Thinking Lean: Eliminate Waste Through Continuous Improvement - Paul Akers

[@johnlammergeier2890]

This man will not truly be appreciated until he is gone, like a great painter. His work and message can save North America.

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Not everyone loves his message, but maybe they should ask themselves why they are so triggered before they pull him down.

[@johnlammergeier2890]

@@BreakthroughAcademy Very true, but he will indeed be the last man standing, and get the last laugh.

[@justinelliott3529]

I’ve read all his books. I’m a huge fan

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Us too!

[@johnlammergeier2890]

In the military we always said sweat saves blood, and in a company building your people, builds your business

[@midcitygym]

Paul is inspiring, highly recommend watching his channel

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Thanks Leo! Paul is fantastic and is was great to have him on Contractor Evolution.

[@benjaminwheeldon9853]

Finally a clear definition of non value added. If it's not changing the product, it's not value added...

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

I am glad our definition is helpful. Such a good conversation.

[@Valhalla1776]

Are there no other comments? I worked at a welding shop that got us into lean And Toyota process management. I won the competition twice In a row. Is the guy before you and the guy after you doesn't care, forget about it. I do almost everything myself doing small residential remodels and I've never made a major mistake, when I get on a big job with a general contractor running things, shit show every time. One stop shop is the way to go, stay small keep it all.

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

That's the easier route for sure, but if you're willing to put in the work you can create a great team. Check out this episode to see what I'm talking about kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZu2ppWvbNZgbbs

[@camgere]

Excellent video! Paul is amazing. There are two approaches to business: Top Down and Bottom Up. If you want to implement one piece flow and just in time, you need CEO and senior management buy in. Everything has to be perfect. It’s the bar exam. It’s like a circus trapeze act working without a safety net. First you perfect working with a net, then you work without a net. Inventory is the safety net. Toyota wants to do everything perfectly. So, they reduce inventory to the point that it is perfect or stop. They must be perfect to keep going. Then there is Bottom Up. Successful systems grow, unsuccessful systems die. Individual lean tools can be applied easily. One individual can apply it to his/her work. You are just eliminating waste and only doing what creates customer value. Coercive, command and control, mechanistic managers love it. It’s just like Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor and their industrial engineers specifying the one correct way. Except there is no continuous improvement. Systems are always flawed because the first rule of systems is: obey the rules, no changes. Lean tools include: 5S: Sort, Straighten, Scrub, Systematize, Standardize. Eliminate the 7 wastes: Waiting, Transport (things), Overprocessing, Inventory, Movement (people), Defective parts. Interchangeable parts need specifications with low variation. Standard work tells you the best way we know today to do the work. Tomorrow we will come up with something better. Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED). Build jigs to make life easier. Shadowboards (tool racks). Use Scientific Methods of Problem Solving. 5 Why’s, Cause and Effect Diagrams, Problem Analysis Tree, Pareto Charts, Value Stream Mapping, A3 reports. 8 step method: Objective, Current State, Future State, Investigation, Countermeasure with Success Metrics, Test, Reflect, Update. Keep looping until success. It is better to change one thing at a time than change several and not know what succeeded. Systems always think they are perfect and everlasting. It is only facing bankruptcy that they will consider doing things differently. Facing disaster may be the only way to convince them to go lean,

[@jimmyhailwood1819]

My bookkeeper is big in to lean, she set me up to go view a dental machine maintenance company who practices lean. I'm on the journey towards efficiency

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Glad to hear it!

[@Rimrock300]

My initial thoughts; lean is all good as long as one get the team dedicated to it. 'I will go lean, be more efficient, make my boss more profit, and in return I get no more money out of it, but a thank you, and me feeling more happy at work' As a owner or employee, I would be happy to see less vaste. But not all are thinking that way. Some are thinking 'I better go back work for my old company, less stress, 2 hours coffee breaks during the day, than that other company where I am stressed all time about doing improvements, be more efficient, reduce vaste, less coffee breaks, and all at the same salary' I will look more into lean, and possible see it from another side)

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Great thoughts and a solid rebuttal. I still think an efficient workplace is less stressful than an inefficient one. A smart entrepreneur would find a way to bonus and incentivize employees to make the improvements. Maybe a bonus on how many improvements get found or something?

[@thorstenspeil5951]

it's different - not "how many improvements" individually ... this creates egotism. It can only work if every employee participates through wages that are solidly above competitor's level and share of increased profits.@@BreakthroughAcademy

[@henryframe4260]

Some attitudes weed themselves out, that’s a plus to the company

[@mikelindberg02]

I’m a big fan of the show. This was my least favorite guest.

[@BreakthroughAcademy]

Tell me why. I appreciate the feedback.

[@ryanmoore7933]

Also a big fan of the show, and this was one of my favorite guests. I immediately bought his book, and am starting to implement with my team. The more I get into it, the more waste I see. I've started doing 2-second lean activities on my office, and it's already making a difference in my daily work. I've met a local practitioner of lean and will be taking my team on a tour of his facility next week. I'm convinced that a real dedication to lean will improve this company immensely.