Why isnt every plant a lean plant? LEAN TOOL AWARENESS CERTIFICATE PROGRAMPeter Ward Ohio State UniversityCenter for Excellence in Manufacturing ManagementBenchmarking the Best2000 Industry Week Best Plants Five-Year Improvement MetricsLean thinkingWhy arent all operations lean? 2000 Industry Week Best Plants 5-year Quality Improvements Percent reduction in scrap/rework as a percent of sales in last 5 years50.05%Percent reduction in customer reject rate in last 5 years67.56%Percent reduction in warranty costs as a percent of sales in last 5 years39.83%2000 Industry Week Best Plants 5-year Time ImprovementsPercent reduction in manufacturing cycle time in the last 5 years44.33%Percent reduction in standard order-to-shipment lead-time in the last 5 years46.00%2000 Industry Week Best Plants 5-year Productivity ImprovementsPercent improvement in productivity, as measured by annual value added per employee.367.7%Percent improvement in productivity, as measured by annual sales per employee. 386.31%Percent improvement in productivity, as measured by annual sales per square foot824.17%Lean ThinkingHow does a plant achieve “Best Plant improvement metrics?By applying lean principles. The applications tell the story.Apply Five Simple Principles:lSpecify value from the standpoint of end customerlIdentify the value stream for each product familylMake the product flowlSo the customer can pulllAs you manage toward perfectionWhy Arent All Processes Lean?As many reasons exist as there are non-lean plants, but I would like to start the conversation with three interrelated suggestion ssange:ArticulationLeadershipFocusArticulationOperations people often cant seemto tell a convincing storyAs a result, Lean becomes a short-hand for cost down as opposed to “capabilities up“Manufacturing is expected to get costs down, dont bother me with implementation detailsMarketing doesnt understand “capabilities-up either and is reluctant to talk to customers about lean because they fear they will be asked for a yet another price reduction.LeadershipCorporate leadership often unwilling to show the patience to allow lean to work. Looking for silver bullet.Manufacturing leadership toward lean is often provided by a charismaticleader. Such people often move onward or upward without leaving a similarly heroic successor.Plant leadership can often muster the means to make great progress, even when the effort is isolated from corporate norms. Such efforts are usually ham strungwhen addressing value stream issues. Plant leaders are also heroes.FocusCompeting programs such as six-sigma or ERP, even when meritorious , dilute attention and resources ). One-shot or serial Kaizens that are not sustained only build cynicism and add to talk about flavor of the week .Lean efforts are often too narrow in that they do not go far enough to cross boundaries and bust organizational chimneys Implications Thinking about why everyone isnt lean provides a cautionary lesson about the kinds of issues that you have to manage around in your own effortsWe have talked about three areas:ArticulationLeadershipFocusI know that there are a number of others.