You want to stay ahead of the curve in Lean Manufacturing. What are you doing to keep up?

1 Assess your current level

The first step to improve your lean manufacturing skills is to assess your current level of knowledge and performance. You can use various tools and methods to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, such as self-assessments, feedback surveys, audits, benchmarks, and gap analyses. By identifying your areas of improvement, you can prioritize your learning goals and focus on the most relevant and impactful topics.

3 Apply what you learn

Learning is not enough if you don't apply what you learn to your own context and situation. You need to experiment, test, and implement the lean concepts and methods that you acquire to your own production processes and systems. You can use the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle to guide your continuous improvement efforts and measure your results. You can also seek feedback and support from your colleagues, managers, customers, and suppliers to ensure that your lean initiatives are aligned with your organizational goals and customer needs.

4 Seek new challenges

Another way to keep up with the curve in lean manufacturing is to seek new challenges that stretch your skills and push you out of your comfort zone. You can look for opportunities to work on different projects, teams, or departments that expose you to different aspects of lean manufacturing. You can also volunteer to take on more responsibilities, lead or participate in kaizen events, or mentor or coach others who are new to lean manufacturing. By seeking new challenges, you can expand your perspective, enhance your creativity, and increase your confidence.

5 Keep an open mind

Finally, to keep up with the curve in lean manufacturing, you need to keep an open mind and be willing to learn from anyone and anything. You need to be curious, humble, and flexible, and avoid complacency, resistance, or dogmatism. You need to embrace change, uncertainty, and failure as opportunities to learn and improve. You need to respect and appreciate the diversity and value of different opinions, perspectives, and experiences. By keeping an open mind, you can foster a culture of learning and innovation in your organization and in yourself.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?