Plan and Populate vs Populate and Plan
When we want to build a Smart and well-functioning city, the first step is to develop an urban plan. The latter allows for the definition of the overall vision of land-use planning, and thus avoid any inconsistencies. Planning is an essential step in all areas. It is even more important when you build or develop a business. Even before undertaking an operational transformation, it is essential to understand and to have the data in hand to identify the objectives to be achieved.
Adding Value With a Lean Approach
The best way for companies of all sizes to stay in the game is to constantly improve and find effective solutions to increase their potential. It is therefore crucial to ask the right questions and identify possible problems:
- Uneconomical labour costs;
- Lack of production or storage capacity;
- Lengthy delivery or production times (compared to market expectations);
- High inventories and/or shortages
- Lack of space
- Recurring quality issues
- Supervisors frequently dealing with emergencies;
- Large investment considerations
- Desire to improve, without knowing where to start.
Once all those questions are raised, it is necessary to carry out a lean diagnosis.
What is a Lean Diagnosis?
A diagnosis helps to assess your organization’s potential for improvement by collecting relevant information.
The result is to provide concrete recommendations and a program to improve performance. The process is divided into four steps:
1- Data Collection
This step aims to establish the baseline data for current operations in orderto calculate the potential benefits.
2- Analysis of the Current State
Subsequently, we seek to better understand manufacturing and planning operations in order to identify the main issues and areas for improvement.
3- Definition of the Future State
We can establish the guiding principles of the new processes, as well as define the characteristics of the improved operations, and identify improvement projects.
4- Improvement Strategy
In this fourth step, an improvement program, including the industry’s best practices, is defined. A series of projects will follow.
By implementing this improvement project, you could:
- Increase the capacity of bottleneck equipmen by 25%;
- Reduce key process’s delay by 50%;
- Reduce space requirements by 30%;
- Reduce non-quality costs by 50%.
In conclusion, the Lean diagnosis will help you to:
- Get ahead of your competitors by improving your operations’ productivity and flexibility;
- Improve your competitiveness by reducing delays and costs;
- Structure your business to better meet your customers’ needs.
