Inaugural Training by Skills4Work at the Lean Gemba Academy
Inaugural Training by Skills4Work at the
Lean Gemba Academy
Following the successful launch of the Lean Gemba Academy by Maasaki Imai at Stainless Design Limited in Hamilton Skills4Work delivered its first course on “How to Lead Lean Change”. The day was well supported by local companies including Perry Resources, Waikato District Council and Goodman Fielder.
The course was designed so that attendees understand why companies who start the Lean journey fail. Research undertaken for the course identified that between 75%-90% of companies ultimately fail, with between 10%-20% of Leaders not even prepared to start the journey. The top three reasons for failure are:
1. Lack of Top Management, Leadership & Support
2. No suitable communication framework
3. Lack of Middle Management/Supervisor buy-in
Understanding the reasons for failure – and considering strategies for how to avoid the pitfalls - are the first steps towards implementing any successful cultural change.
The structure of the day was formed around the Gemba with the early part of the training taking place in the training room with attendees breaking out into groups and contextualising the learning. The second part was bringing all the learning together and having a tour of the facility from John Cook, CEO.
The course was designed with Skills4Work’s expertise at Lean Leadership in mind and the recognition that insufficient time is spent with Leaders to recognise and remedy the pitfalls ahead. Lean no longer belongs to the manufacturing shop floor; it covers all aspects of the business spectrum from sales and marketing to shipping, finance to warehousing and as such requires significant understanding to transform a business.
Comments from attendees included:
“loved the course and in particular seeing it in action…….found that very valuable”
“Great course Ian. Really enjoyed the whole day and got a lot out of it”
“The course was excellent and I now need to follow up on the ideas presented and put some action plans in place”
I’d like to thank John at Stainless Design for the fantastic tour and I look forward to the next course!