Lean acres : a tale of strategic innovation and improvement in a farm-iliar setting

264 Pages·2011·0.65 MB·English

by  Bowie

Lean Acres
Also available from ASQ Quality Press:
Profitability with No Boundaries: Optimizing TOC, Lean, Six Sigma Results
Reza (Russ) M. Pirasteh and Robert E. Fox
The Logical Thinking Process: A Systems Approach to Complex Problem Solving
H. William Dettmer
The Executive Guide to Understanding and Implementing Lean Six Sigma: The
Financial Impact
Robert M. Meisel, Steven J. Babb, Steven F. Marsh, and James P. Schlichting
The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook, Second Edition
T. M. Kubiak and Donald W. Benbow
Six Sigma for the New Millennium: A CSSBB Guidebook, Second Edition
Kim H. Pries
The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook
Roderick A. Munro, Matthew J. Maio, Mohamed B. Nawaz, Govindarajan Ramu,
and Daniel J. Zrymiak
5S for Service Organizations and Offices: A Lean Look at Improvements
Debashis Sarkar
Lean Kaizen: A Simplified Approach to Process Improvements
George Alukal and Anthony Manos
Lean for Service Organizations and Offices: A Holistic Approach for Achieving
Operational Excellence and Improvements
Debashis Sarkar
Lean ISO 9001: Adding Spark to your ISO 9001 QMS and Sustainability to
Your Lean Efforts
Mike Micklewright
Root Cause Analysis: Simplified Tools and Techniques, Second Edition
Bjørn Andersen and Tom Fagerhaug
The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook,
Third Edition
Russell T. Westcott, editor
To request a complimentary catalog of ASQ Quality Press publications,
call 800-248-1946, or visit our Web site at http://www.asq.org/quality-press.
Lean Acres
A Tale of Strategic Innovation
and Improvement in a
Farm-iliar Setting
Written by
Jim Bowie
Illustrated by
Madeleine E. McGraw
ASQ Quality Press
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
American Society for Quality, Quality Press, Milwaukee 53203
© 2011 by ASQ
All rights reserved. Published 2011
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bowie, Jim.
Lean acres : a tale of strategic innovation and improvement in a farm-iliar setting /
written by Jim Bowie ; illustrated by Madeleine E. McGraw.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87389-809-6 (soft cover : alk. paper)
1. Organizational effectiveness. 2. Cost control. 3. Quality control. 4. Industrial
efficiency. 5. Industrial management. I. McGraw, Madeleine E. II. Title.

HD58.9.B685 2011
658.4'012—dc23 2011019128
ISBN: 978-0-87389-809-6
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
Publisher: William A. Tony
Acquisitions Editor: Matt T. Meinholz
Project Editor: Paul O’Mara
Production Administrator: Randall Benson
ASQ Mission: The American Society for Quality advances individual, organizational,
and community excellence worldwide through learning, quality improvement, and
knowledge exchange.
Attention Bookstores, Wholesalers, Schools, and Corporations: ASQ Quality Press
books, video, audio, and software are available at quantity discounts with bulk
purchases for business, educational, or instructional use. For information, please
contact ASQ Quality Press at 800-248-1946, or write to ASQ Quality Press,
P.O. Box 3005, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005.
To place orders or to request ASQ membership information, call 800-248-1946. Visit our
website at http://www.asq.org/quality-press.
Printed on acid-free paper
Dedication
To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am nothing without you. Thank you
for saving me and teaching me how to love and live forever.
To my incredible wife Dana, for all of your love, support, and encour-
agement when I was convinced that the well was dry. Thank you for rein-
forcing and refueling my passion and imagination every second of every
day. I love you.
To my children, Vivian, Evelyn, Big Jimmy, and Little Jimmy. Yes, I
named both of my sons Jimmy. I’m an efficiency expert, and they are two
years apart. If I call for one, I probably need both. Thank you for refusing
to let me grow up. You guys are awesome, and you inspire me every day.
I love you guys more than you will ever know. Thank you for sacrificing
months of playtime. Now, let’s break out the Lincoln Logs!
To my Dad: Thanks for Monster Matinee Saturdays, Ray Bradbury and
Stephen King books, and the nights we spent peering into the Twilight
Zone. You taught me how to wonder and believe.
To my Mom: I never thought I’d say this, but thank you for being an
active and diligent homework enforcer. All those nights spent rewriting
reports and essays at the kitchen table made a difference, and you made
me better.
With special thanks to:
Tim Leary for a second set of eyes and a sanity check, Jeff Booth, Joe Leppo,
Bill Harris, Rose Sage, Bob Jamison, Doreen McMahon, Jim Henson, Paul
Williams, Stephen King, Shel Silverstein, Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez,
Terry Gilliam, Takashi Miike, James Horner, Howard Shore, and Randy
Newman.
And to Poolesville, Maryland, as you used to be when there were
Wesmond, Summer Hill, and Westerly alone. Selby’s and High’s at the cen-
ter of it all. A simple country town that was anything but, and a small,
v
vi Dedication
close-knit community with depth beyond measure. When there were
farms and fields, family and friends, fireflies and fantasy. I remember the
smell of your crisp autumn mornings and the feel of your clear summer
nights. When I was raised there, I came to know the best people this world
had to offer. As much as a man can love and thank a people and a place,
this is for you.
Table of Contents
Pretest: What Do You Know?................................ xi
Foreword................................................ xiv
The Boo-chair—A Forbidden Tune............................ xx
Chapter 1 The Narrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Chapter 2 Farm-iliar Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Lean Acres ........................................... 3
The Farmer .......................................... 4
The F.A.T. ............................................ 4
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 3 Losing the Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Bark Is Worse . . ................................... 11
To Listen and To See . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 4 Growing a Strate-Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Strate-Tree ....................................... 20
Step 1: Assessment.................................... 24
SWOT ........................................... 24
Stakeholders ..................................... 28
Customers ....................................... 36
The Voices ....................................... 37
Step 2: Aim........................................... 43
Mission.......................................... 43
Core Competencies................................ 47
Values........................................... 50
Vision and Goals .................................. 52
vii
viii Table of Contents
Step 3: Alignment ..................................... 54
Objectives and Targets ............................. 55
Step 4: Assignment.................................... 59
Ownership and Accountability....................... 59
Initiatives ........................................ 64
Step 5: Awareness..................................... 65
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 5 Born in a Barn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Step 6: Academics..................................... 71
7S and the Visual Barnyard.......................... 71
Step 7: Action ........................................ 73
Busted Baskets and Bags ........................... 73
Sloppy Spare Parts................................. 77
Crazy Corn Carts .................................. 79
Making the Yard Work ............................. 82
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 6 A Lean Diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Step 6: Academics..................................... 95
Customer Value................................... 96
Value Stream ..................................... 96
Flow ............................................ 100
Pull ............................................. 100
Step 7: Action ........................................ 102
Current State ..................................... 102
Lean Application .................................. 117
Future State...................................... 122
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Chapter 7 Skimming Six Sigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Step 6: Academics..................................... 131
Precision and Accuracy............................. 132
Percentages versus Parts per Million Opportunities ..... 134
Quality In = Quality Out ............................ 135
Step 7: Action ........................................ 137
Setting the Course................................. 137
Confirming Confidence............................. 142
Distributing Results................................ 143
A Measure of Milk................................. 144
Capturing Capability ............................... 146
Table of Contents ix
Digging Up Roots.................................. 150
Fixin’ to Fix It ..................................... 152
Making It Stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Chapter 8 Cracking Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Step 6: Academics..................................... 163
Working Through the Chain ......................... 163
Identify the Need.................................. 165
Set the Goal ...................................... 165
Target the Constraint .............................. 166
Exploit the Constraint.............................. 166
Subordinate Everything ............................ 166
Elevate the Constraint.............................. 167
Evaluate Results................................... 167
Step 7: Action ........................................ 168
Present Problem .................................. 168
Capturing Capacity ................................ 169
Egg-regious Effects ................................ 172
Delving Deeper ................................... 178
Protected Pace.................................... 182
Greater Gains..................................... 183
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter 9 Business Process Reengineering for Ewe . . . . . . . . . . 187
Step 6: Academics..................................... 189
Target the Process................................. 191
Analyze the Current State........................... 191
Design the Future State ............................ 192
Conduct a Gap Analysis............................. 192
Engage the Transition Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Step 7: Action ........................................ 194
Know the Need ................................... 194
Map and Measure................................. 195
Shoot for the Stars ................................ 203
Plot the Path ..................................... 217
Fly Forward ...................................... 220
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Chapter 10 You Reap What You Sow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Rest/Reflect/Relate (R3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
x Table of Contents
Posttest: What Have You Learned?........................... 229
Afterword ............................................... 232
Test Answer Key .......................................... 234
References............................................... 235
About the Author ......................................... 236
Index ................................................... 237