Lean Concepts Learning

Lean thinking is a management philosophy focused on eliminating ____ to maximize customer value and create flow.

• dark time

• waste

• constraints

• bias

Answer explanation

What is waste and why does it need to be removed from our processes?

Waste is defined as anything that doesn’t add value to a product or service. Value is defined as anything that a customer would be willing to pay for. Therefore, waste is an inefficiency within the system which leads to unnecessary costs and reduces profitability.

Which one of these is NOT one of the eight types of waste?

• overproduction

• waiting

• defects

• boredom

How does Lean thinking ensure quality and reduce variability?

• By forcing employees to do management’s bidding.

• By limiting the organization to only three critical processes.

• By promoting standardized work, visual management, error-proofing.

• By establishing goodwill and hope.

True or False

An important Lean concept is respect for people –recognizing and empowering employees as valuable contributors to the organization’s success.

• True

• False

To consider the organization as a complex system composed of interconnected and interdependent parts is called _____.

• Lean Thinking

• foolishness

• Theory of Constraints

• Systems Thinking

True or False

It is important to focus solely on the individual components of the system.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Systems thinking recognizes that changes in one part of the system can have ripple effects on other parts. For this reason, systems thinking emphasizes understanding the system as a whole, rather than focusing solely on individual components.

Systems thinking encourages identifying and addressing the _______.

• underlying causes of problems, rather than treating symptoms

• symptoms, because focusing on underlying causes takes too long

• bad actors

• same problems year after year

Answer explanation

Not addressing root causes results in waste such as waiting, rework, and defects. Invested effort early to identify and address root causes usually outweighs the long term effort of operating in an inefficient way.

Example: Entering the contact phone number in Party Editor instead of every load's stop level data.

_____ is a term to describe the value of direct observation and firsthand experience to gain insights, solve problems, and make well-informed decisions.

• Proceed and Visualize

• See and Say

• Check It Out

• Go and See (Gemba)

A dashboard of key process indicators or metrics is an example of ______.

• poka-yoke

• visual control

• constraints

• standardization

True or False

A process cannot be truly customer-focused if it is standardized.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Common misconception:

Standardized work is the antithesis of being focused on the customer.

Standardized work can be designed with customer-centricity in mind. It serves as a foundation that enables consistent delivery of customer-focused solutions.