We lead off this time with a post that highlights lean advancements at the Detroit Three automakers.  What do you think?  Have Chrysler, Ford, and GM turned the corner and truly embraced lean?  Maybe, maybe not.  I have my own opinion, which you can read on my personal Lean World blog.

The next three posts focus in on the state of manufacturing in the United States today.  I hope you find them thought-provoking and interesting.

As usual, there are also a bunch of news items on green, leadership, and other topics.

Enjoy.

Jeff

The perception that General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford were technologically and environmentally-inferior to their Japanese rivals has long persisted. But long before the economic recession and the federal buyouts, General Motors and Chrysler –as well as Ford –were well on the way to adopting lean principles. Josh Cable at Industry Week writes that “They were trumpeting the flexibility of retooled assembly plants. And they were narrowing the productivity gap between themselves and their Japanese rivals.”

GM, Chrysler, and Ford, have all been implementing lean principles, according to the 2008 Harbour Report. Chrysler’s 7.7% reduction in labor hours per vehicle brought the manufacturer dead-even with Toyota; Ford cut its labor hours per-vehicle by 3.7%, and GM’s slight reduction garnered the fifteenth straight year of productivity improvement. In fact, former GM CEO Ron Atkinson noted that it was GM’s adoption of lean principles that enabled the company to offer 5-year, 100,000-mile warranties on its vehicles. Ford is investing $550 million to retool its Wayne, Michigan assembly plant to make it lean and green, and that plant will produce the new Focus and an electric-battery Focus.

Drive over to the Industry Week article here.

With the economic recession in full swing, critics of the American financial system have often commented that the United States doesn’t produce anything anymore; it only shuffles around money. The government these days shuffles around a lot in an age of post-industrialization, when things like factory jobs and production lines seem so last-century. But the generation of wealth must occur at the ground-level. In other words, America needs manufacturing jobs again.

Mark Graban, writing at Lean Blog, notes that “The rush to move manufacturing off-shore was driven by a rush for cheap labor combined with the mindset that manufacturing isn’t cool.” Modern manufacturing has an inaccurate, popularized image of dirty factories, hazardous work environments, and poor pay. But modern lean manufacturers are totally different, with smart, engaged, well-compensated associates in clean, safe, well-organized workplaces.

For the blog post, go here; and check out the New York Times op-ed here. (registration required)

I grew up in Detroit, and the NYT op-ed description of the city today is accurate and disheartening.  We must, once again, appropriately value manufacturing’s impact to our national economy and national strength.

Who says American manufacturing and lean teams can’t compete with Asia? Not Mity-Lite, which produces chairs and tables for public gatherings. They recently created a mesh chair that is wider, 20% lighter, and durable enough to bear a 1,000 pound load. The seat – dubbed “Mesh One” – looked as though it would have to be produced offshore in order to meet target costs. But an American continuous improvement team stepped in and made a bid for the project.

To win the project from the Asian teams, the American team had to evaluate costs, upgrade facilities, look at things like lead time, cycle time, carrying inventory, and even communications issues. So far, excepting labor, production is on target. CEO Randy Hales has noted that the lean success used for the Mesh One is spreading throughout the rest of the company. But the lean success took the commitment of senior management, and their willingness to shoulder the burden of upgrades and continual improvement. And Mity-Lite is still improving.

Check out the post at the Lean Reflections blog here.

According to new research by consultant IDC, “manufacturers are currently re-assessing how they are doing their business and focusing on ‘operational efficiencies.’ The research on IDC Manufacturing Insights noted that the economic crisis is bringing out the best in companies.” The study suggested “that in order to compete successfully, manufacturers must focus on ‘operational excellence’ where operations support the business strategies of the company.” And “while waiting for the economic situation to improve, the study noted that manufacturers are fostering innovation which was otherwise a low priority during ‘normal business conditions.’”

Read the report here.

A manufacturing job is not at the top of the list of dream jobs for the average teenager, a new poll finds. Of 500 teens polled, 52% have no interest in a manufacturing career, and 21% are ambivalent. Yet, 1,000 adults polled reveals that 56% would prefer their children to pursue a career in manufacturing. Why the disparity? There are a number of reasons, but most importantly, it comes down to affluence and the “go-get-it” attitude of educators and parents who tell their kids they can be anything they want, while popular culture looks down on factory work. Why drive a Ford and work at GM when someone could drive a Cadillac and work at AIG? Why be an automotive manufacturer when one could be an astronaut?

For the article and more statistics, go here.

The term “lean” unfortunately carries some baggage. And misconceptions.  Kevin Meyer at the Evolving Excellence blog focuses on a particular phrase: “lean out”. He quotes the article that recently used the term:

[Boeing VP of Business Strategy Mike] Bair called the Renton plant a “lean enterprise,” indicating Boeing plans to transfer the lessons learned to lean out the 737 production to Everett.

“Lean out” conjures up laying off people. It makes people think of “downsizing”, “right-sizing”, and other ways of saving money by body count. But these are incorrect interpretations of what is at the heart of a lean transformation. Meyer notes that lean aims to reduce waste, but more importantly that “recognition of brainpower is what real lean is about. Leveraging, not minimizing, the second pillar of lean, respect for people. Leveraging the power of human experience, creativity, and knowledge.”

Perhaps some fact-checking is in order.  Either for the media that reports on lean, or for leaders who implement it.

For the post, click here.

Inspired by Henry Ford and lean methods, Dr. Sami Bahri of Jacksonville, Florida, set out to reform his dental practice, looking to overcome things like long waiting room wait times, chair wait times, and diagnoses. By 2005, Dr. Bahri had made serious breakthroughs. When patients are told they have appointments at set times, lasting for set durations, Dr. Bahri really means it. The benefits for the business are telling as well. Prior to 2005, it had taken Dr. Bahri seven years to pay off half the loan on his business; in 2005 alone, they paid off the second half.

I recently heard Dr. Bahri’s story at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence conference, and it is quite amazing.

For the Lean Blog post and a video interview with Dr. Bahri, go here.

Mark Graban over at Lean Blog has posted an entry about his trip to the Ontario Hospital Association ‘HealthAchieve’ meeting. In an interesting aside, he relates how sets of three standard waste receptacles – one for organics only, for paper/glass/metal only, and one for paper only –placed throughout the convention center did not do their intended jobs. He posed a question to readers, asking what lean ideas could be used to improve performance. Some answers including making the bins different colors and larger text on the bins themselves. How do Mark’s observations, perhaps, apply to some of your lean improvements?

Check it out here

The difference between success and failure by chance or deliberate act resides with the PDCA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act), says Jon Miller over at Gemba Panta Rei. The company must have a strategic plan, a continual process of action (adjusting, tweaking, changing the status quo), checking to see if the plan is working, and if action was taken to adjust or improve the standard work being done. Deliberate self-improvement leads to success, and doesn’t leave success up to the uncertainty of chance.

Check out the blog post here.