Lean Management Methodology for Beginners: 6 Popular Methods

Now that we have covered the basics of the Lean Management Methodology, it’s time to take a look at real-life lean methods. We will introduce you to six popular Lean methods and show you how they work and when to use them. To keep it simple, we cover the basics of each method, so  you get an overview of the variety of Lean management methods.

1. 5S method

5S is a simple Lean Management Methodology, but powerful tool to organize your workplace and improve efficiency. The name “5S” stands for five Japanese words, each beginning with the letter “S”, which describe the steps of the method. Let’s take a look at these steps:

1. Step: Sort (Seiri)
   The first step is to sort through all the items in your workplace and separate the necessary from the unnecessary. You can imagine it like cleaning out your closet. You only want to keep the clothes that you actually wear, the rest goes to the charity shop (or gets upcycled by your creative, trend-setting self).
2. Step: Set in order (Seiton)
   Once you have sorted out the essential items, the next step is to arrange them in a well-organized manner. Everything should have its designated place, so that you and your colleagues can find it quickly and easily. You could imagine it like putting your pizza ingredients on your worktop in a way that makes it easy and fast to prepare your pizza.
3. Step: Shine (Seiso)
   The next step is to clean and maintain your workplace regularly. A clean workplace not only looks nice, but it also helps to uncover problems, such as leaky faucets or broken tools, at an early stage. So, grab your mop and your duster and make your workplace shine!
4. Step: Standardize (Seiketsu)
   Once you have sorted, arranged and cleaned, it is important to establish standards and work processes to maintain this improved state. Everyone in the team should follow the same rules, like using the same pizza recipe. This ensures that the improvements are sustainable.
5. Step: Sustain (Shitsuke)
   The final step is to develop a discipline and culture that ensures that the 5S principles are followed continuously. This may require training and regular checks to ensure that the 5S method becomes a natural part of your daily work. Once you have mastered the 5S method, you will not only have a clean and well-organized workplace, but you will also improve efficiency and create a foundation for further Lean improvements.

2. Kaizen

Kaizen is not only a fun word to say, but also an incredibly powerful Lean Management Methodology. The term “Kaizen” comes from Japanese and can be translated as “change for the better” or “continuous improvement”. And that’s exactly what this method is all about. Kaizen is a philosophy that encourages all employees in a company to constantly look for ways to improve processes and work together to implement these improvements. It’s like having a whole army of improvement professionals in your company!

The 3 pillars of Kaizen

Kaizen is based on three fundamental pillars, which are essential for its success:

• Teamwork
  The first pillar is teamwork. To implement Kaizen successfully, it is important that all employees work together as a team. By combining different perspectives and experiences, you can develop creative solutions and ensure that improvements are accepted and implemented by everyone.
• Discipline
  The second pillar is discipline. Implementing Kaizen requires discipline and commitment. It is important to set aside time for improvement activities regularly and to follow a structured approach to identify, test and implement new ideas.
• Personal commitment
  The third pillar is personal commitment. Each employee should be encouraged to contribute their ideas and actively participate in the improvement process. This can be achieved through training, regular feedback and the creation of an environment that promotes open communication and the sharing of ideas. With these three pillars, you can lay the foundation for a successful Kaizen culture in your company and unleash the full potential of your employees.

The Kaizen cycle

The implementation of Kaizen works according to a simple cycle, which consists of 6 steps:

1. Step: Standardize processes
   The first step is to establish standards for the process you want to improve. These standards serve as a reference point and help to identify deviations and problems. For example, you could establish a standard process for preparing your pizza to ensure that each pizza is consistently delicious.
2. Step: Observe and document
   The next step is to observe the process and document how it is currently being carried out. This can help you to identify waste, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement. For example, you could observe how your employees prepare the pizza and document the individual process steps.
3. Step 3: Identify problems and waste
   In the next step, you analyze the observed process to identify problems and waste. This can include, for example, unnecessary waiting times, overproduction, or defects in the product. By identifying these issues, you can prioritize your improvement efforts and focus on the most critical areas.
4. Step: Develop and test solutions
   In this step, you and your team develop potential solutions to the identified problems. These solutions should be practical, cost-effective, and aimed at eliminating the root causes of the issues. Once you have developed your ideas, you can test them on a small scale to see if they work in practice. For example, you could test a new process for preparing the pizza in one section of your kitchen.
5. Step 5: Implement and measure
   Once you have found a promising solution, you can implement it on a larger scale. Make sure to train your employees on the new process and provide them with the necessary resources. After implementation, it is essential to measure the effects of the improvement. This can be done by comparing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the time it takes to prepare the pizza before and after the improvement.
6. Step 6: Standardize and continue
   If the improvement has proven to be effective, you can integrate it into your standard process and establish it as a new standard. Make sure to update your documentation and provide training to ensure that all employees are familiar with the new way of working. After that, you can start the cycle again by looking for the next area of improvement. By following this continuous improvement cycle, you can make your processes more efficient, reduce waste, and create a culture of ongoing improvement. Congratulations, you are now a Kaizen master!

3. Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is like a treasure map that helps you to discover hidden treasures in your processes. This Lean Management Methodology allows you to visualize and analyze the entire value stream of a product or service, from the customer’s request to the delivery of the final product. By creating a Value Stream Map, you can identify waste, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement, and develop a plan to make your value stream more efficient and customer-focused. A Value Stream Map typically includes the following elements:

• Customer demand
  At the beginning of the value stream, you show the customer’s demand, for example, how many pizzas your customers order per day.
• Process steps
  You then map all the individual process steps that are necessary to meet this customer demand, from ordering the ingredients to baking and delivering the pizza.
• Time and information flows
  You also indicate the flow of time and information between the individual process steps. This helps you to understand how long it takes to complete a step and how information is passed from one point to another in the value stream.
• Inventory
  You also show the inventory levels at various points in the value stream. This can help you to identify where you have too much stock, which ties up your capital, or too little stock, which can lead to interruptions in the process.
• Wait times and lead times
  You also highlight waiting times between process steps and the total lead time from customer demand to product delivery. This can help you to uncover bottlenecks and identify opportunities to reduce waiting times and become faster and more responsive to customer needs.
• Quality control points
  You also mark points in the value stream where quality control takes place. This helps you to ensure that you deliver high-quality products to your customers (see also: Quality Gates).
• Opportunities for improvement
  Lastly, you indicate opportunities for improvement that you have identified during the mapping process. These could be things like eliminating unnecessary process steps, reducing waiting times, or improving the flow of information. By creating a Value Stream Map, you and your team can gain a comprehensive understanding of your value stream and work together to make it more efficient and effective.

4. Kanban

Kanban is not only a Lean Management Methodology, but also a visual management system that helps you to control your tasks and processes. The word “Kanban” comes from Japanese and can be translated as “signboard” or “visual card”. The core of the Kanban method is a Kanban board, which is a kind of task board that visually represents your workflow. A typical Kanban board consists of the following columns:

• To-do
  This column shows all the tasks that still need to be done. For example, you could write down here all the pizza orders that have been received but have not yet been processed.
• In progress
  The next column shows the tasks that are currently being worked on. This gives you and your team an overview of the tasks that are in progress at the moment and helps to limit the work in progress, so that you can focus on completing tasks before taking on new ones.
• Done
  The last column shows the tasks that have already been completed. This allows you to track your progress and celebrate your achievements. You can imagine it like a wall of fame for your completed pizza orders.

How to use a Kanban board?

You can create your Kanban board on a physical board with cards or digitally with the help of software. Each task is represented by a card, which contains information about the task, such as a description, due date, and responsible person. You can move these cards from column to column as the status of the task changes. For example, when you start preparing a pizza, you move the corresponding card from the “To-do” column to the “In progress” column, and when the pizza is ready to be delivered, you move the card to the “Done” column. This visual representation of your workflow helps you to see at a glance which tasks are in progress, where there may be bottlenecks, and where you can improve your process. The Kanban method also includes principles such as limiting work in progress, making your process policies explicit, and continuously improving your process.

By following these principles and using a Kanban board, you can improve the flow of your work, increase your efficiency, and reduce stress and chaos. So, grab your Kanban board and get ready to bring more order and control into your work.

5. Poka-Yoke

“Poka-Yoke” is another fun Japanese term that can significantly improve your processes. It can be translated as “mistake-proofing” or “inadvertent error prevention”. The Poka-Yoke Lean Management Methodology aims to prevent errors and defects in your processes before they occur. This is achieved by implementing simple and effective measures that make it impossible or at least difficult to make mistakes. Let’s take a look at a few examples of Poka-Yoke in action:

Example 1: Shape coding

Shape coding means using the shape of a part to ensure that it is assembled correctly. For example, you could design your pizza trays and your pizza oven in such a way that the trays can only be inserted in one direction. This ensures that your employees cannot accidentally put the trays in the oven the wrong way, which could lead to burnt pizzas and unhappy customers.

Example 2: Count check

A count check means that you verify the number of items to ensure that nothing is missing. In your kitchen, you could use this method by having a checklist for all the ingredients of your pizzas. Before you start preparing a pizza, you or your employees can quickly check off the ingredients on the list to make sure that nothing is missing and that you don’t accidentally forget the delicious mozzarella.

Example 3: Color-coding

Color-coding means using colors to distinguish between different items or to indicate correct or incorrect positions. You could use color-coding by marking your pizza boxes with different colored stickers to indicate which pizzas are for delivery and which are for pickup. This helps to ensure that your customers receive their pizzas in the right way and that there are no mix-ups.

Example 4: Two-handed operation

Two-handed operation is a safety feature that requires two hands to be used simultaneously to perform a task. You could apply this to your pizza cutting machine by installing a mechanism that requires your employees to press buttons on both sides of the machine at the same time to activate the cutting blades. This way, you can prevent accidents and injuries by ensuring that the machine is only used when both hands are safely away from the blades. By implementing these and other Poka-Yoke measures, you can reduce the likelihood of errors and defects in your processes, improve the quality of your products and services, and save time and money that you would otherwise have to invest in rework or customer complaints.

6. PDCA cycle

The PDCA cycle is a fundamental Lean Management Methodology that stands for “Plan-Do-Check-Act” or “Plan-Do-Check-Adjust”. This method is like a compass that guides you through a continuous improvement process. The PDCA cycle consists of four interconnected steps:

1. Plan: The first step is to plan the improvement. Here, you define the goal and the problem you want to solve. For example, your goal could be to reduce the delivery time of your pizzas, and the problem is that your delivery routes are not optimized. You also develop a plan of action, determine which measures you want to take, and set clear objectives and criteria to measure the success of your improvement.
2. Do: The next step is to implement the plan. You and your team put the planned measures into action. For our example, this could mean that you test new delivery routes, assign drivers more efficiently, or use delivery optimization software. By implementing these measures, you can gather practical experience and data.
3. Check: In the third step, you analyze and evaluate the results. You compare the actual results with the goals and criteria you set in the planning phase. In our example, you look at whether the new delivery routes have reduced the delivery time, whether your drivers are more efficient, and whether you have saved costs. By analyzing the results, you can identify successes, but also deviations and problems.
4. Act: The last step is to derive conclusions from the evaluation and take appropriate actions. If the results meet your goals, you can standardize the new, improved process. In our example, this means that you establish the optimized delivery routes as the new standard and train your drivers accordingly. If the results do not meet your goals, you identify the causes of the deviations, learn from the experience, and develop new measures to further improve the process. This could involve refining the delivery routes, addressing driver issues, or considering other optimization options. By continuously repeating the PDCA cycle, you can ensure that your processes are constantly improving, and your company remains competitive and efficient.