Lean Management is:

• defining the purpose of the organisation in terms of customer value i.e.,

consumption problems of customers it is required to solve
• designing and executing the right value streams and processes for achieving the
purpose
• and aligning the people touching the process and building problem solving
capability in them

It is now proven that Lean is applicable in any sphere of human activity, and a variety of
industries – small and large from Retail, Office and Service industries have begun to
appreciate the benefits of Lean Management and are transforming themselves. Many
companies from Banking & Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, Hospitality, BPOs,
Call Centre & ITES and Software Industries have already embarked on a Lean
Programme or are evaluating and seriously considering one. This is apart from
Manufacturing Industries realising that Lean Management is more than applying tools
and techniques in the factory operations.

Every industry needs to move away from the Alfred Sloan School of Management
through Quarterly Rear View Mirrors that it has consciously or un-consciously adapted to
the Eiji Toyoda School of Management in order to solve their customer's problems
better? Toyota did not need to do anything fundamentally different in 50 years. A Toyota
Manager starts his career solving problems at the actual work-site using observation and
the fundamental Plan-Do-Check-Adjust and continues solving problems. So why do
initiatives have shelf lives in companies?

The first and fundamental operational feature of a Lean Business System is

that quality is built in to the process by alerting the operator or automatically stopping
production or service and recommencing only when the root cause of the defect or
stoppage has been eliminated.

A new standard or modified work method or changed process design is visually and
graphically and very compellingly made evident, human beings involved in the process
trained and meticulously confirmed and the new or changed process adopted such that the
defect or stoppage that previously occurred will never occur again.

Only that much is produced or served as much is required by the customer and is
delivered exactly when it is needed. Once a customer orders, a signal goes to production
to produce the one unit the customer has ordered. While producing or providing
the service, once a unit of material is consumed, it is replenished by the output of a
previous process which produces only as much material as was consumed by the
downstream process.

Production and Service is always leveled and proportioned according to the requirement
of various models and variants and production or service capacity. In the simplest case,
if 600 units of a model of a product are required every month in 25 days of production,
every day 24 units will be produced, and every hour 1 unit will be produced.

Gradually, consumer confidence and trust in the supplier's provision system improves to
the extent that customers share their needs and requirements in advance so that demand
itself is level and rush orders, panic orders, "just in case they don't supply" orders, or
orders placed well before the actual requirement because of a scarcity mindset are
avoided and customers will never leave. The provision system is thus firmly coupled to
consumption leading to long term and sustained profits.

Cliff Ransom, President of Ransom Research, Inc., an independent equity investment

research firm lists the financial fruits of long term application of lean as sustained -

• organic revenue growth between 6% and 8%

• total revenue growth at between 10% and 12%
• annual margin expansion
• income growth rate between 12% to 15%
• free cash flow to net income ratio greater than 100%

Lean Business System is used for organizing and managing product development,
production and logistics operations, suppliers, and customer relations. Business and other
organizations use lean principles, practices, and tools to create precise customer value -
goods and services with more variety in lower volumes with higher quality and fewer
defects - with less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time than the traditional
system of mass production in which only large volumes can cause profits.

Leaders today in a wide range of industries, nonprofit organizations, government

agencies, healthcare, and other areas are finding ways to apply the principles of lean as a
means of producing goods and delivering services that creates value for the customer
with the minimum amount of waste and the maximum degree of quality.

he only event to target Lean for MRO!

While striving to continually meet demand growth, commercial MRO (Maintenance,

Repair & Overhaul) companies are challenged in a turbulent economy with higher wages
and operational costs, union labor organizations and increased competition. Many
organizations are optimizing operations by adopting Lean Six Sigma (LSS) programs to
reduce costs and increase profit margins.

Through LSS methodologies, aircraft maintenance processes are enhanced and

transformed by eliminating waste, streamlining flow and improving quality and customer
service. The 2nd Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum will bring together executives from
leading MRO organizations and LSS experts together to share best practices on:

• Leveraging tools to improve operational effectiveness and minimize service

downtime
• Anticipating and planning for high variability demand in complex operations
• Transforming company culture while increasing efficiency for lowered costs,
improved throughput, and increased competitiveness
• Enhancing communication and team work for smooth transition into new
processes
• Maintaining sustainable LSS programs and managing CPI (Continual Process
Improvement) projects to drive business excellence
• Reducing turnaround times without increasing capital or headcount
• Identifying and managing bottlenecks to free up capacity