Designing the Lean Intervention

We have seen in the previous chapter that current state assessment starts with understanding of management goals, defining corresponding performance metrics, and observing the process to establish the performance potential of the chosen metrics. All these together form the basis for developing a coherent Lean roadmap that defines a stage-wise path to achieve the stated goals. The roadmap is a time bound action plan and the sequencing of the improvement projects is the key not only to gain the momentum and sustain it, but also for Lean to be accepted among various quarters of the organization. A good roadmap seeks to deliver benefits to all the stakeholder be it top management, functional managers, executives, and the workers who actually add-value at the shop floor. Several case examples are used to illustrate different ways in which the buy-in of key stakeholders can be obtained at the start of the Lean intervention. We also delve into the concept of theme-based roadmaps and their role in aligning everyone in the organization to a shared vision. The last part of the chapter focuses on preparation needed to begin implementation. The focused improvement workshop is a powerful method of implementing change. We conclude the chapter with a discussion on the organization structure needed to facilitate Lean.