Commencing the Lean Journey Vision
for Selecon Lighting
Simply Lean began its 10 step mentoring
programme with Selecon in mid June and
the initial focus was on introducing Lean
principles to the entire organization to
ensure the whole team gained an
understanding of where the company was
heading, with clearly defined Vision, Goals
and Values. It also gave the team an insight
into what Lean Manufacturing was and
where Simply Lean could make a difference.
Value Stream
Attending the CECC Lean Manufacturing Understanding how the business currently
Summit in late March 2006 run by Simply operates is a critical element for the Simply
Lean Consulting was a bit of a step into the Lean team and identifying the Value Stream
unknown for Jeremy Collins, Managing establishes sufficient initial knowledge.
Director of Selecon Lighting. But it was Value Stream Mapping techniques identify
Jeremy‟s drive to be world class, for the both “value added” and “non-value added”
already successful business, that activities involved in transforming both
encouraged him to seek and learn a formula material and/or information into the
for success that has transformed many requirements of the customer. The
organisations within New Zealand and emphasis being on value from the
indeed throughout the world. customer‟s standpoint, as customers are
only prepared to pay for activities that add
Over the past 20 years Selecon Lighting has value to their product or service, but are not
won an enviable reputation; becoming the happy about paying for activities that do not
recognized global leader in fixed luminaire add value – in Lean Manufacturing jargon;
technology for theatrical and entertainment Waste or Muda.
lighting. “Our constant challenge is to
develop better solutions for the theatre Once the Value Stream was understood it
lighting industry and it is this challenge very quickly showed areas where
which fires the imagination and efforts of the improvements could be made and
Selecon Team each day”. subsequently the proposed solutions were
identified through a Future State Value
To accomplish Jeremy‟s objective, of Stream Map.
changing the culture of his organization to
one that continually improves each of the Single Piece Flow
elements of the business from the welfare of
the team to the prosperity of the business, The most significant solution was to change
the Lean Manufacturing Summit was the first to Single Piece Flow as opposed to the
step in reaching that world class distinction traditional Batch Production techniques
that he strived for. previously adopted by Selecon.
The Toyota Production System principles, As expected this immediately raised a
on which Lean Manufacturing is modeled, number of concerns with the Selecon Team
are at the heart of Selecon‟s Lean journey; as Simply Lean proposed to change one of
when you think about it, making lighting its five assembly lines to Single Piece Flow
solutions is not substantially different from within the first week of Simply Lean‟s
the processes used for making cars and this involvement.
article specifically looks at Selecon‟s first
steps along this continuous path to a more Jeremy Collins says “there were production
prosperous business. and shipping deadlines to meet during that
week and already being slightly behind, here
were a team who had only been in our
business 3 days wanting to interrupt
production to change a whole line around -
what were they thinking? – Lean obviously”.
But with a high level of confidence and trust
in the Simply Lean team, plus more than a
little nervousness, the Selecon team
implemented the changes.
Single Piece Flow
The Selecon Team were obviously
delighted, not just at management level, but
also at team member level as the work was
a lot easier to accomplish, the team
understood more of what was going on and
at finish time even said they “had a good
day”.
Mass Production Kanban
Having lost a couple of hours production A key element in changing a business to a
time whilst the line was rearranged, the new “demand/pull” system is the use of Kanban,
line was up and running – or was it? No - and this was another of the Lean tools that
immediately the line stopped due to a quality was introduced during the first week.
problem, but instead of being hidden within
the Mass Production techniques of the past Demand is created at the customer level, so
the impact was clearly highlighted because whilst up front the assembly requirements
of the Single Piece Flow. With a solution are “pulled” from the “customer”, the
quickly in place the line recommenced upstream supply of material and parts to the
production and again stopped soon after as assembly process must also be “pulled” to
further issues were highlighted. This time it meet those same demands. In Selecon‟s
was very evident there was considerable case Kanbans were developed to draw parts
imbalance between work stations, which from the Store, and material from the
again had previously been hidden. By Extrusion Cutting and Wiring Loom
moving job elements around a much better Manufacturing processes. Kanban levels
balance was soon achieved and the line were initially set at approximately one days
now began to run smoothly. So smoothly supply, delivered to the line on a daily “milk
that the normal target of 6 units per hour run” for Kanbans that were triggered over
was easily exceeded, in fact the production the course of that day.
rate had doubled before the end of the day
with the same number of team members, This meant that the only parts on the line
hence the production and delivery deadlines were those immediately “demanded” by the
were met far more easily than ever customer thus improving the parts selection
previously experienced. during assembly, minimizing ergonomic
issues, improving the process time and
The Team Leader was no longer working creating a huge amount of extra space on
directly on the line as their role had changed and beside the assembly line giving rise to a
to being one of line support – helping team future improvement of reducing the length of
members if they fell behind or encountered a the line during Simply Lean‟s next coaching
problem, filling in for absentees, and session.
undertaking additional training to multi-skill
the team.
5S
Good workplace arrangement reaps many
benefits including improved quality, less risk
for team members to workplace hazards,
improved productivity, items are easier to
find, more space is available and tasks
become easier.
As a well recognized technique for
accomplishing these benefits, 5S was
introduced to the Selecon team during the
first steps of their journey. 5S is an important
foundation of Lean as the visual image of a
company sends a powerful message about
the business; a quality environment = a
company that cares about quality.
Whilst this was only the first week in
Selecon Lighting‟s Lean Journey it is only
the beginning – the first small steps.
Organisations take time to change - physical
items can be transformed quickly. The long
term challenge of developing a „Selecon
culture‟ that is robust enough to take the
company forward as a learning organization
as well as the much needed productivity
improvements throughout the company will
be the judge of whether the company
becomes truly Lean.
Simply Lean will continue to help mentor
Selecon Lighting along this path and climb
the rocks this journey will undoubtedly
expose to meet Jeremy Collins‟ objective.
Peter Cox
Simply Lean
Peter brings to Simply Lean a wealth of experience in
the application of Lean Manufacturing practices having
worked for Toyota for 16 years, Electrolux and Dynamic
Controls.
www.seleconlight.com
www.simplylean.co.nz