Lean manufacturing and lean management

My last weeks post on lean manufacturing and TPS caught attention of many. In a comment to that post I found something interesting. This is from a reader with the blog name MM. In his comment I found something very important on lean manufacturing and the management, even in Toyota. 

In his comment mm says “……you probably be surprised at the number of areas within Toyota not practicing TPS. This is due to the influx of Senior Managers hired directly from other Manufacturers into Toyota without fully understanding TPS. The more effective Managers come up through the ranks. Just my opinion” With his self introduction I think this statement makes much more sense. Our reader introduces himself “Having worked as one of Toyota's internal TPS consultants for 18 years, I can tell you what you’re looking at” So I think he has a great knowledge about Toyota. 

Management plays an important role in applying lean concepts in to practice. Even the most matured lean system like TPS seems to be having problem with making it truly lean. This is where lean management comes to play. 

First of all don’t confuse lean management to the project management. Simply lean management is where basic principles and concepts of lean are applied in managing the organization. For an example instead of increasing end line quality check, a lean manager will look at the source to the problem and will fix it to improve on quality. They will always question the way things are done even when they seems to be working fine. 

Lean is a culture. Management is a critical part of this culture. Everything will evolve around management. Managers who identify and live this lean culture can bring result to the organization. Generally identifying and training these managers takes time. Hence this is a continuous process. Managers who do not follow lean can create the total system to break. As per the comment by our reader, this seems to be a problem even in Toyota. Hiring people from outside can be a good strategy to bring different point of views and different sets of skills. But it can add true value to the system if they can understand and live the lean culture. 

In short although seems simple, cultivating a true lean culture is very difficult.  It involves training, careful recruitment, passion and much more. Lean management will play the central role in this lean culture.