I've decided to start this blog in an effort to better explain "lean manufacturing", or "process improvement", or Toyota copy...whatever you want to call it. Not as much explain it to others, but record enough of my own thoughts to gain insight into what I think it really is.
I'm director of a small manufacturing company that produces truck beds, the fancy aftermarket kind with boxes and compartments and all kinds of accessories, not the boring kind you get from the factory. We are on a "lean" journey, but what that really means is we have implemented some lean tools, and for most (almost all in our company but me) this is "lean". Tools are in place, the process runs better, we are done. What's difficult to explain and hard to teach is "guys, we're no where close...not even a little bit"
So, how do you do that...Toyota says to build a lean culture through continous improvement, but finding the practical behind Toyota's philosophy is a trick. Don't get me wrong, the logic prevails, every company has to implement these things differently and no two can or should be the same.
So that's where the title came from "lean differently", this will be my study into why we must all do lean in a different way and how we can find that "way".
And we will see how this goes...
AF
