Lean Thinking

Part I
 Learning Objectives

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe the elements of a process

• Draw a process map
• Explain what constitutes value in a
process
• List the five fundamental lean principles
• Describe several concepts and tools for
implementing lean principles

Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 2

© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 What is a Process?

Suppliers Customer
Set of actions
Inputs which transform Outputs
inputs to outputs

Process: A series of actions, changes, or

functions bringing about a result

Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 3

Ref: [Link] Jan. 8, 2003 © 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Identify the Customer

• What happens to the outputs of a process?

They go to a CUSTOMER!
• External customers - are outside an organization,
money is typically exchanged with external customers
• End users are customers who pay for an
operational or consumable product or service

• Internal customers - are inside an organization,

money is typically not exchanged directly with
internal customers

• Customers also drive the inputs to a process through

their needs and requirements
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 4
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Process Maps

Photo by Earll Murman

Process map for pre lean treatment of Acute

Myocardial Infarction (aka heart attack).
Courtesy of Jefferson Healthcare, Port
Townsend, WA. Used with Permission.

Process map for pre lean engineering drawing release

Courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Used with permission.

Source: "Lean PD Efforts for F-22", LAI Product Development

Winter Workshop, January 27, 2000.

• Only understood processes can be improved

• Understanding a process is easier when it can be visualized
• A process map is an organized visualization of all the
interrelated activities which combine to form a process
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 5
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Process Map For Fixing a
Hot Dog
Hot dog Customer
Order Deliver
Order

Need No Cook Hot Put in bun Add to

Hot dog,
bun
P Dog Add condiments shopping list

? pantry Yes

Yes Last
Clean up Dog, Stop
Store bun ?
No

Symbology

Main process flow Secondary, feeder flow Information flow

Yes No

Supplier, Warehouse Task Inventory, Wait Decision

Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 6
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Team Exercise:
Hot Dog Stand Process Map

Sasha Andy

• Develop a process map for S&A Hot Dogs

• Identify process input(s) and output(s)
• Make a rectangular post-it note for each
process element
• Arrange on easel chart from input to output
• Add decision (diamond) and
wait/inventory (triangle) post-its as needed
• Draw lines for process & information flow

• In 10 minutes, be prepared to explain your

process map to the class
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 7
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Basic Mapping Symbols

<noun>
I verb
noun

Inventory or waiting Task

<Answer B>
Answer A

Question? Issue!?

<Answer C>

Decision Burst

Main process Secondary, feeder Information flow

flow flow
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 8
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 No “Right” Answer

Photo by Earll Murman

• A process map is a 2-D visualization of a process

taking place in 3-D space and time
• Many ways to map even a simple process
• Goal is to capture and communicate the key
features of the process
• Avoid unneeded details of each step Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 9
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Process Wrap Up

• Processes underlay everything we do

• Understanding and improving processes is

the key to improving productivity

• The fundamentals of lean thinking are the

foundation of modern process improvement

Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 10

© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Five Lean Thinking
Fundamentals
• Specify value: Value is defined by customer in terms
of specific products and services

• Identify the value stream: Map out all end-to-end

linked actions, processes and functions necessary for
transforming inputs to outputs to identify and
eliminate waste

• Make value flow continuously: Having eliminated

waste, make remaining value-creating steps “flow”

• Let customers pull value: Customer’s “pull” cascades

all the way back to the lowest level supplier, enabling
just-in-time production

• Pursue perfection: Pursue continuous process of

improvement striving for perfection
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 11
Ref: James Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Lean Thinking, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1996 © 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Specify Value
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

Value Added Activity

• Transforms or shapes material or information or people
• And it’s done right the first time
• And the customer wants it

Non-Value Added Activity – Necessary Waste

• No value is created, but cannot be eliminated based on current
technology, policy, or thinking
• Examples: project coordination, regulatory, company mandate, law

Non-Value Added Activity - Pure Waste

• Consumes resources, but creates no value in the
eyes of the customer
• Examples: wait time, inventory, rework, excess checkoff, accidents
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 12
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Does Inspection Add Value?
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

Can you see any mistakes?

I
LOVE
PARIS IN THE
THE SPRINGTIME
Images by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Is inspection a value added, non value added

necessary waste, or non value added pure waste
activity?
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 13
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Identify the Value Stream
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

• A value stream is…

• ALL the linked end-to-end activities that take place
to deliver value
• Starts with raw materials or initial information
• Ends with the end customer/user

Customer needs/requirements, schedules

Product or
service
valued by
Material or information or people the
customer
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 14
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 What Moves In a Value Stream?
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

In manufacturing… material flows

In design & services…information flows

In human services…people flow

Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 15

© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Analyzing the Value Stream
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection
• Muda – Non value added
• Look for the eight wastes (next slide)
• Muri – Overburden of people or equipment
• Results in safety and quality problems
• Mura – Unevenness
• Irregular or fluctuating production or workload due
to poor planning, staffing,
inoperative equipment,
missing supplies, or Mura
irregular demand.
Muda Muri
• Mura is a root cause
Muda is an outcome
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 16
Ref: J. Liker, The Toyota Way © 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Eight Seven Types of Waste
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

Creating more material or information or

1. Over-production
tests or treatment than needed
2. Inventory More material or information than needed
3. Transportation Moving material or information or people
Moving employees to access or process
4. Unnecessary movement
material or information or patients
Waiting for material, information or treatment -
5. Waiting
or work in process waiting to be processed.
Errors or mistakes causing the effort to
6. Defective outputs
be redone to correct the problem
Processing more than necessary to
7. Over-processing
produce the desired output
8. Unused employee Losing improvement opportunities by not
creativity engaging or listening to employees
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 17
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Unnecessary Movement
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

To the
SH
Hospital
Spaghetti Chart Example-
BEFORE BR
14 Store
11 12 13
Radiology Film
Dirty Utility 15 Process

BR 10 MD Office

9
Stairwell

Nur Station
BR
Radio Clean
Utility 16 17
8 Meds
18
Steps Triage Nurse BR
7
takes to place 28
Elec 20 21
patient in room Reg
25
19
8

5 4 23 22
SH BR

T2

Nur Station
2 27 24
3
T1
BR
Not to exact scale 1 Reg Triage
Storage Meds
BR

Total distance
traveled = 1250 Staff Waiting Room Peds Main
Ambulance Lounge WR
Feet=381m Entrance
Entrance

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Spaghetti charts are a powerful visual tool for

seeing unnecessary movement
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 18
Source: University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI © 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Kitting
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection
Combining all relevant material, parts, and/or
information into a single package which can be
delivered to the Point-of-Use (POU) in a process
to reduce unnecessary movement
bill of material
work instructions

Courtesy of University of Michigan Health System,

wire bundle tubes in a Ann Arbor, MI. Used with permission.

shadow box Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 19

© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Mistake Proofing (poka yoke)
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection
• “Mistake-proofing is the use of process or design
features to prevent errors or the negative impact
of errors”
Vacuum Oxygen
• Healthcare examples:
• Wristbands
• Self blunting syringes
• Automatic wheel chair brake
• Others:
• “Left” and “right” side wires
with different connectors
• Asymmetric mounting points Square Photos by Earll Murman

Round
• Break-away gas nozzle with set pin set pin
auto-shutoff
Ref: “Mistake-Proofing the Design of Health Care Processes ”, Agency for Healthcare Research and
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 20
Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [Link] © 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Checklists Reduce Defective Work
Value Value Stream Flow Pull Perfection

© World Health Organization (WHO). All rights reserved. This content is excluded from
our Creative Commons license. For more information, see [Link]

Source: World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (First Edition). Retrieved May 8, 2009 from
[Link] Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 21
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Waste (Muda) Walk

Sasha Andy

• With your team, take 10 minutes to Identify with

colored dots the
Value added process steps
Necessary waste process steps
Pure waste process steps
• Use the 8 wastes as a guide

• Be ready to report your answers to the class,

including your questions
Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 22
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Go to the Gemba
Gemba* - the actual place
• Basic tenet of lean thinking – go to the
place where work is being done and
observe first hand the process in action
• Japanese call this genchi genbutsu, or
go see for yourself
• Honda calls this the three actuals
• Go to the actual place
• Talk to the actual people
• Doing the actual work
• Relying on data and observations
produced by others does not give a
complete understanding
Photos by Earll Murman

* Sometimes the alternate transliteration genba is used. Lean Thinking V7.6 - Slide 23
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT OpenCourseWare
[Link]

16.660J / ESD.62J / 16.853 Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods

IAP 2012

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