Can Lean Manufacturing Hurt Your Business?
Posted July 26, 2013 & filed under Job Search
For those of you who are lean manufacturing practitioners, the idea of continuous improvement isn’t a foreign one. You probably aren’t surprised that in a 2011 survey of manufacturing leaders, nearly 70% of them said their implementation of lean manufacturing measures led to cost reductions of around 5%. That percentage of waste elimination may allow businesses to pass along greater value to customers but can it simultaneously hurt your supply line? Only if a manager neglects the other major pillar of lean manufacturing: respect for people.
A Serious Problem
The three Japanese words that encapsulate the lean manufacturing mantra – muda, mura, and muri – must be in total harmony or you risk watching your lean implementations backfire in your face. Some companies get so caught up in eliminating muda (wastefulness), that they overlook the importance of curbing mura (unevenness) and muri (overburdening).
When a manager performs excess trimming with an imprudent hand, he or she risks further encumbering overworked employees. Their stress levels can then increase and any positive gains made through budgetary cuts can be flushed away. In fact, $30 billion is lost annually due to stress-related employee absenteeism while $200 billion is lost due to mental absenteeism when overworked employees drift through their work days on autopilot.
Ironically enough, Japan is experiencing the very problems that their lean ideology tries to eschew. Unhappiness is rampant throughout the Japanese workforce. Regularly, employees of Japanese companies exhaust themselves on shifts that stretch well beyond 10 hours, often taking up the mantle of unpaid overtime.
The avalanche of projects burying the average Japanese worker can lead to a sense of ennui, depression, or even karōshi, a Japanese term literally meaning death by overwork. So, when muri and mura are neglected through a myopic pursuit of muda, the impact on the workforce can be grave.
A Happy Solution
A happy employee adds the greatest value to a company. Productivity, creativity, collaboration, and problem solving are at their highest when the team is genuinely happy to be in the office. Take a look at Denmark. The Northern European country, according to a Ranstad survey, boasts some of the highest levels of extremely satisfied employees in the world at 35% – the United States, though no small potato, can only boast 29%.
Though there isn’t a set standard across the country, the Danes in general work under a three-pronged philosophy that values the follow: profit, people, and planet. A majority of Danish companies boast a flat management structure where people don’t feel micromanaged, team work is prevalent, and the work-life balance is rarely out of whack.
Employees are considered a valued resource and cuts aren’t made that will stifle their productivity or creative energy. Plus, each person has an equal say and few feel any disparity in their workload. Danish companies, though they know them by a different name, are putting the principles of muri and mura into action.
Lean in Practice
Now, just because a manufacturer is Japanese, Danish, or American doesn’t mean that it’s predisposed to follow the above successes or pitfalls. If a manufacturer takes cost cutting measures without the employee in mind, trouble is bound to be brewing on the horizon. So, before you deem a process or practice to be wasteful and ready for the incinerator, take the following questions into full consideration:
• Will any department be overburdened in the aftermath?
• Will any person be forced to take on an uneven slice of the workload?
• Can this cut, in any way, affect team morale?
If the answer is yes and the predicted repercussions are too great, reconsider any lean trimming. Remember, if something on the cutting board is a positive factor that improves your overall work environment, it might be better to hold on to it. Any positive contribution to your work atmosphere can lead to greater trust in management, pride in the company, and an increase in innovation up to 300%. So, stay true to your lean manufacturing roots and uphold both pillars: continuous improvement and respect for people are a paired set.
by James Walsh
