How Much Waste Are You Still Missing By Doing Lean Without Ergonomics? (Part 2)
Lean Six Sigma Steps and Tools
Lean Six Sigma Steps and Tools
It seems as though everyone is doing Lean these days—Lean Office, Lean Manufacturing, Lean this and Lean that. Lean is a very good process improvement methodology started by Toyota. However, Lean is frequently done without inclusion of human factors/ergonomics (HF/E). This lack of using a human centered approach lessens the effectiveness and sustainable of Lean improvements. This article will explain the reasons for that statement and help you understand that a significant amount of waste is still present after Lean has been done without regards to HF/E.
“This sounds like just another ‘flavor of the month’ ”
“We’ve had several like you (meaning consultants) through here already—none of it (these new initiatives/changes) has stuck because we are always moving on to the next thing”
“Just you watch—wait a month, two, six or maybe a year, but it won’t last—it never does”
(If you’re a regular reader of my newsletter or have had the opportunity to work with us, you are very familiar with our Do More With L.E.S.S. (Lean, Ergonomics, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking) strategy and approach to problem solving and increasing organizational performance. Today I want to give you the top 3 ways of getting the most out of L.E.S.S.)
In part two of this blog series I gave an overview of Lean. Now we’re moving onto the second component of L.E.S.S.™ which is Ergonomics.
Ergonomics (synonymous with Human Factors) Defined
In part one of this blog series I went over the case for integrating two common and two not as common methodologies for business systems improvement: Lean, Ergonomics, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking. Although most are probably familiar with all four of them I think it’s worthwhile to spend a blog on each one in order to highlight their definition and purpose, common tools and uses.
Lean Defined