Pick someone or some thing… Invest your spare minutes each day of the month helping her, him or it grow and develop. On July 1st, take a look back and see what changed.

Adam Zak

So I was delighted back a week or so ago to hear Gerard M. Anderson, DTE President and CEO, sing the praises of Lean in his 2011 first quarter earnings conference call with investors and analysts.  Said Mr. Anderson:

“I’m pleased we have made a solid start towards achieving our 2011 goals. I’m also excited about the progress we are making in our campaign to achieve operational excellence that is distinctive in our industry. Our widespread continuous improvement initiative is increasing employee engagement around improving our customers’ experience with DTE Energy. It is also helping us to continue identifying cost reduction opportunities that keep our services affordable.”

Hey, with me he’s preaching to the choir.  Adam Zak. Finding the best possible Lean executive to help you drive and sustain your Lean transformation.  Call me.

And, if your investment portfolio might benefit from some diversification into energy shares, wouldn’t it make sense to buy some Lean energy shares?  Please note: I am not qualified in any way, shape or form to give investment advice so this isn’t in any way, shape or form investment advice.

See the conference call press release here:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dte-energy-reports-first-quarter-2011-results-120766859.html

So the company finally decided to take the plunge and build a factory in Maryland.  While this turns out to have created problems as well, with regulatory issues adding months to the schedule, and perhaps another $1 million to the total cost, things are finally looking up.  Time for a grand opening, scheduled for June.

The WSJ article does not actually use the word “Lean” when discussing how business will be done differently because of Chesapeake’s new domestic manufacturing capability. But savvy Lean readers will certanly recognize the signs of Lean cultural transformation in this story. Now, if we could just get the regulators to remove some of the non-value-adding barriers currently in place we might get more off-shore manufacturers to come back on-shore.

And, by the way, my purpose in life is to help you find the Lean executives who can make this happen in your company.  Call me.  Adam Zak.  Finding the right executive Lean leaders for your Lean enterprise.

(Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291594025772186.html)

• Customer service levels at (never seen a 100): 95-99%
• Customer retention: 90% or better
• Lead times: 25% to 50% of the average in your industry
• Productivity/throughput improvement: 15+% per year (over year, over year…)
• Inventory turns: Greater than 24 per year
• Sales growth rate: 300% to 500% your industry average
• Earnings growth rate: 200% to 400% your industry average

Astonished?  Me too. But take a look at Danaher Corp. and check out some of the numbers they report publically. Or head over to ITW (Illinois Tool Works) and do the same.  Better yet, find someone who can introduce you to a middle-market privately held (not private equity) company CEO, and ask her.  You’ll be astonished too.

Makes it much easier to think about investing in the best and brightest Lean Leaders you can find, doesn’t it?  Talk about ROI…  The right Lean leaders can not only help your company survive today’s rocky times, but also thrive and grow with increased market share, achieving the kind of competitive advantage which your competitors will be unlikely to match.  Yes, it is all about the people.

I’m Adam Zak.   I can help get you there.   Call me.

What’s a Green Career?

Well, if you “Google” or “Bing” the words “green careers” the first Web site which comes up is GreenCareersGuide.com.  And I suspect they must have paid dearly for those few key words.  GreenCareers claims that it’s the #1 place on the internet to find green jobs. It features dozens of career categories ranging from solar power and mass transit, to green engineering, alternative energy, and even holistic medicine. Nope, not kidding.

I scanned a few positions on the site, and here’s the problem I see. Did you work long and hard earning your degree from the University of Illinois to become an organic poultry farmer?  Well, I sure didn’t. And where exactly in Chicago do you get this kind of job?

Or, how about an “organic food production worker,” at $25 to $30 thousand a year?

And, although I’m sure there are quite a number of “bus system” and “ train system” operator positions located in Chicago and suburbs, I doubt any of you would put these jobs on your list. And the top two career opportunities under holistic medicine:  acupuncturist and massage therapist.  I’m thinking maybe these aren’t exactly what you had in mind either.

Now… I don’t mean to make too much fun out of these “left field” examples.  But we all know that the concept of “green” is still evolving in many ways, including terminology, definitions and roles. 

So let me suggest an alternate way of attaining your green career aspirations.  Jobs that allow you to define and implement real-world, value-added green initiatives, produce bottom line results, and develop competitive advantages for your company and for yourself.

The opportunities I’m talking about cut across virtually every aspect of a company’s operations – from engineering and production, to sales & marketing;  accounting & finance; and throughout the global supply chain.  And in industries as diverse as aerospace, technology, healthcare and software design.

The Common Denominator is Lean

Lean Manufacturing, Lean Thinking, or often simply just “Lean,” is a business culture that considers expending  resources for any goal other than to create value for the end customer as wasteful, and so a target for elimination. “Value” is defined as any action or process the customer is willing to pay for. Lean is about delivering more of that value with less. Less time, less energy, less of whatever required input necessary to create the desired output.

Putting it another way, Lean is a variation on the theme of efficiency. It’s based on optimizing flow of value to the customer:  increasing that value, decreasing waste. Lean means using observation and experimentation to generate data to help decide what matters, what should be done, rather than simply accepting “but that’s how we’ve always done things before.”  

Because as Susan Cischke, Group Vice President, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, at Ford Motor Co. said not too long ago, “If you’re just trying to do something for the environment, and it isn’t very economical, then you’re going to be out of business.”

Let me throw out some ideas for your consideration. Let’s think about jobs like these.

United Parcel Service

There’s Tasha Hovland, an industrial engineering manager at United Parcel Service.  Tasha was on one of the many teams working under Bob Stoffel at UPS.  Teams which helped devise radically new process thinking and operational procedures, saving the company and its customers hundreds of millions of dollars.  Oh, and also massively reducing the company’s carbon footprint. Three short examples, all based on Thinking Lean:

1. UPS routes are planned so that drivers almost never have to make left turns across oncoming traffic, because it creates a fuel-burning delay, and is also a traffic safety issue.
2. UPS installed telematics on its vehicles to monitor what’s happening in these trucks – real-time data. The sensors indicate when the oil or an engine component needs to be swapped out.  UPS no longer routinely changes oil at 6,000 miles; only when the data says it’s actually necessary to do so.
3. UPS also built a program to help customers shrink the size of their shipping containers. Smaller and better fitting boxes, means fitting more of them on a truck or airplane, while customer product is still well-protected against damage. More boxes per truck, better route planning, faster routes, fewer delays…well, you get the picture.

Less, less and…still less. Each of these results achieved using Lean Thinking. 

When you multiply these small Lean changes by thousands of shipments daily you realize major green benefits. UPS was able to deliver 350,000 more packages last year while driving 53,000 fewer miles PER DAY!  The no-left-turn idea itself saved over 20 million miles that year. Less wasted fuel and time, smaller carbon footprint.

Perhaps a job that Tasha might  aspire to someday is Bob Stoffel’s.  Bob most likely has the longest job title at UPS – SVP Supply Chain, Strategy, Engineering, and Sustainability.   Some of you may know he attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, and started as a part-time UPS loader while at UIC.  And now quite the career success story.

Subaru

You might also pursue a green career at Subaru of America  over in Lafayette, Indiana.  Chances are there’d be a strong Lean flavor to any career path you would choose here.

In 2003, this was the first American auto assembly plant designated a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, and then in 2004 the first US auto plant to reach zero landfill.  By 2008, Subaru had achieved a 99.8% recycling rate, implemented waste reduction programs and introduced major alternative energy initiatives.

This plant was designed and constructed “Lean” from the ground up.  Think about the people involved across all levels of the company who committed to making this happen, and what those jobs might have been.  Probably not the typical positions you’d have seen at General Motors during the same time frame.

Thomas Easterday, Subaru executive vice president, and their highest-ranking executive in North America, was the company’s Lean and green champion from day one. In 2009 Tom won Purdue’s annual Excellence in Manufacturing Innovation award.  According to Purdue, “this award goes to an individual whose vision and leadership creates a new standard in manufacturing by envisioning, implementing and achieving results that conventional wisdom would otherwise view as improbable or impossible.”  

Sounds a lot like Lean to me, and Tom gives all the credit to his 3,000 Lean associates.

Steelcase

Angela Nahikian, manager of global environmental strategy at Steelcase, another large Midwestern manufacturer, told Fast Company magazine not too long ago: “This isn’t about making a green product. This is about changing the way you do business. If you think you’ve got it all figured out, you’re lying to yourself … This is an imperfect journey.” 

One of the people helping Steelcase towards a more perfect journey is Timothy Schipper.  Tim began his Steelcase career as a product engineer, then worked 14 years in IT engineering systems.  Seven years ago he became one of the company’s Lean managers and is now a senior Lean coach. Tim, who has degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, says that at Steelcase, “Lean manufacturing means operating in an environmentally sustainable way.” 

There are thousands of “Tims” today in American business and industry helping transform their organizations into Lean & Green champions. Some of them reside within the diverse business units of Orland Park’s Tuthill Corporation, and even at S&C Electric, founded in 1911 in Chicago, where Lean is still in its infancy. And at Boeing, Abbott Labs, Coca-Cola, GE, United Airlines, AAR Corp., Baxter, Kraft…

Lean Beyond Manufacturing

One unfortunate misconception is that Lean applies only for manufacturing.  Not at all true.  It’s also very evident in healthcare, financial services and even in state and local government.

Lean will work in every business and every process because it’s not a tactic or a cost reduction program, but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization. Some of the non-manufacturing pioneers, in healthcare for instance, are organizations such as Wisconsin-based ThedaCare;  Loyola Medical Center in Maywood; Provena Covenant in Urbana; and Christie Clinic in Champaign, where CEO Alan Gleghorn is the primary Lean leader for the organization.

Justin Chapman leads global process management, another way of saying  Lean, at Northern Trust Corporation.  Other financial companies such as Nationwide Insurance, Fidelity Investments, Chicago’s AON, and down-state-based  State Farm began their Lean journeys long ago.  You could also check out the Lean Six Sigma game plan at Bank of America. And let’s not forget retail powerhouse Amazon.com and one of their newest acquisitions, Zappos.com.  

To see Lean government in action I’m afraid you’d have to head over to Iowa, and it looks like there are also efforts under way in Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin. Illinois, at the moment unfortunately, not so much.

Conclusion

It takes many shapes, forms and flavors, but Lean is all around us. I suggest you take a closer look at how adding the pursuit of Lean to your career can help you achieve personal and professional success, as well as helping make the world a greener, and Leaner, place. 

Thank you.  Adam Zak.

Resources

Find some great Lean & Green ideas at Tim McMahon’s blog (especially this post) or over at Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org. The Lean Enterprise Institute is also a great resource.

Next week on April 19^th you might want to check out this Webinar sponsored by AME, “On the Path from Lean to Green.”

For Lean Healthcare resources visit the Healthcare Value Leaders network.

And please be sure to visit a great source for Lean career opportunities at LeanJobsBlog.com.

And so too with the acronym “VOC,” as I learned this morning when searching the hash tag #VOC on Twitter.  Being of the curious sort, I’ve located a Web site which has ranked the occurrence of VOC in common usage across various fields. They list 32 possibilities and indicate that there are (at least?) another 137 out there somewhere.

I’ve listed the top ten here for your easy reference, and I note with some surprise that in third place is “Voice of the Customer” as utilized by the US Postal Service. Hmm…? 

Numbers four and six on the list are marketing and systems engineering contexts. More in line with lean production. But I think my favorite may be the heavy metal band Valley of Chrome, clocking in with a ranking of number 22. Check them out. But turn down the volume on your speakers before you do.

Driving any successful Lean initiative demands clarity in communication across the organization. Let’s always be sure we’re using language we’ve all agreed squares with what we intend it to mean.

Adam Zak – Delivering Exceptional Lean Executive Talent for YOUR Lean Transformation…

Hi Adam,

I am reaching out to you to ask for help in uncovering THAT ONE GREAT HIDDEN JOB LEAD. 

If you haven’t already heard, I’m actively seeking my next professional engagement.  And as you undoubtedly know, the best career opportunities are often hidden.   So the best way to uncover these is with the help of people you already know.  I’m fortunate to have a fairly large network and am confident that  someone, maybe you Adam, will be the source of the lead that turns into my next fantastic opportunity. 

I am currently VP Operations at Audio and Video Labs (Disc Makers) in Pennsauken,  NJ.  I can add the most value to an organization where my extensive experience as a Technical Operations Leader with considerable Lean/CI experience can be better utilized.  If you know of a specific situation I should explore, please call or email to fill me in on the details. 

I also encourage you to join my LinkedIn professional network if you haven’t already done so.  My profile is at  http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmarie. 

Thank you in advance for your assistance.  BTW, all leads are good leads so don’t be shy…

All the best,

Mike Marie

When you book a tee time online many of the local pro shops will email you, or hand out flyers as you sign-in, providing some tips that can make your 18-hole experience a bit more enjoyable (assuming going faster equals joy) if, unfortunately, not cheaper.  So here’s my compilation of these Heijunka hints which I’ll call “Fast Times at  Winter Golf.”  Helpful to all who’d prefer to get in their 18 holes in under six hours. Note that excessive time on the links has been known to seriously disrupt standard cocktail hour work.

Perhaps readers can comment on which Lean principles or practices come into “play” here. I’ve mentioned what I think might be a few and also highlighted certain key words as clues…

DO set your expectations for pace of play reasonably.  If you think you’ll complete 18 holes on a busy golf course in less than 4 hours your expectation is not reasonable.  Reflect, then readjust your belief system, say to about 4.5-5 hours.  Then if you finish sooner you will be pleased.  (Unless you are a total J-I-T fanatic, in which case you may become schizophrenic).  

DO play Ready Golf.  Ready Golf does not mean RUSH!  (Haste makes waste – not actually a Lean principle). Ready Golf means BEING READY to play, not playing when you’re ready.  Here are a few simple guidelines to follow.  Following these pointers could save 10 to 15 minutes per round.  Unfortunately, if the group in front of you is not practicing Ready Golf then you will be playing at their pace of play. (Takt time?)   

 Walk to your ball as soon as possible, so that you can choose your club and think about the shot in ADVANCE, not when it is your turn.

After you hit your shot, get back in the cart, hang on to your club and drive to your partner’s ball.  While your partner is deciding on his club you will have time to clean and replace your club into your bag.  (5S) 

When driving a cart, drop off your partner first, let your partner choose his or her club, and then drive to your own ball to get READY to play. 

When a ball is lost, hit your shot FIRST and then look for the lost ball.  If you find someone else’s ball (not from your foursome, of course)  it’s OK to pretend that was the ball with which you were playing.

Walk down the SIDES of the fairway to reach your ball and then APPROACH it from the center.  NEVER play in a caravan, moving in a group from ball to ball. (Single-piece flow…?) 

When on the Green, line up your putt BEFORE it is your turn, and putt out immediately instead of marking, if you are not in someone else’s line. 

DON’T hit a ball into the group in front of you. This won’t make them play any faster; it will only make them angry. It might make them play even more slowly.  Author has first-hand experience with this. (Drum-buffer-rope…?)  

DON’T stand in the middle of the fairway, hands on your hips, fuming at the group in front of you, while they play their next shot.  You’re guaranteed to hit a lousy ball if your emotional intelligence is off kilter and you lack respect and empathy for those in the group in front of you. (Root cause?) 

DO pass these tips along to your fellow golfers.  The more golfers who play with consideration for their fellow golfers the better the pace of play will be. (Shared best practices…)  

Final DO. Courtesy of Mr. Iwata, many years ago. Hit a really, really straight and long drive, chip onto the green to within one or two yards of the cup, and sink your putt with two or fewer strokes. (Standard work).  

May your game today be better than yesterday’s, but not as great as the one you’ll play tomorrow. Isn’t that the spirit and essence of continuous improvement?  

Adam Zak Executive Search – Delivering Executive Leadership for YOUR Lean Transformation

“If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher.  I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under the present circumstances.”

- Albert Einstein

“Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends.”

- Woody Allen

‘Nuff said.

Adam Zak, Providing Executive Leadership for Your Lean Transformation…

I’ve been scanning the news reports and polls, blogs and web sites.  Looks like quite a few companies are positioning themselves for growth in 2011 and beyond by trading up existing managers with newly hired ones.

A significant majority of respondents to a recent executive survey expect companies to leverage the current economic environment by selectively replacing underperforming executives with new recruits over the next six months. Less than one percent expect their companies to shed senior management roles during that period.  And  only 14 percent of respondents forecast companies will opt not to add new management positions.  Finally, very few are planning to continue pruning their mid-level management (Director, VP – where many Lean transformation leaders reside) ranks.

So looks to me like there’s increasing confidence in the management employment market.  Promising economic indicators continue to point to an accelerating economic recovery.  If you are part of Lean leadership in your organization, how will this trend affect you?  If you’re in the C-suite and strategizing how to plot your course over the next 3-12 months, how will this affect your plans and decisions?

Call me.

Adam Zak.  Executive Leadership for the Lean Transformation.