So, think of standard work more as a verb and less as a noun. Next time when you're at the gemba, take note of the revision date of the standard work sheets and standard work combination sheets. If they haven't been updated and improved over the last quarter or two, then you might have an issue. There's a good chance that you've never left the land of system-driven kaizen.

Where you have perfect information, you don't need any buffer stock.  The less reliable information you have, the more inventory you need to hold.  On a basic level there are two pieces of information needed:  the reliability of the supplier to deliver to you and the stability of the demand from the customer.  Inventory is a buffer for fluctuations in these two components of the supply chain.

Sorry for the double post. However, I think that this article really gives voice to our inability to imagine a path to single piece flow. We have to have reliably consistent customer demand. What could we do next?

I think that strategy number 3 gives us guidance on one piece flow.

There are many valid reasons why someone may not follow standard work.

It is inspirational!  We should add the FastCap videos to our book club viewing, and act on each one as we watch it.  Would there be a better way?  "Leave everything better than you found it"  I love that!

Wow!  Studying history, everyone is a "process engineer", celebrating improvements, discussing problems, reviewing results This is something to aspire to and emulate.  What could we start with?

Possibly, I will select one, and put it at the end of the meeting. This is one of the things that I was thinking about for our Tribe of Tweddle Employees Pursuing Excellence. I have to come up with a better name.

We could learn so much from this company.  Do kaizen first, then work.  So simple, extremely powerful.  Why didn't I think of it?  How could we start?

I am ready. Let's go!

Is there anywhere that we could benefit from a board like this?

Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man. But soon or late the man who wins, Is the man who thinks he can."

I really like these three tips: Complaining trumps self satisfaction. The people in an organization which is 10 years into a lean transformation should not be satisfied with their condition. A happy lean culture is a faltering lean culture. People should be happy, but there should be a distinct sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. Frequent and brief complaining followed by 5 why root cause analysis and corrective action is a characteristic of a sustaining lean culture. Structured program trumps invisible behaviors. It's tempting to think that a formal, structured lean program is no longer necessary after 10 years of practicing lean because it is now "in the blood" and does not require special promotion or attention. However this is rarely the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, and corporations seem to abhor a vacuum in program-space. Best to keep the lean program and improve it also continuously as a support mechanism. Pedal to the metal trumps cruise control. Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and coincidentally this is also the price of a sustained lean culture. At no time is it safe to put the program on cruise control. Corners always want to be cut, people naturally want to do what is easy, and without strong leadership to remind people that sometimes the important things are not easy, a lean culture will not sustain. Developing people trumps driving results. After 10 years even people who may have only paid this lip service begin to see the cause and effect connection and begin to believe. It takes time to develop people. When you can point to people that have developed with the organization and are driving results, this is a sign that the elements of a sustainable lean culture are in place.

Four