How can Lean Manufacturing help employees develop new skills?

Lean manufacturing is about changing the mindset of employees towards continuous improvement through waste and losses elimination. Lots of tools are available, however choosing the right key for each challenge is the key for success

In my experience, having Lean Manufacturing skills (lean management), It allows you to be an active individual within the organization, whatever our hierarchical level, and consequently you will be able to understand that The long-term success of a company is based on the balance of three triptych players: What our customer wants, What our shareholder wants & What our employee wants.

It keeps you focused on what the customer needs, raises the quality of your work, boosts productivity and efficiency, and helps cut down costs. These skills are super valuable in many different fields for boosting overall performance. Be lean everyday!

The key Benefits are.... 1- Efficiency Improvement 2-Cost Reduction 3- Improved Customer Satisfaction 4- Continual Improvement Culture 5-Quality Enhancement 6- Lead Time Reduction 7- Risk Mitigation And the list continues . Adopting lean skills and principles requires commitment and a willingness to embrace change, but the benefits can lead to a more efficient, customer-focused, and competitive organization.

According to Toyota Production System (TPS), the founder of Toyota implemented two pillars: 1. Continuous Improvement 2. Respect for people. Respect for people in organizations empowers employees to continuously improve by eliminating inefficiencies, fostering a culture of ongoing skill development and process enhancement." The lean principles (9-14) focus on respect for people based on Grow, Develop, Respect, Go and See, Make decision,s and Become. The principles are clearly defined - how they improve skills and processes.

In my experience it all starts from Gemba walks because there is the place where activities happen. Lean is about understating the Muda forms (Time-Inventory-Motion-Waste-over processing - over producing -Defects + Lack of Training ) (TIMWOOD+ Lack of Training)..once we identify them we can use the right lean tool to reduce/eliminate them.

1. Explain the purpose and the benefits of lean manufacturing to the team. Give clarity on vision and define goals and benifits of lean. Motivate team to embrace lean as a way of thinking and working. 2. Identify training need and provide your staff with adequate training and coaching to help them understand and apply lean principles and methods. Encourage your staff to ask questions, share feedback, and learn from mistakes. Support them with regular guidance, feedback. 3. Empower your staff to make decisions, take actions, and implement improvements and learn from past mistakes. 4. Do Gemba walk to identify waste and take action to eliminate/ minimise waste. 5. Celebrate small achievements and recognise team.

It is key to teach and coach these skills but there is no better way than getting involved and try storming. Go to the Gemba and try out solutions to resolve an issue. If you fail so what. Try again. This is the only way you will learn. Involving all associates and trying to come to a resolution together. Sitting in an office brainstorming is not going to get you your results.

I completely resonate with the ‘learning by doing’ philosophy and acknowledge the significance of the skill set mentioned in lean practices. Yet, the initial step towards developing lean skills lies in recognizing the advantages it offers. Whether for oneself or a team, the pivotal aspect is engaging in collaborative lean activities that demonstrate the ease of problem-solving or enhancing current practices. Once individuals experience firsthand how lean methodologies simplify problem-solving, learning these skills becomes an intuitive and straightforward process.

One thing I have found helpful in developing Lean skills is learning and understanding PDCA through what Lean thinking… is PDCA thinking first and foremost. The PDCA cycle makes it possible to implement an iterative process. The PDCA cycle is particularly useful for: Streamline and improve a repetitive work process. Develop a new operational process. Take all the “Lean tools, 5S, SMED, VSM, A3, Genshi Genbutsu… behind each of them lies the PDCA spirit. There is the cyclical aspect, there is the factual aspect and there is the foundation (standard) aspect.

Lots of the career experiences I’m most proud of, surround the development of people through lean deployments. Lean deployments create many opportunities for people with no prior experience to get directly involved in learning but also leading specific areas. Lean is a fantastic opportunity for people who want to develop their careers, and mentors and coaches have a key role to play in making sure those people are protected in their learning experience

You as a leader are tasked with changing a mindset of many which is difficult. Creating a Lean Champion program helps as you certify others and support them as they begin their journey. Celebrate small wins and watch the eyes open. Don't rush from 5's to the next thing. Implement and sustain it then move on.

Well said Dani. Always being the most important principle of High Performance. To be a servant leader, you must believe that every person wants to contribute and be successful so your role is to empower, give them confidence and coaching on the floor.

Yes. Everyone has a role. But let's remember that it's a mindset rather than a hard skill. So coaching and mentoring is absolutely important along with patience and a change management attitude. Many fellow employees can initially have resistence to the concept until they buy-in to the fact that there is a benefit FOR them. Mentees who ASK for mentorship are already engaged and good lean advocates. Turning an average person into an advocate may require patience from the leaders and clear sense of WHY. Why do we need lean? Why not keep doing business as usual? And so forth.

O papel dos líderes e mentores desempenha um papel crucial na implementação bem-sucedida dos princípios Lean em uma organização. Eles desempenham várias funções que contribuem para a cultura Lean e para o sucesso geral do processo. Aqui estão os principais aspectos do papel de líderes e mentores no contexto Lean: Definição de Visão e Metas, Comprometimento com a Mudança, Desenvolvimento de Habilidades, Criação de Uma Cultura de Melhoria Contínua, Facilitação do Envolvimento dos Funcionários, Monitoramento de Resultados, Remoção de Obstáculos, Promoção da Comunicação Transparente, Reconhecimento e Recompensas, Exemplo Pessoal.

Lean manufacturing not only improves operational efficiency but also serves as a framework for employees skill development.By promoting a culture of continuous improvement,cross functional collaboration and problem solving and lean manufacturing contribute to the growth and adaptability of the workforce. Be in mind this lean take time and be patient during the implementation it's not an overnight job.

Continuous improvement is a key to success for any organization. Employee feedback acts as a critical tool in this process. It helps in identifying areas that needs enhancement and enables companies to adapt to changing circumstances and evolving market demands.

O feedback é uma ferramenta poderosa de gestão, todo colaborador busca dentro do seu ambito profissional, uma ambiente que lhe proporcione: desafios, plano de carreira que contribua para seu auto desenvolvimento. Contudo, o reconhecimento e o sentimento de que existe um mentor direcionando sua carreira, são fundamentais para a motivação e retenção de talento.

Every system needs feedback loops to work. If you don't create them, they will emerge naturally and you will have no control over them. That's why it's important in Lean to create meaningful feedback loops, both through visualizing the data and through management. It is therefore crucial to start by focusing on top and middle management and creating a training programme for them. Create a program that also teaches them the importance of positive feedback and the "go and see" method. Behind the computer, you only see the negative side when everything is still in a state of confusion and development. From everyday life you can see the reality and the small steps of development. You see the real leading indicators, possibilities of positive.

Lean can not be done in isolation. It is part of the Total Quality Management culture. We need to seek diversity, encourage creativity, reward performance centered achievements and celebrate team performance!

Today, many young people think that Big Data or AI alone can solve their problems. They often forget the need to understand the process first. Lean techniques are key for a goal-oriented analysis, they avoid additional waste by spurious correlations. But success by lean tools can be limited, therefore Big Data and AI are valuable supplements that help to find the non-obvious.

Lean is more than streamlining production; it's a dynamic training ground. Employees don't just learn to make things efficient—they master skills in planning, teamwork, and customer satisfaction. By focusing on eliminating waste, Lean shifts the focus from fault-finding to process improvement. Workers become active problem-solvers, contributing to decision-making. This approach nurtures leadership qualities, teaching how to balance operational efficiency, customer needs, and team collaboration. Essentially, Lean doesn't just build better products; it develops well-rounded, skilled leaders. In my experience of implementing lean, the most striking is not efficiency improvements, it is the positive shift in the culture.

It's crucial to stay on top of the technological and market changes, especially when implementing lean strategies. Keeping up with new technologies, industry trends, and customer demands is essential for maintaining relevance and ensuring that your lean approaches are as effective and forward-thinking as possible.

Regardless of what methodology is used, learning to take a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste within the manufacturing process will always reward both the company, and the employee.

Adopting lean within an organisation is about changing the culture of from bottom to top, which requires everyone to change both their behaviour and their benefits. I was once told that takes a generation to achieve, which my experiences over many years supporting improvement have confirmed.