Cleanliness & Orderliness Before Lean?

I want to put a pull system in place with vendors as a first step toward lean because it will produce quick positive results and I am getting resistance from those who believe we should educate and install 5S first. I agree that neat & clean & orderly are important and we are that already. My objection is that the time & effort can be spent on installing the vendor pull system. Also I have never seen inventory go down or profit improve from sweeping the floor & improving the cleanlyness by 10% above the current level. What do you think?

It is important to make your first Lean initiatives successful and timely. Supplier Kanban is normally one of the last elements to be implemented in a "Lean" transformation strategy, largely because it is a lengthy process that involves changing the behavior of organizations outside your direct control.

The term "5Ss" is derived from the Japanese terms that describe clean and productive work areas. 5S initiatives focus on cleaning the work areas and establishing visual controls (e.g., visual outlines of where tools should be stored, andon status boards*, standard work boards that are current and updated, and posting of key metrics and information on process costs). These visual aids have a single over-riding objective: to support transparency for all participants (cell personnel and managers) into every aspect of the cell operation and its status at any time.

This transparency is important in building the mutual commitment of the entire production team and the ability to improve flow through the plant floor. And it is an important element in establishing a true, commonly shared "Lean culture" across the plant floor.

Implementing Supplier Kanban before establishing a Lean culture internally is an idea that has inherent problems, primarily because it assumes that Supplier Kanban is a "silver bullet" which can yield instant gratification and it fails to recognize that the Lean culture is driven by management example and involvement.

Lean initiatives are destined to fail if the culture of the organization remains unchanged. Supplier Kanban as an isolated strategy is bound to yield dissapointing results in the absence of effective progress with Lean initiatives within your own plant(s). If you are unable to establish level production and steady flow in your plant and a true "Lean culture" you may simply shifting inventory risks to your supplier -- which may have unintended consequences and yield disappointing results.

If you want a Lean supply chain, each participant must be educated in the Lean philosopy and, ultimately, adopt its culture. This requires starting with Tier-1 suppliers and working up the chain. It's a time consuming process which will take substantially longer than an internally controlled 5S initiative -- even to work with only your Tier-1 suppliers.

Your organization needs to lead by example. It may have higher future payoff; but the benefits may take quite a while to be fully achieved.

* Andon is a Japanese term from the Toyota Production System. An andon board is a visual display in a production cell that indicates the current status of the production cell and alerts the production team to any emerging problems. The board is usuallyelectronic, although it need not be.