Lean Marketing House » A3

Using A3 to introduce Lean – Dr. Balle Video

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:22:00 +0000

Lean technology has now evolved from the manufacturing floor to the whole enterprise. Many companies have found real value in applying the fundamental concepts of Lean throughout the organization. The lean concepts of Kaizen, PDCA and the tools such as Pareto Charts, 5 Why’s and even Poka Yoke are commonplace.

As a result of discussing a Lean Enterprise with Dr. Michael Balle, I asked him about his thoughts on Introducing PDCA or A3 to services is it feasible?

Dr. Michael Ballé is a business researcher and consultant and has studied lean transformation for the past 15 years. He is Associate Researcher at Télécom Paris Tech and the co-founder of the French Lean Institute (www.institut-lean-france.fr) and the Project Lean Enterprise (www.lean.enst.fr). He coaches CEOs and senior executives in using lean to radically improve their businesses’ performances and establish lean cultures.

Dr. Balle is also a Shingo Prize winner as an author of the The Gold Mine and The Lean Manager. His newest Shingo Prize was on the adaption of The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround to an audiobook that features performances by multiple readers who bring its realistic business story and characters to life.

Learn the One Page Project Manager

admin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:05:00 +0000

I have been a big fan of the The One-Page Project Manager for many years. In fact, the author Clark Campbell reminded me in a recent phone call that I was the first one to write a review on the first book. Since then, he has added two more books to the collection:

I have not read the OPPM for IT but of course have the first one and the latter which is the OPPM for use with an A3. If you are familiar with an A3, I would recommend the original OPPM as you will find the A3 material rather basic. If you are not familiar with A3 the description of the process is quite good in the book but it does not go into the tools used to construct the A3 in much depth.

The One Page Project Manager is not meant to replace a full blown project management system. It helps you identify and communicate the essential details of a project. I recommended the book in my book, Marketing with A3 (Marketing with A3(Kindle Version)) as an effective reporting tool. Utilizing Lean methodologies, I always felt that in the project management area Lean never had a defined method such as the “C” in Six Sigma DMAIC. I think the OPPM completes the job and is a great companion to Lean and especially A3s. I utilize the OPPM with A3s slightly different than the book describes. I use the entire back side of the A3 for the OPPM. I take advantage of a little artistic interpretation of what constitutes one page.

Though I have not read the OPPM for IT, I would assume from reading the Table of Contents it does not address agile practices. However, since it is basically a communication and reporting tool, it may be an ideal bridge between agile teams and management. Most managers are familiar with the Gantt style and no so much with burn charts. Using the OPPM to report progress may be an ideal crossover.

I have certainly stretched the use of OPPM and managed some rather in-depth and lengthy projects with it. In fact one such project I actually reconfigured the Excel sheet to hold over 100 tasks. It is a tool that should be in anyone’s toolbox. Below is a rather detailed view of the OPPM.

Using The One Page Project Manager

P.S. Clark Campbell is putting on a half-day OPPM workshop at the 2011 Shingo Conference.

Lean Problem Solving approach

admin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Practical problem solving is at the heart of the Toyota Production System and a Lean culture. These skills are based on the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle and are the bases of the A3 problem solving process. Why is learning the foundation of problem solving so important? When you start looking through the lens of Why? Why is this happening? Why is it this way? You start building a learning organization, a problem solving culture that will grow every minute of the day. The very best competitive advantage that you can instill within your organization.

Ron Pereira at the Gemba Academy introduces the 8 step Practical Problem Solving methodology in this video and touches on a few others. The steps are:

Clarify the problem
Breakdown the problem
Set a target
Analyze the root cause
Develop countermeasures
See countermeasures through
Evaluate both results and process
Standardize successful processes

Does Lean Marketing deliver what the customer wants?

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Customers do not want more choices. They just want what they want, period. And in an economy that there is less demand than supply, they can get it. Companies in response to this create more features, more options in their products or services. They will take the deep dive into segmenting their markets and through the use of technology may be reaching the ultimate goal of marketing to a single person. Marketing technology exists that allows us to customize mass mailings, e-zines, recordings and other media in an attempt to personalize each and every marketing effort.

Companies have embraced this marketing technology and without anything more than data can provide a very unique message. Their products and services are also provided under the disguise of tailored to your needs while just being a version of a core product line. You do not need to look any further than the universities. Their customized mailings to your children and the breadth of degrees they offer are just phenomenal. It is the manipulation of data that provides this ability and I venture to say does little in swaying a high school student to attend. I believe that decision is reached by the influencers in that person’s network.

This technology is important though. It allows us to capture information about clients in a non-offensive way and in a format that allows us to automate much of the information for distribution. From a product/service standpoint creating the different version of our core product allows us to extend our reach to a greater audience. Case closed?

If it is, we forgot about that influencer thing I mentioned. Trust is difficult to obtain from data. Trust comes from people. Knowing all the influencers and marketing certainly can help but quite unfeasible in most circumstances. The data you obtain must be used to facilitate a learning atmosphere between you and your customer/prospect. You must also be willing to share seats with the customer and leave him teach you versus you being the teacher. The more they teach you the more difficult it becomes for a competitor to take them away.

In the Marketing with PDCA cycles that are utilized in Lean Marketing, we create that collaborative environment where learning and knowledge creation takes place. In the landmark book, The Experience Economy , the authors built a pyramid of “The Progressions of Economic Value and Valuable Intelligence. You can think of your own product stages and how a customer/prospect looks at your product. Each level of economic value corresponds to a level of valuable intelligence (commodities to goods, goods to data, etc.). From the book:

While the economic offering becomes more and more intangible with each step up the next echelon, the value of the offering becomes more and more tangible. Economist often talk about the “line of intangibility” between goods and services – to which we add the line of memorability” before experiences and the “line of sustainability” before transformations. Goods and services remain outside of the individual, while experiences actually reach inside of the individual to the value of the offering.

They go on to say:

Nothing is more important, more abiding, or more wealth-creating than the wisdom required to transform customers. And nothing will command as high a price.

PDCA is looked at most as problem solving methodology. I think it is the core of a Lean Culture. In the beginning stages of developing a Lean Marketing program I distinguish the difference by using Marketing with A3 as the problem solving tool of choice. This enables me to distinguish the difference between the tool A3 and PDCA which is the knowledge creation culture that is the essence of Lean Marketing. The sharing, experience and interaction of knowledge with the customer created through PDCA is what the customer wants. He proves it by the value he assigns to it.

This is why I believe the Future of Marketing is Lean!

The Future of Marketing is Lean

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 04:50:00 +0000

The sales and marketing structure has drastically changed. The typical structure still used by many is when competition was not as great and technology was not the force that it is today. Most of the time sales and marketing sold solutions without every defining the customers problem. The typical sales forecast was derived on increasing sales a certain percentage. That’s changed. In today’s business setting many companies are fighting for survival. Competition has never been so keen and the elements of the past are simply not working.

The new wave of marketing has seen an entire new set of tools being used with the components of social media leading the way. No longer do we trust print media, radio, television and other forms of traditional media. The tools have all become a commodity. Some organizations have even questioned the need for a sales force. To make effective marketing decisions, you need a clear understanding of what the customer values and what your company strategy is to support them.

Companies have found that they must listen at higher level than ever before to their customers, focusing on improving processes, and using teams. Companies have to build a culture that supports agility, relevancy and speed. To accomplish this there has to become an open sharing of information that will accelerate creativity and innovation. Value has to be understood that it is delivered at the point of consumption, not when it leaves your hands.

Lean Marketing is about installing a continuous improvement methodology to your sales and marketing process. It’s about constantly improving ever step up the way. In the smaller scheme of things it is about improving a launch, an advertising campaign and even a sales call. However, in the bigger scheme of things it is about building a structure that creates a learning organization based on an ever increasing knowledge of what the customer values.

The Lean practice of PDCA is ideal for learning and creating knowledge activities. Following this process it allows individuals and teams to recognize and take advantage of opportunities, make decisions faster, and be more responsive to customers. As part of the PDCA cycle you get feedback on the action from listening to customers and the companies’ measurement systems. Having information, taking informed action and getting feedback is part of the natural PDCA cycle. Effectiveness comes from when you use and take advantage of all your resources.

This why I believe the Future of Marketing is Lean!

A3 in Lean Thinking

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Mike Osterling, the President and Principal Consultant at Osterling Consulting was my guest on the Business901 podcast and our discussion centered around A3 problem solving and A3 thinking. Mike is a long-term Lean Practitioner and an interesting thought on his initial comment in the podcast when I asked, What he has been doing since I last talked to him?

Mike said, “Its been interesting because I’ve been reengaging with some clients and moving on from a lot of the traditional Lean tools, whether they’re being applied in office environment or of a shop floor and going to what they’re perceiving as advance concepts. So that’s exactly in line with what we want to talk about today; problem solving and A3 thinking. So it’s been a good journey and what I think is done in a normal evolution of thought and development.”

Osterling Consulting was founded for the purpose of supporting organizations on their continuous improvement journey. Building upon 18 years of internal experience in operations leadership roles, Mike has worked full time for the last 13 years applying the lean concepts in manufacturing and office environments.

Mike is also the co-author of The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments. a practical, how-to guide for planning, executing, and sustaining rapid improvements in office, service, and technical environments. Geared to continuous improvement professionals and leadership teams, this book provides the methodology and practical tools for generating measurable results, while building a motivated workforce and creating a culture with an integrated focus on customer value, quality, cost, and service. Mike is an expert facilitator for a Kaizen event, contact him through his website www.mosterling.com.

Sample A3: No Contactor Failures in Field