the root cause to just improving his safety.
When we first arrived in Paris I noticed there were few conventional trash cans. Instead they had metal hoops welded to upright posts that were anchored to the ground. The top of a plastic trash bag was slipped over the hoop and a rubber bungee cord type device was used to secure the bag to the hoop. To remove the bag you simply loosened the rubber cord. I was impressed with this creative method of trash collection that eliminated dirty smelly trash cans and the requirement to lift them to empty out the contents. Then I noticed just to the left of our bench one of these trash collection stations. I wanted to immediately move some grass clippings next to it, install his plastic trash bag onto the hoop, straighten the tines on his rake and fill the bag while maintaining a more upright back and head position with my shoulders never getting out of the neutral position. But I didn’t want to create a work stoppage which could lead to a massive city worker strike that would paralyze the city of Paris – after all, we had to fly home the next day and the Metro train crews and air traffic controllers were instrumental in our on-time departure! So instead we continued our stroll along the Seine heading toward our Rue Clair neighborhood and lunch at an open air café. Other problems were waiting to be solved. For instance, should we have a bottle of white or rose wine with lunch?

Fun on Southwest Airlines

2010-05-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Cutlural change, or how people think, act and interact, is the key to ongoing business continuous improvement and ultimately business success. It took the lean community some years to understand and accept the fact that implementing lean tools was not the end goal. The tools were only the means with which you could access and impact the culture. During the last week of April, for the first time in over ten years, I flew on Southwest Airlines and I was impressed.

The biggest difference between this flight and all of others flights I have taken (mostly on an airline with the the initials AA) in the last ten years is that each and every Southwest employee acted as if work was fun and customers were important. Can you believe that! I hadn't seen so many smiles since watching a Miss America pagent.

“The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.” This mission statement gives every Southwest employee approval to be a change agent and a risk taker so that they can impact the culture, if only for a few hours, on the plane where they are working. For example, just prior to take-off the flight attendants were asking everyone to take their seats. One older gentleman, whose head was shaved, remained standing and talking with some aquaintances. Over the intercom came a message - "Would the spokesperson for Six-Flags (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU2yt6wOoK0) please take your seat?" Everyone on the plane laughed and then the flight attendant, himself as bald as the Six-flags mascot, approach the individual to ensure he had not personally offended him. Then at the end of the flight they played the Six-Flag's theme song from the same commercial over the intercom as they bid him and all their customers fairwell! As I departed I felt like I had been at a party! The flight attendants, by taking some risks, had created an atmosphere of fun and a sense of community all during a 2-1/2 hour flight. Adding to my joy were the "free" snacks, a glass of chardonnay and the fact that my bag flew free. I will be flying Soutwest more often - sorry AA!

Engage or discipline - how do you manage?

2010-03-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to present at the OSHA Day conference at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, IL. Attending the event were around 400 individuals who are somehow involved in safety as part of their day to day work.
One of the attendees, in my 75 minute session on “Lean Safety,” suggested that to ensure employee safety you should have each of them sign a contract to follow all the safety rules and regulations. Old school safety like this, modeled on safety contracts and discipline, is a top down, directive and compliance (OSHA) driven business process. Companies following this model are still operating with the upright triangle – customers at the bottom and leadership on top. They are still dependent on the “discipline stick” to drive fear throughout their workplace in an attempt to raise safety awareness. Regrettably many businesses still use this model to manage safety.
By starting with both the premise that no one comes to work to get hurt, and an awareness of W. Edwards Deming and his belief that you must “drive fear from the workplace” in order to engage employees in the improvement of anything, safety professionals begin to understand that this old model in a relic of the last century. You earn trust by giving it. To demonstrate “respect for people” and begin to win the hearts and minds of those who are in harm’s way management must first flip the triangle and then begin to engage their employees in safety improvement efforts. Trust must pave the road to the continuous improvement of safety or any other company wide business change.
To “lean thinkers” safety is just another business process to which they can, with employee involvement, apply the lean tools to drive change. Switching safety management from a purely compliance based model to one based on compliance and continual improvement can be the starting point for a lean effort in any business for everyone will rally around safety. You can begin to bridge the trust gap that exists in all plants by starting on the safety side and crossing over to the lean side.
A company’s safety culture, or how the people who work there think, act and interact regarding safety, will only change if management changes their approach to safety. Top down safety allows workers to state, “They (management) don’t do anything about safety around here until someone gets injured.” Any employee directly involved in safety improvement will be unable to ever repeat that statement again for they are now part of the “they.” How many of your employees can you engage in safety? Now that would be a nice proactive safety metric for any company to track. Stay safe.

GEe - size doesn't matter!

2010-03-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

During the last week of February I visited a GE transportation plant in Erie, PA to present my Lean Safety story at a meeting of plant managers and lean leaders from both the Erie plant and other GE facilities. After my presentation my host provided me with a personal plant tour. This facility is big scale lean for they produce locomotives – the kind that would make a train buff weak in the knees. It is heavy industry of the type that helped to build America’s industrial dominance many decades ago. Fast forward to today. It is an aging facility, spread over acres of land, producing many or most of the parts required to assemble locomotives in house. Trying to get your arms around the concepts of flow when the components are sized by the ton is almost incomprehensible.
Yet in just three years lead times have been reduced dramatically. With an intense focus on lean principles, they are slowly weaning themselves from MRP planning and moving toward a visual Obeya Room planning board that simplifies the component planning process and immediately gives visual attention to problems. To help ensure component on-time delivery they are transforming their fabrication and welding shops from traditional batch and queue work centers, that were literally buried in excess inventory, into sub-assembly flow cells that deliver components to final assemble based on takt signals. The use of a skunk-works approach for developing new fixtures and material handling equipment, required to make these fabricated parts flow, has engaged and energized some of their workforce. This is real lean, lean on a scale you can see and understand. Only passionate lean thinkers can tackle a process of this size and succeed. This visit once again proved that size doesn’t matter – a process is a process. Remove the waste, make it flow and the results will provide reduced lead times to customers.
When this economic downturn, or maybe plunge, does correct itself this facility will be ready to serve their customers in ways not imaginable in the past. On the GE website it states that “GE is imagination at work.” My visit to this facility proves that point. The lean leaders at this facility are visionaries and they are having the time of their lives. I had a lean buzz on while walking around, hearing about and seeing the changes they have implemented. Then, while standing next to a, “big as a house,” just built and freshly painted locomotive, I think I became a train buff. Woooo-woooo-chuggga-chuggga.

Intelligentsia Coffee Kaizen

2010-02-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I visited a coffee shop owned by Chicago based Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. Intelligentsia cares about their employees and their employees really care about their customers. The shop’s staff was friendly, product knowledgeable and expert baristas. Part of Intelligentsia’s mission statement reads, “Intelligentsia exists to provide both a fulfilling work environment for our employees and the highest quality products for our customers. Both goals are equally necessary to the success of our business.” Everyone I interacted with, and the product I was served, was proof that the corporate mission is more than just words on their website.
I had recently read the New York Times article about Starbucks beginning their lean journey. Obviously if the lean approach of process evaluation and improvement was applicable to Starbucks I thought there must be opportunities at Intelligensia. While sitting there sipping my latte I had time to observe the retail delivery processes of the business. Opportunities were immediately apparent to me due to my lean safety orientation. Repetitive bending to retrieve individually portioned canisters of beans, using an awkward hand and arm position to pour boiling water over the ground beans and excessive travel distances between front and back counters were just some of the opportunities I observed. I wanted to, right there on the spot, form a kaizen blitz team to design and implement a new work station that would reduce both ergonomic injury risks and the delivery cycle time. If I could so quickly recognize these opportunities just imagine how many the experts, those behind the counter brewing coffee, could identify if they were provided some training, a facilitator and the gift of time to do so by Intelligensia’s leadership.
In January I sent an email to Intelligentsia’s webmaster (with a request to forward the message) suggesting I share a cup of coffee, at this same retail outlet, with the company founder. During our time together I would teach him to observe, while wearing lean safety lenses, the business opportunity that exists – a chance to engage his employees in the redesign of their workplace. The end results would be improved safety and reduced product delivery cycle times and ultimately the opportunity for this group of employees to take this design to other Intelligentsia retail outlets. All of this activity would support the corporate mission for it would add a new level of meaning to “a fulfilling work environment.” As of today there has been no response from Intelligentsia. Do you think they will respond?

A Safe Path to Lean

2010-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

1.25.2010
A Safe Path to Lean

While attending the AME international conference, held in Cincinnati last October, I introduced myself to a lean thought leader and briefly described a book I had written that suggests to get lean you should start with safety. His comment back was that for most companies that is exactly where they should begin. I failed to ask a follow up question to fully understand his reasoning for supporting my contention but I know why I recommended it in book form -- because it works.

All lean leaders understand the path to real lean, lean that is lasting, is dependent on employee engagement. Resistance to lean that is predicated on cost savings has killed off many a lean effort. Because we work in adult workplaces the simple equation that cost savings = fewer employees is understood by everyone. To discourage this thinking a senior leader may state that no lay-offs will occur as a result of lean but this is not the norm. He could instead take the safe path to lean by asking his employees to focus on safety improvement and thus bypass the initial resistance to lean caused by mistrust and a lack of understanding.

Simply by facilitating safety improvement activities while using a lean tool like the kaizen blitz you can begin to train your employee base in the lean language and many of the lean tools. A team of employees given the gift of time to focus on safety will not only reduce injury risks but they will most certainly reduce the cycle time of the process they have observed. This safe path to lean can initiate a journey toward real lean for any business for it is build upon respect for people first and then cycle time reduction.

A safety first culture

2010-01-14T18:13:00.001-08:00

Safety in this country is often touted as the “number one priority” yet a great deal of the safety activity in companies is driven by compliance to legislation rather than pro-active safety improvement programs. Therefore not much depth is evident in many safety programs. Contrast safety management, a legislated business requirement, with lean activities. Unless a lean edict has come down the corporate pipeline lean is optional. No legislation requires lean activity. What usually drives lean in companies is a culture that needs repair. A serious lean effort will tear apart an old entitlement riddled culture, with high costs and poor customer service, and build it into something new. Companies with ineffective safety programs that result in poor safety records also have a cultural problem. Present is a culture that does not value, or expect, a safe work place and therefore people act accordingly. The common element is culture – it is the root cause of poor safety and ineffective businesses. It would then make sense that some common methods could be used to drive improved safety and business continuous improvement programs.
It is my strong belief that a lean thinking approach to people management, one that views all the employees of a company as value added assets, is the right approach. It stands to reason that if the culture of a business is “how the people who work there think, act and interact” that you must engage each and every one of them if you are going to positively impact or redirect the culture. Following this cultural path is the true, no, the only, route to world class lean or world class safety.

Retirement???

2010-01-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Day one of not going to a traditional job after 40 plus years of doing so. Feels a little strange. I started the day by filing a form to create an LLC on the Illinois state website. Wihin 24 hours I should receive an email confirmation that RBH Consulting LLC is offical! It is exciting to think about all the opportunities that lay ahead. A chance to impact the safety of individuals by using lean techniques while at the same time impacting business results. As my journey unfolds I will post lean safety stories on this blog for those who have an interest in the safe side of lean. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to give up the security of a weekly pay check in exchange for a journey of personal growth. Whooo-hooo - let the journey begin!

New consulting business to start in January

2009-12-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

In January 2010 I will start a consulting business called RBH Consulting LLC. My goal is to positively impact workplace safety. It will be fun and challenging to run my own business after working for others for 40+ years. Change is good and this change will be very good for me.

Contact Information

2009-11-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

I can be contacted at rbhafey@aol.com