Welcome back to the final installment in our two-Part series, But Is Your Shop Lean? In this series we are taking a look at what it takes to run a truly lean operation. And we have a specific focus, cutting back without having to add significantly to costs.
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Today we are going to go back into the shop and take a look at a few more ways you can incorporate “lean operating” into your shop culture. What you need to do is figure out how to apply lean principles to what you do in the shop.
How to Incorporate Lean Shop Skills
With the lean system, you may be able to complete an entire project using only a single step in the assembly process – on caskets for instance – that will make the entire line run much smoother. You can basically map out all the steps it takes to complete that job and smooth any wasted motion out of the process.
In the end, what you are doing is using data to help drive waste and decrease inefficiency. Remember that waste is nothing more than money and time you can save by implementing a process to uncover and identify where the waste is.
One such example could be a maintenance operation where waste exists in the form of excess inventory. Another could be people waiting around for a job to do, or tools not being close. Perhaps technicians are doing the same job twice because the maintenance records aren’t very good.
Develop a Tracking System
The simplest part of running a lean operation is to target the area that is costing you the most. Why is that happening? What are the costs? How can you eliminate it?
Let’s say you get a flat tire. Instead of simply fixing the tire, the lean process might help you identify the root cause and uncover ways of getting your tires to last longer.
Imagine using these principles in your everyday life. When you are doing your personal banking, if you notice you are running short on funds every month, you will likely start to track your spending and uncover where the problem lies. A classic example of this could be someone actually adding up how much their daily Starbucks coffee costs, and then deciding to make their own in a French press at home instead.
Keep It Simple
Since running a lean operation has been in the realm of manufacturing for so long, it can seem complex when being implemented by other industries. Fortunately, there are plenty of lean applications available to those working in the trucking industry.
Here is some example of how using lean methods can help with problems originating in the shop:
- Pareto Chart: This type of a chart has both bars and a line graph. Individual values are portrayed by descending bars. If you draw a horizontal line at 80 percent from the y-axis intersection, along with a vertical line from the x-axis intersection, it may help you determine what is causing a tire Generally, the top 80% of your costs are originating from roughly 20% of your failures.
- Fishbone Diagram: Let’s say a team isolated possible causes of a problem within certain categories, such as measurements, materials, methods, and environment. You can then go through one by one to prove or disprove each. If you have a wiring problem, a cause under materials might be a missing connector, a cause under “methods” could be lax maintenance procedures.
- Check Sheet: A check sheet is a structured form for collecting and analyzing certain bits of data. If you are having a wiring problem, you could create a truck diagram and literally put a checkmark by each occurrence, which should help you figure out which connectors are causing problems.
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Although there is a lot more methodology involved with running a lean operation, the fact is, these are methods that can help you cut shop costs while increasing your organizational efficiency. So next time you are running into high maintenance costs, as yourself: Is my shop lean?