1st Edition
Lean Management Principles for Information Technology
Whether it's because of a lack of understanding, poor planning, or a myriad of other things, 50 to 60 percent of the IT effort in most companies can be considered waste. Explaining how to introduce Lean principles to your IT functions to reduce and even eliminate this waste, Lean Management Principles for Information Technology provides the tools and understanding to make better decisions, increase efficiencies, and make IT a major force in delivering sustainable improvements to your supply chain.
The proven Toyota Production System principles described in this book have already helped many IT organizations double and triple their output. It introduces some of the most powerful Lean tools and techniques—including Six Sigma, value stream mapping, and spaghetti charting—and provides a methodology for implementing them to reduce waste in your IT environment. Discussing information production processes, IT systems, and change management through the lens of Lean principles, the book:
- Provides step-by-step guidance through the processes of implementing Lean principles in your IT supply chain management system
- Illustrates successful implementation across a range of industries and countries
- Examines how to use Lean methods to achieve ongoing improvement in IT personnel
- Explains how to implement Lean in the supply chain, while reducing IT cycle time and costs
The text reviews the major management challenges facing IT and illustrates solutions with stories, examples, and case studies of how Lean IT has led to unprecedented improvements in the private and government sectors. Demonstrating how to structure the components of your IT system in accordance with Lean, the book details the measures required to achieve and sustain a world-class Lean IT supply chain management system.
WHY A BOOK ON LEAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY?
Why Look at IT? What Is the Problem?
Some Examples
So What Does Lean Bring to the Table?
What Does an IT System Look Like?
IT Issues to Avoid
A New Directive for IT Organizations
IT Background
The IT Evolution
The Enterprise Role of IT
The Twenty-First Century Enterprise and IT
Case Study: Wipro
Are We "Doing the Right Things?"
The A3 Steps
"Team Members" Box
"Approval Information/Signatures" Box
"Clarify and Validate the Problem" Box
"Perform a Purpose Expansion on the Problem" Box
Break Down the Problem/Identify Performance Gaps" Box
"Set Improvement Targets" Box
"Determine Root Cause" Box
"Develop Improvement Task List" Box
"Execute Improvement Tasks" Box
"Confirm Results" Box
"Standardize Successful Processes" Box
Using the 9-Step A3 Tool
What Loop Am I In?
Case Study: Wipro (Continued)
The Art of Managing Change
A Discussion of Change
Models for Change
Innoveering
How Do We Manage Change?
The People
The Circle
Goal Setting
Leadership
Values and Ethics
Add Value to Society As an Enterprise
Continuous Learning
Innovation and Change Creation
Measuring/Rewarding
Stake Holders
Successful Change Management
Some Models for Change
Quality Functional Deployment (QFD)
Total Quality Management (TQM)
The TQM Process
Systematic Problem Solving (SPS) at AT&T
The Good News about TQM
Process Reengineering
ISO 9000
CAP
Kotter
USAF 8-Step
Understanding Change
IT Pitfalls
Case Study: Wipro (Continued)
BRINGING LEAN INTO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY?
How Can Lean Help IT?
Leaning IT
Measurable Benefits of Applying Lean to IT
How IT is Changing
Case Study: Wipro (continued)
Some Final Thoughts
What is Lean?
Defining Lean
The Key Principles of Lean
Define "Value" from the Customer’s Perspective
Define the Process by Looking at and Analyzing All the Pieces of the SIPOC
Remove Obstacles (Bottlenecks) That Disrupt the Value Flow
Drive Product and Service Flow at the "Pull" of the Customer
Empower Employees in the Change Process through Teaming
Build a Strategic Plan
Lean Tools
Acceptance Tools
Acceptance Tool #1—Breakthrough Thinking/Concept Management/Purpose Expansion
Acceptance Tool #2—Team Effectiveness Surveys
Goals and Objectives
Roles and Responsibilities
Enthusiasm and Motivation
Trust and Openness
Leadership and Direction
Information and Communication
Acceptance Tool #3—Change Readiness Surveys
Acceptance Tool #4—Myers Briggs
Acceptance Tool #5—JoHari Window
Technical Tools
Technical Tool #1—7 Wastes
Overproduction
Waiting
Unnecessary Transportation
Overprocessing
Excess Inventory
Unnecessary Movement by Employees
Production of Defective Parts
Underused Employee Abilities or Creativity
Technical Tool #2—Value Stream Mapping (Current State/Ideal State/Future State)
Mapping the Process
Preparation
Mapping Process
Ideal State Value Stream Map/Future State Value
Stream Map
Develop an Action Item List of Improvement Opportunities
Classify the Action Item List
Select Improvement Events Based on the Highest
Priority Areas of Improvement
Technical Tool #3—SIPOC (Supplier/Input/Process/Output/Customer)
Technical Tool #4—SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats)
Technical Tool #5—VOC (Voice of the Customer)
Technical Tool #6—Systems Flowchart/Information Flow Diagrams
Technical Tool #7—Gemba Walk (Go and See Analysis)
Technical Tool #8—B-SMART Targets
Technical Tool #9—JIT (Just-In-Time)/Kanban/Cells
Technical Tool #10—Spaghetti Chart
Technical Tool #11—Lean Events/RIE (Rapid Improvement Events)/Kaizen Events
Technical Tool #12—Improvement Project
Technical Tool #13—Just-do-It
Technical Tool #14—5S
Sort
Set in Order (Straighten)
Shine
Standardize
Sustain
A Sixth "S"—Safety
Technical Tool #15—Poka-Yoke
Technical Tool #16—Six Sigma/DMAIC
Technical Tool #17—TPM (Total Product Maintenance)
Technical Tool #18—Standard Work
Technical Tool #19—5 Whys
Technical Tool #20—Brainstorming
Technical Tool #21—Fishbone Charts
Technical Tool #22—Pareto Charts
Technical Tool #23—Affinity Diagrams
Technical Tool #24—Control Charts
Technical Tool #25—PICK (Possible, Implement, Challenge, Kill) Chart/Impact/Effort Matrix
Technical Tool #26—Theory of Constraints (TOC)/Bottleneck Analysis
Management Philosophy
Operating Principles
Technical Tool #27—Project Charter
Sustainment
Comparison of Methods
Some Success Stories
Case Study: Wipro (Continued)
Summary
Appendix 6-A
The JoHari Window Assessment Test
Directions
Interpretation
JoHari Window Test
References
Are We Working on the Correct Problem? Or Are We Creating More Problems?
The A3 Steps
The Two Case Examples
Case #1
Project Charter
Facilitator Activities
Event Pre-Work
Event Execution
Contents of the A3
Post-Event Activities
Case #2
Project Charter
Facilitator Activities
RIE Event Pre-Work
Event Execution
Post-Event Activities
Using the 9-Step A3 Tool
The Lean IT Event
The Role of the Facilitator
Lean Training
Lean Tools
How the Lean Process Works
Acceptance Stage
Technical Stage
Sustainment Stage
Case Study: Wipro (Continued)
Meaningful Metrics
The Role and Purpose of Control Systems
An Industrial Example—Managing Your Supply Chain Using Event Management
Defining the Measurement System
What is the Best Measure for your Organization?
Measurement Reporting Tools
LEAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTO THE FUTURE
Evaluating Your World Class Status
IT Best Practices
Summary
Biography
Dr. Gerhard Plenert has 25+ years of professional experience in IT quality and productivity consulting and in working on manufacturing planning and scheduling methods. He has 13 years of academic experience and has over 150 published articles and nine books:
EManager: Value Chain Management in an eCommerce World—2001
Finite Capacity Scheduling (an APICS / Oliver White Series Book)—2000
International Management and Production: Survival Techniques for Corporate America
International Operations Management (an MBA textbook)—2004
Making Innovation Happen: Concept Management through Integration
Operations Management (A United Nations Training Manual for Developing Country factories)—2005
The Plant Operations Deskbook (an APICS series book)
Reinventing Lean; Introducing Lean Management into the Supply Chain—2007
World Class Manager
Dr. Plenert has extensive industry experience, including:
Private sector
- Kraft Foods, Smart and Final, Davis Lay, Ritz-Carlton, Hewlett-Packard, Seagate, Motorola, PPI, Clark Equipment, NCR Corporation, and AT&T
- Consulting companies—Infosys, Mainstream, AMS, IBM, SCI, SAS
- Corporate "guru" on supply chain management for AMS and Infosys
Government sector
- California—DCSS, DHS
- Federal—DSS, US Air Force, Air Guard
- International—United Nations
- Texas—OAG
- New York—City of New York warehousing system
Dr. Plenert has extensive academic experience:
- Ph.D. in mineral economics at the Colorado School of Mines, which is their operations and business management degree (under Gene Woolsey)
- Eleven years as a full-time faculty member (BYU and CSUC)
- Currently teaching SCM at the University of San Diego
- Teaching operations, manufacturing, and supply chain management as far away as Malaysia and England
Dr. Plenert has:
- Worked in senior management
- Generated up to triple the office productivity with the same staffing
- Worked as an industry consultant implementing SCM, ERP, and eBusiness systems and designing a next-generation enterprise model
- Literally "written the book" on leading-edge supply chain management concepts like Finite Capacity Scheduling (FCS), Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), and World Class Management
- Taken a 14+% defect rate down to 2%
- Brought setup times from 20 minutes to as low as 6 minutes
- Reduced facility-wide inventories by 40%
Dr. Plenert’s ideas and publications have been endorsed by people like Steven Covey and companies like Motorola, AT&T, Black & Decker, and FedEx.
