"...most of us, lean managers, face challenges such as unwillingness and skepticism..."

Not every lean manager has the fortune to join a company where lean methods are already established, where people trust lean management, and the management is firmly committed to lean philosophy, focusing solely on process improvement. Quite the contrary, most of us, lean managers, face challenges like staff reluctance and skepticism towards proposed changes, unavailability of top management for the continuous improvement and a lack of practical experience in implementing lean methods.

Personally, I have experienced both scenarios during my career. I was fortunate to work for several years in a company that was among the largest suppliers for automotive parts worldwide and one of the leader in lean management.

"...a new, creative solution had to be found to convince others that lean truly makes sense..."

However, after moving abroad as a lean advisor, lean, and quality manager, I encountered the common scenario of a lean manager compounded by different culture and mentality. These are not easy days that refine us, but rather the challenging ones. It was during this period, due to my passion for statistics and lean, that a new creative solution had to be found to convince others, not just management, that lean truly makes sense.

In times of rising personnel costs, which were prevalent during my time in Western Europe, I had only one chance. To provide a solution that demonstrably shortens the execution time compared to manual or paper-based forms, is measured by clear results, is transparent, and, above all, brings the desired effect. The solution was the digitization of lean processes.

"I didn't hesitate for a second, and with the help of training, but above all, hundreds of hours spent self-educating, I started creating applications..."

Since the company did not allocate a budget to purchase external software for every lean methodology, I had to dive into studying something new and change my thinking, and most importantly, myself. It was precisely during this period, in my humble opinion, that a revolution took place in the Microsoft world, and Microsoft released Office 365 along with many tools aimed at streamlining processes.

I didn't hesitate for a second, and with the help of training, but above all, hundreds of hours spent self-educating, I started creating applications in Power Apps, visualizations in Power BI, and automating repetitive processes using Power Automate. At that moment, a turning point occurred.

"I implemented every meaningful proposal into the solution, so everyone had a kind of ownership, and the solution was immediately accepted and embraced as their own."

Every solution, whether it was an LPA audit, digitally handing shift change over in production, or creating OEE, MTTR, and MTBF indicators in Power BI for our devices, I received immediate and massive support from management. Development was practically for free, and the development process was communicated with everyone involved and this combination created an environment that grew spirally.

I implemented every meaningful proposal into the solution, so everyone had a kind of ownership, and the solution was immediately accepted and embraced as their own. Moreover, people didn't stop thinking and constantly provided new ideas on how to further improve the solution. I am firmly convinced that this is the true role of a lean manager.

"...and we became one of the most advanced companies within the group."

The whole situation evolved over two years, where we replaced about 90 percent of all paper processes in production with a digital solution, production boards with displays, and became one of the most advanced companies within the group.

I am convinced that my story can be yours too. I would be happy to convince you about it 🙂