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News A selection of articles about general topics and companies
with whom Change Management Associates works, or written or
contributed to by Change Management Associates (most
recent articles are presented first) Stamping
Journal (July/August 2011): An
article written by Drew Locher titled “Five Pitfalls to Avoid When
Implementing SMED” appeared. It
describes the five most common reasons why Quick Changeover or Set-up
Reduction efforts fail in organizations.
Click here for a
link to the article. AME
Target Online Magazine (June 2011):
An article titled “Leadership, Excellence and Standard Work” written by Drew
Locher of CMA appeared. It describes
several of the key themes and learning points at the annual Shingo Conference
held in April 2011. These include:
“going to the gemba”, leaders teaching the
principles within their organizations, and others. Click
here for a link to the article. Plastics
Today (April 2011): An article titled “Lean Journey Leads to Fat
Rewards” tells of the successes that Remcon
Plastics in Reading PA has achieved with the application of Lean
concepts. Reducing scrap rates from
6-7% to 0.5-1.5% is just one such example.
Equally important is that Remcon is laying
the proper foundation for a sustainable lean system. Standard work is being developed, including
that for the leaders. Basic problem
solving skills of the workforce are being enhanced. CMA has supported Remcon
Plastics in these and other areas. Click here to access the article. Lean
Office & Services Podcast (June 2010): Many companies representing a wide variety of
industries have struggled with the application of lean concepts to office and
service environments. Many still see
it as a “manufacturing thing”. Drew
Locher participated in a podcast on this
subject. Click here for access to the podcast. Manufacturing
Digital (April 2010): Drew Locher of
Change Management Associates wrote an article titled “Creating Continuous
Flow” for the on-line magazine manufacturingdigital.com. The eight-step process to implement
continuous flow concepts in a manufacturing environment is covered. Click here to access the article. The article appears on pages 12-13. Assembly
Magazine (February and March 2010):
A3s continue to be misunderstood and misused.
People do not fully understand the intent of the document and the
process of creating it. Austin Weber
wrote two separate articles covering the subject. “The ABC’s of A3 Reports” appeared in the
February 24, 2010 issue (click here for this article). “How to Write an A3 Report” appeared in the
March 26, 2010 issue (click here for this article). Drew Locher contributed to both articles. Value Stream Mapping Podcast (December 2009): Value Stream Mapping has been described as the “assessment and planning tool of lean practitioners”. It answers the most common questions such as; “Where do we start?”, “What lean tools should I be looking to apply?”, “What results can I expect to achieve?” Drew Locher participated in an approx. 20 minutes podcast on the use of the powerful Value Stream Mapping tool, and the common pitfalls in the use of the tool. Click here for access to the podcast. Lean Manufacturing & ERP (March
2009). This article written by Jean Thilmany of searchmanufacturingERP.com, discusses how ERP
can be utilized in a Lean Manufacturing environment. Drew Locher of CMA contributed one of
several viewpoints on the subject. For
a copy of this article click here. Retail Environments (November – December 2009) In this issue Drew Locher wrote an article titled “Applying Lean Thinking to the Sales”. The article describes the typical approach taken to apply lean concepts to the important sales function. It is imperative that an organization fully leverage the gains made by the application of lean by increasing the value delivered to its customers and markets. This puts pressure on sales and marketing processes and personnel who must find better ways to perform their functions. This is particularly the case in today's economic environment. For a copy of this article click here. For the abridged version that appeared in Retail Environments click here. Retail Environments (May - June 2009). Retail Environments is the periodical for the Association for Retail Environments (ARE). In this issue, Drew Locher wrote an article titled “Lean in the Office: Even in Creative and Variable Work Environments Standard Work Can Reduce Lead Times and Ensure Quality”. It provides an in-depth discussion of this important concept, and how it applies to office and service environments. The article identifies the key elements that must be present in all standard work, as well as responses to the most commonly heard arguments against it. For a full length copy of this article click here. For the abridged version that appeared in Retail Environments click here. Georgia Printer (July 2008) is a periodical geared for the Printing Industry, and in particular for those located in the Southeastern U.S.. Drew Locher wrote a brief article titled "Lean Thinking in the Office" that describes some of the concepts that can be applied to streamline the critical "pre-press" process and the information flows associated. CMA has worked with numerous printers both in the office and in production to successfully apply lean and operational excellence concepts. For a copy of this article click here. Industry Week (September 2008). An article on the subject of "Creating Level
Pull in the Office" written by
Drew Locher appeared. This article
provides an in-depth description of the application of pull concepts in an
office environment. People have
struggled mightily with the application of pull in non-production
applications. That is because people
still do not understand this important concept. This article breaks down the concept into
its basic elements, and clearly describes the characteristics necessary for a
successful pull implementation in an office environment. Various examples are also provided. For a
copy of the full length article click here. For the abridged version that appeared in
Industry Week click
here. Stamping Journal (April – May 2008) is a periodical of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA). In this two-part article, Drew Locher describes the typical approach to apply Lean concepts in a Stamping operation. Topics covered include: Standard Work, Quick Changeover, Total Productive Maintenance, Workplace Organization, and others. For a copy of this article click here. Retail Environments (March - April 2008): Is the periodical for the Association for Retail Environments (ARE). In this issue, Drew Locher wrote an article, "Lean Thinking in the Office": Organize Administrative and Office Processes by Value Stream Rather Than Function". In this article, the author challenges traditional ways in which companies are organized that give rise to departmental or functional "silos". Organizing by process or value stream can dramatically improve flow and improve lead time and quality. For a copy of this article click here. Quality Progress (October 2007): Is the periodical of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In this issue, Drew Locher wrote an article, "In the Office: Where Lean And Six Sigma Converge". The article describes how various lean concepts help to reduce variability in any office environment. For more information go to the ASQ website www.asq.org. For a copy of this article: click here. Lean Office Podcast (December 2006): Drew Locher of Change Management Associates participated in an approx. 10 minute podcast on this subject. During the podcast he discusses typical results as well as the most common obstacles encountered when Lean Thinking is extended to administrative and office processes. Click here for access to the podcast. Quality Progress (June 2006): Is the periodical of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In this issue, Anthony Manos wrote an article, "Value Stream Mapping - an Introduction" in which he cites "The Complete Lean Enterprise" as a reference on the subject. The article provides a basic description of VSM and its use in improving business processes of all forms. For more information go to the ASQ website www.asq.org. A link to the article is provided here: http://www.asq.org/pub/qualityprogress/past/0606/index2.html Target (Third Issue 2006): In this issue of Target, the periodical of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), Steelcase Inc. is the subject of an article titled "Steelcase: Learning How to Implement Customer-Focused, Enterprise-Wide Lean. The article describes their work to extend lean thinking to office areas. Steelcase has seen significant reductions in lead time and cost, as well as increases in productivity and customer satisfaction by the application of lean concepts to various areas of its business such as "Solutions Fulfillment" or order to delivery. The article covers the organizational and cultural issues that can be significant obstacles to the application of lean concepts to administrative and office processes. Change Management Associates through its BND affiliate worked with Steelcase to initiate this effort, laying the foundation for understanding as well as the methodology that Steelcase follows today. The article nicely describes this approach. For more information go to the AME website www.ame.org. Plastics News (April 2004):
Assembly Magazine (January 2004): Austin Weber writes an article, "The Lean Side of Automation" to which Drew Locher contributed. The article discusses the application of lean concepts in a highly automated manufacturing environment. Lean concepts such as Quick Changeover, Total Productive Maintenance, are just a few of the techniques that become particularly important in such companies. For more information see the Assembly Magazine website www.assemblymag.com and click on the article titled "The Lean Side of Automation. International Cast Polymer Newsletters November
2011: Can We Talk? What is sadly
missing in many business processes and practices are meaningful conversations
about improvement and plans moving forward.
Budgetary processes turn into a numbers exercise. Monthly reports tend to look in the rear
view mirror. Variance reports prompt
people to spend their valuable and limited time on things that happened in
the past versus predictions made up to a year in the past. Where is the discussion on how to affect
the numbers moving forward? Click here for a copy of this
newsletter. August
2011: Because I said so! This newsletter covers the subject of
Management by Objective (MBO) as practiced by many companies and compares and
contrasts to the management approach espoused by Lean Thinking. Click
here for a copy of this newsletter.
June
2011: What’s Your Problem? The basic elements of any good problem
statement are covered in this newsletter.
Classic pitfalls to avoid when defining a problem are also
covered. Click here for a copy of this newsletter. February
2011: Policy Deployment – the Key to Execution. This
newsletter identifies several of the most common reasons an organization
fails to successfully execute its strategic plan. It goes on to describe the six-step process
used to develop and deploy a strategic plan throughout an organization. Click
here for a copy of this newsletter. January
2011: Lean and Green – Expanding our Eyes for Waste. This
newsletter covers the eight categories of “green waste” and how they interrelate
to the classic eight Lean wastes.
Value Stream Mapping is a tool that can be used to highlight green
wastes. Click here for a copy of this
newsletter. November
2010: Lean, Just-in-Time and Globalization. This newsletter attempts to
clear up the confusion that some people have of these concepts and
terms. For example, people often
mistake a company’s actions to “outsource” or “off shore” for “Lean”. This is just not the case. Click here
for a copy of this newsletter. June
2010: Managing the Development Process.
This newsletter discusses
the fact that most organizations are not fully applying lean management
principles to their development processes.
Most apply basic project management concepts, but there is so much
more. Click
here for a copy of this newsletter. March
2010: Importance of Leadership Development to Sustaining Lean. This newsletter
reflects on CMA’s 20 years in business providing Organizational Development
services. One of the more important learnings over this time was the need for organizations
to develop people in leadership positions.
This is the only way for organizations to change their culture and to
sustain the gains made from a Lean Enterprise effort. Click here
for a copy of this newsletter. January
2010: “Just What is Lean Development?” This newsletter discusses the
broad subject of Lean Development. It
breaks it down into found main components: Idea Generation and Selection, the
Development System, Set-Based Concurrent Design, and Development Tools. Click
here for a copy of this newsletter. October
2009: “Back to Basics – the A3 Process”. This newsletter discusses the
hot topic of “A3”. Unfortunately many
people view it solely as a communication or documentation tool. In reality it is much more. The process of creating an A3 is what is
really important, not the single page document that is the result. Click
here for a copy of this newsletter.
Announcement: Drew
Locher of Change Management Associates has published a book, “Lean Office
& Service Simplified”. He is also
co-author of "The Complete Lean
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