To develop a Lean Resilient Supply Chain seven key capabilities must be mastered by Chief Supply Chain Officers.
The 5th capability is the Capability of Reinforcing the KAIZEN™ Culture.
The introduction or reinforcement of a KAIZEN™ Culture is both a Top-down and Bottom-up approach.
Top-down means all successful Lean Transformations have been led by an Available and Engaged Management Team. All successful Management Teams participated in KAIZEN™ Team, Events & Projects.
Bottom-up means Daily KAIZEN™ must to be implemented in all Natural Teams. We do it by engaging Team Leaders and Team Members in a Daily KAIZEN™ Process.
All teams should have a visual board with performance management. And they should be able to answer the following questions:
- Are we winning or losing in 3 seconds? And look at the KPIs, the reds and the greens.
- How does the metric behave over time?
- What is the trend?
- What action are we going to take immediately? As an immediate countermeasure.
- What are the main causes over time?
- Systemic causes. How can we eliminate a systemic problem with effective countermeasures to improve?
This needs to be done at all hierarchical levels in all Natural Teams in All Business Functions. Only then the KAIZEN™ Culture will have a strong Foundation.
Some other KAIZEN™ Culture skills: Learn how to do Focused KAIZEN™ Events. Implement a Strategy Deployment process. Educate and Train with a KAIZEN™ Lean Academy.
The file 7 KEY CAPABILITIES for a Supply Chain Lean Transformation outlines the process for Reinforcing the KAIZEN™ Culture.
In our next post we will talk about Capability #6 Increasing Supply Chain Resilience.