​  The first day on the job is always an exciting experience for any new employee.  A new chance to show your skills, meet new people and grow in a new organization.  Excited to learn something new in training you get thrown to the wolves and here the phrase "you will figure it out."  That can be a bit scary to say the least.  Surprisingly as you start figuring out everything has procedures connected to it.  Three days later and you have mastered erp, assembly and every office function in the organization.  A bit surprised by this you're off to a great start!

  In one of our Online Courses, a participant recently posed the question, "​What is the Difference between Standards and Standardization"? To answer this question we need to first define each of the two terms.

  A few months back I received a phone call from an old friend.  After we had finished catching up for a bit he began describing to me how he had his employees calculate the yield of his pizza's.  each day the employees would mark how much came out and how much was put in.  The employee would then divide the out number by the in number giving him the yield percentage.  Sound familiar?  The method that was being used to calculate yield is known as traditional yield calculation.  Out of curiosity I asked him, "what is your yield percentage?"  He then shared with me that his yield for each day was always right about 96%.  So what was the issue?  96% production rate is not the best, but it's not the worst either.  That's when he mentioned that things didn't seem to add up.
  So where do we start?  Let's look at the process right!  First I asked him to give me a run through of the process that was being used to make the pizza's.  As it turns out he had two separate processes, one for popular orders and one for unique orders.   We will look at the "popular order" process here.  

What is First Time Yield?

  The first time yield, first pass yield or throughput yield is a metric used to determine how a process is performing in relation to the number of good units or services it produces.  In other words it tells us the number of good units to the total number of units excluding wasteful activities like rework and scrap on units that can not be fixed.  In the case of our pizza we actually have a 90% first time yield not 96% as the traditional calculation showed us.  
​
How is it Calculated?

  6% change in a measurement is quite significant. Can you imagine if that change was in car parts, airplane parts or computers and not pizza's?  The way we calculate first time yield, throughput yield or first pass yield is simple by dividing the number of GOOD UNITS (excluding any rework or scrap) by the THE TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS.  If you are interested in a template the bottom of the page will give you a free download.  

Why use First Time Yield?

  So why do we use first time yield instead of traditional or final yield?  The most obvious reason is that using final or traditional yield methods keeps the "hidden factory" hidden.  The final yield only divides the number of acceptable pieces by the number original number, or what comes out in comparison to what went in.  Looking back on our pizza's we can understand now that the yield was not really 96%, in other words using the traditional yield calculation hides wasteful activities like rework, lost time and many other forms of waste.  However when a metric like first time yield is used we take into consideration only process steps that yield good parts or services and exclude rework (first pass).  This gives us greater insight as to what is actually going on in the process.  Using metrics such as first time yield also helps combat the famous, it's just the way we always do it behaviors by exposing rework and other wasteful activities so that they do not get built into future processes.  

  In the case of my friend he was losing 6% on every 100 pizza's which could turn out to be a significant opportunity to improve his process and gain additional resource time in the near future.  Ultimately first time through yield is a significant step in the right direction, however most processes are linked together in order to create a systematic way of accomplishing tasks along the way.  When there is a string of processes involved FTY is not the ideal way to measure. These cases like we will see in our "unique order" pizza's are better suited using a rolled throughput yield.  So stay tuned as we calculate the complex unique orders of our pizza process using rolled throughput.  Don't forget to download your free template by clicking on the link below.

   Have you ever gotten into a discussion of why? because. Why? because.  Last weekend I had the great pleasure of this discussion for what seemed to be the first time.  I never really put much thought into it but asking why never really was a difficulty for me.
  Oftentimes when we want to use the 5 whys to drill from issue to root cause we end up in a pattern of why, because. Why, because.  Or, we conduct a long analysis only to find out that none of our levels of causation matched at all.  One of the best known examples of a 5 why analysis was performed by the master Taiichi Ohno.  He used the example of a welding robot stopping in the middle of its operation.  Like a sensei does he naturally went from initial issue to root cause with almost no difficulty at all.   So, how do we begin developing this level of mastery with regards to root cause analysis?  Here are a few important things to keep in mind when looking for the ROOT cause.

  For years now teams have come together on baseball fields, football fields, soccer fields, race tracks, offices and homes in what has become known as the huddle.  These quick and spirited standups often last no more than 5 minutes and help team members refocus their efforts while planning for things to come.  Whether the purpose is to realign or align team members focus towards an objective, the daily 10 - 15 minute scrum, stand - up or huddle works. ​

  With the new year upon us posts regarding health are widespread.  Resolutions have begun, talk of parking further away and staying in the green aisles of the grocery store seem to whisper to our ears on every social media channel known to humans.  Well this post will do the same.  If you're looking to grab a few extra steps during your day, strap on the fitbit and let's head on out for a "waste walk."

   ​Many years ago, newspapers lined the streets of almost every city in the world.  People would gather at the "newspaper stands" and browse each page while sharing a story or two.  Word of mouth and the rugged ink stained paper were the main drivers of news, suggestions and ideas.
  Today we still have ideas and suggestions, but things aren't quite as simple as the good ole days.  Today making a suggestion often involves filling out a tedious small slip with more information than you can even read, shoving it in a bin that nobody collects and then hoping it gets "approved."  Here's the idea!   Workers see it all, touch it all and often have the closest connection with a process.  Why is this significant?  That connection can act as the perfect vehicle when looking to identify issues, collect improvement suggestions and or come up with innovative new ideas.   The best part is, you don't have to walk to a newspaper stand to do it.  

  The Kaizen template or improvement newspaper is a powerful tool that can be used with employees. They can suggest improvements, possible solutions and even create opportunities for improvements without necessarily having any idea of a solution.  Sounds a bit crazy doesn't it?  Well it is!  We’ve all been there before, a problem you see all the time and no ideas on how to solve it.  The Kaizen template enables employees to support improvements whether they have a fix or not. So how will this tool help employees?  To start, the suggestion or person filling out the kaizen template will need to capture a few pieces of information and document the information on the kaizen sheet.
  Here's the important thing to understand, no matter how much information you capture, it will do no good if it's shoved in a box waiting for review or hidden on a desktop only to become trapped in cyberspace.  
  Like any other lean tool, the kaizen template works best when it is made visible.  Here are a few important things to keep in mind when using improvement newspapers for a suggestion system.

1. Make it Visible
  Like we mentioned earlier improvement newspapers should not be contained within a network or hard drive, they need to be visible. Think for a second to a problem you’ve had before but couldn’t solve.  Eventually you share with a friend and they share a possible solution.  Immediately you think, “why didn’t I think of that?”  When opportunities are visible everyone can see, understand and help each other.  One advantage when using a computer to fill out the suggestion is that there will be no sorting through legible and illegible papers.  You can fill the paper out and print it out, placing it in an area where everyone can see the idea and before you know it someone is there to support you in finding a possible solution.

2. Keep them Alive
  About the era when tv was in full swing and computers began to emerge newspaper stands were laid to rest.  Now we get quarter machines by selected restaurants and no more standing with our friends talking and sharing the latest news on the front page.  Fortunately, Kaizen templates are far from dead.  They are in fact one very effective way to obtain opportunities for improvement but they must be kept alive.  Monitoring the suggestions during a huddle is one way to keep status up to date and ensure that each suggestion is moving forward.  In a huddle you can address the needs of the suggestion and help ensure ideas continue moving forward.  Possibly the most valuable aspect of this constant and continuous activity is that the people who make the suggestions will begin to understand that they are part of a team and their ideas mean something to others.  When people get a sense of belonging, support, action and appreciation your possible improvements will increase sufficiently.

3. Simple
  If you have ever used a new tv changer there is a bit of a learning curve to it.  Directions in hand and a thousand different settings to program it will never be as simple as walking to the newspaper stand to get some information.  The same principle should apply to our kaizen templates or improvement papers.  Not everyone knows how to use excel and not everyone will understand the process right from the start.  That makes it the perfect opportunity to train employees and go for a Gemba walk.  The bottom line, make it easy for the people filling the papers out.  The only thing that employees should be responsible for is filling out the template and doing their best to discover the root cause.  

  Although we may never see newspaper stands lining the streets again, kaizen templates or improvement newspapers could line the huddle boards of your organization.  They could fill white boards, line the walls and flow from the mouths of team huddles.  All while capturing innovative ideas from talented employees and driving improvement initiatives day in and day out.  The best part about this great tool is that it won't even cost you a quarter.  

  If you would like a template for a Kaizen/Improvement newspaper to get started click on the button below and begin experimenting with different tools that will help transfer improvements from idea to action.

​  March is almost here and that means the ©GEMBA methodology is almost ready.  Watch this update on the course progress.

  Going to the Gemba is one of the most powerful principles of a lean journey.  If you have not yet engaged in an initiative for daily Gemba walks we suggest you begin as soon as possible.  At the Gemba we discover things that we simply can not discover at our desk (unless that is where the work is being done).  The Gemba as you know is "where the work is done"  it is "where value is created" and it is where "problems can be solved."
  It is a powerful Skill to be able to treat the "Gemba" or a "Gemba Walk"  as a Methodology in itself.  Methodologies allow us to reveal issues and give us the possibility of solutions through teamwork and various methods.  Here is one example of a methodology for "Gemba Walks."
  Just Remember GEMBA
  
G- The G reminds us of the Overall concept that we all know, Genchi Genbutsu.  Genchi Genbutsu means Go and See, we do this so that we can understand what is happening at the Gemba.  This is a key principle and technique of any lean strategy.  When we go and see what is actually happening we are better able to base our decisions on real facts, instead of hunches, opinions, guesses or assumptions.

E- "Engage"  Engagement at the Gemba is very important.  When we engage people at the Gemba it should be question based.  The idea is to help the gemba stretch their minds and empower them to develop problem solving skills of their own.  We are trying to understand what is happening in the current condition and not jump to conclusions.  The 5 Why technique is a great way to understand why certain things are happening.  Like any other problem though try to discover the "What" "Why" "How" and "Where".  One last thing, take notes while engaging; some of the best solutions you will hear come from the people at the Gemba.

M- Muda, Mura and Muri, simply put being at the Gemba is a great time to observe what is going on there.  You will have great opportunities to discover many forms of Muda, so introduce yourself to TIMWOODS while you're there.  While at the Gemba you will get a sense of where people may feel overburdened and you will see processes that are not level.  Take notes.  Then you can attack all origins of waste later on.

B- Be respectful at the Gemba.  This is a time to exercise humility and to serve others.  We promise if you are respectful, humble, sincere and willing to serve, people will tell you where the pain is.  

A- Finally analyze what you have collected.  Be sure at this stage of the Gemba walk to include everyone at the Gemba.  The individuals from the Gemba will be able to help analyze findings and often may add details to your initial discoveries.  Including everyone will also foster a culture of teamwork and help develop a true lean culture.

 The Gemba Methodology is a great format to follow when performing daily Gemba walks and it is rather easy for anyone to understand.  One last thing to note after you have performed your Gemba Walk be ready and willing to support The Spirit of Kaizen.  One way that you can do this is to offer yourself in service of finding solutions to the issues that are discovered.  A Gemba Walk can be quick, easy and very effective in pinpointing opportunities for improvements, so start today and in time you will discover great and powerful ways to "transform" activities in each of your many Gemba's.  

  Don't forget if you need more information on the ©GEMBA Methodology or how to go to the Gemba,
​Register for our course coming out in March of 2018, The ©GEMBA Methodology.