What is the first step in a lean transformation process?
This is the first question students and clients ask me. My reply is always, “The first step should be Strategy Deployment.”
The second question my students and clients ask me is:
why is strategy deployment the first step in your 10-step model?
Every organization wanting to be involved in a lean transformation must start by answering the key questions raised through the 5W2H process – What, Why, Where, When, Who, How, and How Much.
Without clearly defining each W and H, your organization is not participating in an organizational-wide lean transformation process; it is simply conducting a series of potentially sub-optimized point kaizens, which are short-lived improvement events.
The primary focus of Step 1 – Strategy Deployment is for an organization to identify and clearly define “Why” they are doing this, then “What” they are going to do, and “Where” their business needs to direct its resources to get the “best bang for the buck” from their lean transformation process.
What is Strategy Deployment?
Strategy Deployment came from the Japanese term “Hoshin Kanri”. This process was developed by compiling the best practices of companies that competed for the Deming Award in Japan. Strategy Deployment is a tool to help a business define how it must improve to reach its vision. It is an organization’s internal GPS to ensure its valuable resources are being directed and focused to improve critical business processes.
Strategy Deployment Inputs?
The Strategy Deployment procedure requires three inputs:
1. Define where the business needs to be. What is the desired future state (vision)?
2. Collect the performance data for each key business process
3. Gap analysis to determine the difference between the current and the future state
Strategy Deployment Outputs?
The Strategy Deployment procedure generates four outputs:
1. Strategic initiatives that are improvements to reach the future state (vision)
2. Identifies the opportunities for improvement (Kaizen) in key business processes
3. Generates feedback and results from key business processes improvements
4. Develops Standard Work or best practices
Strategy Deployment Video
In this short video, Chris Turner – Lean Manufacturing Coach will explain Strategy Deployment and why it is so important for it to be Step 1 in your Lean Transformation implementation.