Podcast subject: Misadventures in Lean land: The mistakes that I've made Host: Philip HoltGuests: Russell Watkins (external guest), Anthony Howarth, Adam NicklinAbstract: What is Lean Land? Is it a place that a wasteful land, as most organisations unfortunately are, can become? Or is it, rather, a separate place, where esoteric discussions are held, using Japanese terminology and abstract concepts, whilst those people in the ‘Real World’ get on with the business in hand? In this Podcast we discuss the guests’ adventure in Lean Land and also some of their most painful misadventures…Content: Introductions.What Lean Land is, and where do I find it.How to increase the population of Lean Land.The guests’ best adventures in Lean Land.The guests’ most painful misadventures in Lean Land.Advice to anyone who wants to raise the Lean Land flag.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Sean Fields, Michael Sanders (external guests)Abstract: Many Lean Practitioners find it difficult to make Lean stick. This lack of sustainability, or ‘stickiness’, is often difficult to diagnose, to understand why it’s not working. The authors of Quantum Lean, Sean Fields and Michael Sanders, have a perspective on this and, in this episode, will help us to think differently about how Lean Thinking works – What they call “Quantum Lean”.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Nick Walters, Mark SneeringerAbstract: Six Sigma is a well know improvement methodology, first made famous by Motorola and GE, and now ubiquitous across industry. However, there are a lot of myths around Six Sigma: Is it a philosophy, a strategy, a methodology, or a tool? Is Six Sigma DMAIC? Is Six Sigma DFSS? Should we use Six Sigma or Lean? This episode of the Podcast aims to eradicate some of the myths and elucidate the realities with thee eminent guests and masters in this field.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Mona Balasubramanian, Anna Truscott-Smith, Debbie Adams, Adam NicklinAbstract: Talent Development is a process by which we recruit the right person for the role, determine their strengths for the role, and support their development to be the best that they can. If we do this successfully and consistently across the organisation, it promotes improved job satisfaction, better engagement, and superior business performance. In this episode we speak to experts in this field, to better understand what makes Talent Development a success.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Rob Etheridge, Gary Shurmer, Jon Tudor, Anthony HowarthAbstract: The Kaikaku experience is an opportunity to visit companies who are excelling at their Lean Transformation to learn from them and gain inspiration for your own journey. However, it’s not traditional benchmarking, nor is it ‘industrial tourism’ and it’s important that the experience is properly curated to provide the maximum value. In this Podcast, the guests talk about what makes a Kaikaku experience successful, and how the listener can experience it themselves.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth, Adam NicklinAbstract: Inventory Entitlement is a methodology by which the required inventory investment for the current Value Stream Design is understood, balanced to budget, and then reduced through Value Stream improvements. However, it is often misunderstood, or misapplied, and getting it right is critical to the optimisation of Inventory.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Marc Davidson, Rob EtheridgeAbstract: A3 Problem Solving is an underused methodology in most organisations, yet can make Problem Solving highly effective, as well as much simpler and easier to communicate. However, there does appear to be an element of fear and a belief that it takes too long to solve problems using this approach and so the purpose of this episode is to debunk some of the myths around it.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth, Gary Shurmer, Jose RodriguezAbstract: Daily Management and Problem Solving as a phrase sounds like a tautology to many Lean Leaders as, for them, Daily Management is about Problem Solving. Nevertheless, experience has taught that without a real emphasis on Problem Solving, Daily Management quickly becomes about “reporting the news”, spending time explaining what went wrong and why it will be okay next time. However, Daily Management must be about “making the news” and it is therefore crucial that everyone involved knows how to problem solve effectively and ensure that Daily Management is driving performance improvement everyday.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: David Bovis, Levent Turk, Edwin van den Berg & Anthony HowarthAbstract: Change is something that human beings are constantly experiencing, from our cradle to the grave, in both our personal and professional lives. Organisations, in both the public and private sectors, are constantly reinventing themselves and it would be almost unheard of to find an organisation of any scale that doesn’t have at least one significant change (or transformation) programme ongoing. However, the way that we experience and respond to change isn’t something that can be logically planned for or easily predicted, as the psychology of change goes to the very root of our being as humans and involves functions of the brain that evolved millions of years ago, and that still cannot be fully explained by science. In this episode our guests discuss what makes change fail and what leaders can do to better understand the function of the brain and how to adopt a people focus that can make their change goals a success.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth, Catherine Wang, Adam NicklinAbstract: Standardised Work is a misunderstood subject, which can evoke feelings of work being made ‘robotic’, of stifling creativity, or being too time consuming to create and maintain. In this episode I speak to three experts who can talk about how quite the opposite is true; that Standardised Work reduces the stress and conscious repetitiveness of work, providing the freedom and time to be more creative, and takes far less time than the constant fire-fighting and ‘heroics’ that non-standardised processes require. We also talk about the importance of a ‘return to standard’ as the first step to problem solving, and of how standardisation of work requires ownership by the people who do the work. We finally discuss two important elements of Standardised Work, that of its place in Office / non-Manufacturing Processes, and the significance of Kaizen to Standardised Work.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Rob Bullock, Gary Shurmer, Adam NicklinAbstract: The Team Leader and Group Leader roles are two of the most important leadership roles in an organisation, directly impacting and influencing the majority of a company’s staff. It’s therefore critical that they are the right person for the role and that they’re supported to be successful. What does that look like in reality? What does an organisation need to do to ensure that it recruits and selects, inducts, trains and supports its TLs and GLs excellently? In this episode I speak to four experts on their experiences, including one of our Site Directors who has implemented new ways of recruiting and developing our TLs and GLs over the past couple of years.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Scott Parkinson, James DurowseAbstract: Adopting the Six Sigma approach to Problem Solving requires a change in the way that we think about Problem Solving and many of us are initially sceptical about making that change. In this Podcast we speak with Scott, a newly certified Greenbelt in our Western Approach site, who explains his personal journey through that change curve.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Mike Fisher, Ben RichardsonAbstract: Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is the approach to machine and equipment maintenance that world-class companies use and delivers superior asset management. It’s a philosophy of asset management that takes true ownership and aims to not only maintain the machinery and equipment in the condition that it was commissioned but to actually improve its performance. The key goals of TPM are: 1. Zero unplanned failures, 2. Zero product defects, and 3. Zero accidents However, those companies who’ve really embedded TPM into their Operating Model benefit from higher ROI and lower overall operating costs.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth and Jessie VacaAbstract: Many companies suffer with low competence levels due to staff turnover and insufficient training. It is also common, although less acknowledged, that many companies hire experienced people and assume that they will know how to do their role without training. A fantastic countermeasure to this is Job Instruction, yet it is relatively unknown, understood, or simply unused far too often and this Podcast aims to raise the understanding of the power of Job Instruction as a driver of Operational Excellence.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth, Daniele Zoratti, Pat DefebaughAbstract: Value Stream Mapping is a common term in Lean Transformations and many people are familiar with the approach. However, Value Stream Design describes a broader, more strategic process, which is one of using the tool of Value Stream Mapping but ensuring that breakthroughs are designed from Current to Future State and that there is a clear strategy for the Value Stream of the future. In this Podcast three experts share their experience of successful Value Stream Design and how it can transform an organisation’s performance.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg, Rob Etheridge and Samuel CaceresAbstract: We often speak about the importance of our people to the success of our organisation, but do we really take the time to consider the human factors that significantly impact the Quality of our Products and Services for our customers? Visual management is a critical element of helping our people to be successful, avoiding the mistakes and errors that humans are prone to make under pressure, by providing simple and accessible prompts and guides that reduce the burden of doing their job right first time. In this Podcast, Edwin, Rob and Samuel share their experiences and explain how they’re helping GKN Aerospace to make a breakthrough in this area.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Edwin van den Berg and Bill HanleyAbstract: Lean and Six Sigma are often treated as separate methodologies for business improvement, and it’s quite common for people to post or talk about Lean vs Six Sigma. However, when Lean Thinking is applied at the philosophical level, the practice of Six Sigma becomes an integral part of a Lean Operating Model and is the high level problem solving methodology. In this Podcast the guests discuss their experiences of utilising Six Sigma Problem Solving as a fundamental part and critical success factor of a Lean Operating Model.

Host: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth and Rob EtheridgeAbstract: Many people are familiar with the PDCA / Deming-Shewhart cycle, which describes the Plan-Do-Check-Act sequence that is required to make a change process effective. However, whilst it is a logical approach to change, it doesn’t adequately explain or guide one through the psychology of change. The BTFA / Bovis model, which shows the interactive and iterative nature of change through its description of the human experience of Believe-Think-Feel-Act.

Presenter: Philip HoltGuests: Anthony Howarth and Edwin van den BergAbstract: Lean means many things to many people and in this episode two industry leading Lean Leaders talk about what it means to them, how it’s impacted them personally and professionally, and what their vision is for the future.