Lean in FM?

1. Lean in FM? Paul Wyton Senior Lecturer in Facilities Management Facilities Management Graduate Centre Sheffield Business School

2. How would lean work for you ? • A few thoughts • Discussion around the perceived barriers to the introduction of lean

3. Lean is • A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non value added activities) • Womack and Jones Muda is • ‘any human activity which absorbs resource but creates no value’ • “Leanness is seen as an ideal to be pursued not a system to be implemented. It should be considered as dynamic and a journey rather than a fixed point that has no final destination” • (Evaluation of the Lean Approach to Business Management and its use in the Public Sector Scottish Executive 2006)

4. The Deadly Waste • over production; • waiting; • transportation; • inappropriate processing; • inventory; • unnecessary motions; and • defects. • Some writers add lack of creative contribution from people • Failure demand • is all the activity resulting from error, mistakes or variation from standard or expected standard.

5. Value • What compromises value is the break down of an experience into multiple activities in producers terms not customers terms • Managers of each activity incentivised to maximise return (minimise cost) of their activity • No view of the total experience • Decision making at the expense of other activities within the experience • Activity to understand what the customer wants is key to understanding value • Providing the wrong good or service the right way is muda

6. Characteristics • Team based organisation • Flexible multi skilled operators • High degree of responsibility for work in their area • Active shop floor problem solving structures • Lean operations which force problems to be surfaced and corrected • High commitment human resource policies • Engender shared destiny • Close shared destiny relations with suppliers • Cross functional development teams • Close links to the customer

7. Lean is • Lean focuses the improvement effort on things that matter to patients and clinicians, and on the things that cause them stress and get in the way of care – as opposed to external benchmarks or national targets, which tend to be expressed in terms that are only indirectly related to improving patient care. • Nigel Edwards, Policy Director NHS Confederation in Lean thinking for the NHS Daniel Jones and Alan Mitchell, Lean Enterprise Academy UK

8. Daniel Jones and Alan Mitchell (2006) • focus on improving the end-to-end process • where things are hard to see, make them as visible as possible so that everyone can see when and if there is a problem • where responsibilities are not clear, create detailed, standardised processes to avoid error, ambiguity and confusion – and as a springboard for improvement • where there is unnecessary work or waste, whether it is in the form of excess inventory, excess processing, excess movement of people or things, waiting and queuing, redesign the work • where problems are not resolved, ferret out their root cause

9. Alukal and Manos • lean is simple but implementation is not • The tools are not 'rocket science' but the human side is not easy to manage • Three essential ingredients • Sustained hands-on commitment from snr. managers • Training for all employees • Good cultural change management from push to pull mentality

10. Lean is not.... • Lean is not mean • The danger of language • Perception • Lean is not a short term fix • Does not provide a solution to immediate financial pressures • Lean is not restructuring

11. Lean is a cultural change • Seddon • the organisation employed the tools and techniques of lean…….. but the managers were still operating out of command and control core paradigm

12. It is a Systemic Approach • Assumes a PLURALIST view on organisational life • that is • made up of different groups of people with different goals which might/often conflict

13. ISSUES OF CHANGE FOR THE SYSTEMIC APPROACH The Systemic strategist believes: (cont.) • Because there are many who participate in the change process this brings into the situation many different perspectives on change – not just the managers. • That the purposes of strategy and change are multiple - ranging from long term survival, to profit maximisation, to providing top management with “power, security and prestige.” • That strategy is essentially emergent, coming out of the interpretation and understanding of all these forces. • (Adapted from Whittington R (2001) • (Smith K and Johnson P (1996) Business Behaviour and Business Ethics London: Thomson Business Press

14. THE SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO CHANGE The Systemic strategist believes: • in the power of detachment and ability to observe to understand the world in a spirit of self-awareness. • that the market is not all powerful - and that diverse behaviours within the organisation may be seen as quite rational - a pluralist view. • in searching for new and alternative sorts of power in the environment and valuing differences within it. • that members should not be tied to specific approaches to strategy but is catholic in using all available resources. • (Adapted from Whittington R (2001)) by McAuley J 2009

15. Double Loop Learning A graphical representation of Argyris & Schon's Action Theory, c. S. French, 2005

16. Challenging • To established ways of managing • The way things are done around here • Reinforced by attitude to performance and targets

17. Discussion • Do you believe lean would be appropriate within your organisation? • What do you see are the barriers to successful introduction? • How might these barriers be addressed? • 15 minutes