Chapter 19
Ten Places to Go for Help
In This Chapter
Browsing on the Web
Entering the Lean blogosphere
Joining associations and societies
Using the services of facilitators and consultants
This book is a great introduction to Lean. We provide you with a broad understanding and working knowledge, showing you the principles and practices, the methods and tools, the language and jargon. But as complete as this book is, there’s so much more to Lean than could ever fit in 408 pages.
Fortunately, Lean is so well-known and widely practiced that many, many sources of help — on every aspect and element of Lean — are available to you. Researchers and practitioners, businesses and organizations, blogs and websites, societies and associations, authors and historians — they’re all out there, accessible, and available to help. Whether you want more knowledge, education and training, consulting and project assistance, tools and technologies, or reference publications, you’ve got it. In this final chapter, we introduce you to the greater world of Lean support that can pick up where we leave off.
Books and Publications
Believe it or not, Lean For Dummies is not the only book about Lean! (It may be the best one, but it’s not the only one!) There are hundreds of books on Lean, written from every angle. Whether you want to know about a particular tool or technique, or about implementing Lean in a certain business or industry, chances are there’s a book for you. You can search for these at any of the major online bookstores.
Check out Productivity Press (www.productivitypress.com), which offers the broadest selection of books and learning tools about Lean and the methodologies based on the Toyota Production System (TPS). Many of their books are translated directly from the Japanese versions.
Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement (second edition), by Mark Graban is the award-winning go-to book on implementing Lean in hospitals. He is also the co-author of another important Lean in Healthcare book, Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Improvements, (2012). Both books are from Productivity Press.
Online Information
In this age of the Internet, you can find an almost limitless amount of reference material online. Use your favorite search engine to find information on nearly any topic. If you want more direction, check out the following sites:
Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com): This site has general information on a wealth of topics, including Lean, its history, and the people behind it.
The Improvement Encyclopedia at Syque.com (www.syque.com/quality_tools/index.htm): UK quality consultant Dave Straker has implemented an extensive online reference library that includes useful information on Lean and other quality tools.
The Lean Library (www.theleanlibrary.com): Founded by Jamie Flinchbaugh of the Lean Learning Center, the Lean Library is a clearinghouse for book reviews, papers, links, and industry news.
The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI; www.lean.org): Founded by James Womack, the Lean researcher, this site provides Lean resources, products, and event information. LEI’s network extends globally.
Blog Sites
Want to stay apprised of ongoing trends? Have a specific issue you’d like to address? Want to participate in discussions with the real experts in the Lean community? Check out the following blog sites:
The Lean Blog (http://leanblog.org): Senior Lean practitioner Mark Graban maintains one of the most active Lean blogs on the Internet.
The Lean Insider (http://leaninsider.productivitypress.com): This is the blog site of Productivity Press, the company that translated most of the Japanese books about quality and continuous improvement into English.
Evolving Excellence (http://superfactory.typepad.com/blog): Bill Wadell and Kevin Meyer, founders of the Superfactory knowledge products company, host a lively blog.
Lean Healthcare Exchange (http://www.leanhealthcareexchange.com): Charles Haygood, founder of Healthcare Performance Partners, and associates share case studies and cutting-edge information about Lean in Healthcare.
Gemba Panta Rei (www.gembapantarei.com): Kaizen Institute Executive Director Jon Miller hosts this informative blog on many aspects of Lean. This blog is now affiliated with the Kaizen Institute (www.kaizen.com).
In addition to blog sites, you can find many virtual groups to connect with peers. Look on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Yahoo!
Professional Societies and Associations
Several professional societies and associations have dedicated Lean efforts, and you can contact them for additional information:
Shingo: The Shingo Prize was established in 1988 to promote awareness of Lean concepts, and recognizes companies across North America that achieve world-class status. The Shingo Prize is administered by the College of Business of Utah State University. (www.shingoprize.org)
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME): SME is the world’s leading professional society supporting manufacturing education. SME promotes an increased awareness of manufacturing engineering and helps keep manufacturing professionals up to date on leading trends and technologies. The society has members in 70 countries and is supported by a network of hundreds of chapters worldwide. Lean certification information is found on their website. (www.sme.org)
The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME): AME is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to cultivating understanding, analysis, and exchange of productivity methods and their successful application in the pursuit of excellence. AME is practitioner-based, and events and workshops focus on hands-on learning. AME publishes the award-winning Target magazine and puts on several regional and national events each year. (www.ame.org)
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): Sponsored by the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), MEP is a nationwide network of over 350 centers, funded by a combination of federal, state, and private monies, providing resources, expertise, and services to manufacturers. It helps companies to compete globally, improve supply chain integration, and gain access to technology for improved productivity. (www.mep.nist.gov)
Conferences and Symposia
Numerous organizations regularly sponsor conferences and symposia around the United States and the world on Lean, quality, and business process improvement. These conferences are outstanding forums for meeting with peers, surveying product and service providers, and attending seminars on current topics of interest. Major Lean conferences and organizations include the following:
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) hosts a variety of technical events and expositions. Check the events section on its website. (www.sme.org)
A number of Lean Summits are sponsored by the Lean Enterprise Institute. (www.lean.org/Summits/Index.cfm)
ASQ is a source of global quality excellence. It offers several conferences per year that are focused on quality, and presents an annual conference that combines Lean, Lean Six Sigma, and Six Sigma to explore trends in continuous improvement. (http://asq.org/conferences)
Productivity, Inc. holds a variety of conferences and workshops throughout the year. (www.productivityinc.com)
Topical conferences are held regularly throughout the year. Examples include the Lean HR summit (www.leanhrsummit.com), the Lean Accounting summit (www.leanaccountingsummit.com), Lean in Healthcare (www.leanhealthcareexchange.com and www.leanhealthcarewest.com), and the Lean Educators Conference (www.leaneducatorconference.org)
Lean Enterprise China is a Lean Enterprise Institute-sponsored event for Asia-Pacific. (www.leanchina.org)
Lean Central Europe presents a lot of good information. (www.lean-kanban-conference.de)
Lean Summit UK is a Lean Enterprise Institute-sponsored event for Europe. (www.leanuk.org/#summit)
Consultants, Facilitators, and Trainers
If you’re embarking on a Lean initiative, or you have an initiative underway, you may need assistance in the form of expert advice, training, and experienced facilitation of kaizen, kaikaku, or other events. Worry not! The Lean community has experts available to help you in all of these areas.
You can find and apply expertise in several forms:
Methods and tools: Most training and consulting organizations specialize in the methods and tools of Lean — everything from value-stream mapping and Kano modeling to performing statistical analysis and conducting kaizen events.
Change management: Leading an organization through the change process to understand and practice the philosophy of kaizen is very different from learning and applying the tools. Look for a different kind of expertise to help you through the change process.
Rent-A-Sensei: Sometimes, you just need an expert who can facilitate your team through a project or phase of an initiative. Certain consultancies have such experts, in the form of experienced leaders, or senseis, who can assist you.
To find people to help you, just enter “Lean consultants” into your favorite search engine.
Interview consulting organizations carefully to ensure that they have applied experience in the areas of your greatest needs and interests.
In addition to private consultancies, an increasing number of academic institutions are teaching and training Lean practices. An organization known as the Lean Education Academic Network (LEAN) is group of university educators who are pursuing Lean education in U.S. higher academia, as well as continuous improvement of Lean education in the classroom through sharing of knowledge and teaching materials, collaboration, and networking among colleagues. You can find out more at www.teachinglean.org. Toyota and the University of Kentucky created one of the first partnerships. You can find out more at http://www.lean.uky.edu/. The Center for Competitive Change at the University of Dayton has been helping companies become more competitive for over 20 years. You can find more at http://www.competitive change.com. The University of Michigan, home of Jeffrey Liker (author of several books about Toyota), offers several continuing education courses on Lean. More at http://interpro.engin.umich.edu/proedhome.htm.
Lean Periodicals
Subscribing to Lean periodicals will bring you regular joy and knowledge, via your mailbox! The following established periodicals are manufacturing-oriented:
Assembly Magazine (www.assemblymag.com; subscription: free; 12 issues/year)
The Manufacturer Magazine (www.themanufacturer.com; subscription: free; 12 issues/year)
Industry Week (www.industryweek.com; subscription: free; 12 issues/year and yes, it’s called Industry Week, but it comes out monthly)
Lean Directions, an SME e-publication (www.sme.org/leandirections; subscription: free; 12 issues/year)
Target, an online AME publication (www.ame.org; free access; 4 issues/year)
The Superfactory online newsletter (www.superfactory.com; subscription: free; 12 issues/year)
Software Providers
Technology vendors are building increasing knowledge in the methods and tools of Lean. In addition to their products — which have considerable online help and tutorials — they provide education and support services.
Software AG (www.softwareag.com) is an enterprise-class provider of tools for integrating information and processes across extended value-chains. Software AG’s ARIS includes a value-stream mapping capability, along with SIPOC, Fishbones, and process analytics.
iGraphx (www.igrafx.com) provides business process analysis tools, including value-stream mapping.
Systems 2 Win (www.systems2win.com) provides Microsoft© Excel templates for a variety of Lean tools, including standard work, gemba interviews, spaghetti maps, and more.
eVSM (www.evsm.com) provides simple value-stream mapping tools as extensions to Microsoft© Visio and Excel.
A variety of software companies offer information display and visualization tools and provide toolkits that help you build your own add-ons and displays. You can search the Internet or ask your Lean sensei for more information.
Practitioners
Chances are you know someone who has been involved in Lean, perhaps even a specialist of some type. If you’re working in a Lean company, you’re surrounded by experienced professionals. They have the expertise and reference material available for you.
Even if you don’t know of anyone personally, you may be surprised by just how few degrees of separation lie between your interest and a Lean expert. Ask colleagues in professional organizations, go to your local university, search for connections via social media like LinkedIn or search the web.
Before engaging in a relationship with a Lean practitioner, be sure they are the right fit for your organization.
Related Genres
Lean is so broad and all-encompassing that it touches and affects many related disciplines and genres. Conversely, Lean in and of itself does not have all the answers. You must maintain a broad perspective to and a complete picture. Look into these related disciplines for important supporting information:
Ergonomics and industrial engineering: How consumers use products and services, and how workers use machinery and tools
• Usernomics: www.usernomics.com/ergonomics-standards.html
• The Institute of Industrial Engineering: www.iienet2.org
Supply chain and logistics: Optimizing supply, delivery, inventory, and readiness
• The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals: www.cscmp.org
• The Association for Operations Management: www.apics.org
Project and program management: Controlling project scope, schedule, and resources; configuration management; getting the most out of project teams
• The Project Management Institute: www.pmi.org
• The Project Manager’s Homepage: www.allpm.com
Statistical analysis: In-depth understanding of the behaviors that influence outcomes
• The American Society of Quality: www.asq.org
• The Online Statistics Textbook: www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html
Six Sigma community: Because defects are a form of waste
• The Online Six Sigma Forum: www.isixsigma.com
• The International Society of Six Sigma Professionals: www.isssp.com
Business Process Management: A rapidly growing field that is becoming a clearinghouse of all things process
• The Business Process Management Initiative: www.bpmi.org
• Business Process Trends: www.bptrends.com
One Page Business Plan: Concise descriptions of goals, mission, and strategies; not just for small, startup businesses anymore — it’s applicable as the one-page description of any project or program plan.
• The One Page Business Plan: www.onepagebusinessplan.com
Organizational Development (OD) and Training: Training, facilitation and Organizational Development resources and professionals
• Organizational Development Network: www.odnetwork.org
• American Society of Training & Development: www.astd.org
• International Association of Facilitators: www.iaf-methods.org
• Free Management Library — OD Information: www.management help.org/org_chng/org_chng.htm