Although the introduction of Lean is very often done in a project type approach, it should be clear from the start that Lean is a philosophy; it is a journey of never ending improvement by using the knowledge, skills and creativity of all employees. One part of the Lean philosophy is that we have to put energy into activities that have value for the customer, so called Value Adding activities. The rest is waste, in Lean indicated with the Japanese term "muda". Many tools and techniques in Lean are directed at eliminating or at least reducing "muda".

Unfortunately Lean has all too often been limited to eliminating "muda" and this has added a negative connotation. Lean is seen as a method for reducing cost and sacking people. The slogan "Lean and Mean” sums this all up. A pity really, because Lean is a philosophy that is fundamentally based on the belief in the power of the people.

Another misunderstanding is that Lean and Six Sigma are each others opposites. As always, an integration of methods will be far more powerful than creating artificial contradictions. We will say a little more on that in the part on “Lean Six Sigma”.

QS Consult uses a Lean philosophy in all its activities: we work together with the people to develop procedures for the quality system, we look for the simplest solutions, we use Lean methods within the DMAIC cycle of Six Sigma, we only apply those techniques that add value to the process, …

For training and coaching specifically related to Lean implementation we try to apply the principles of Micro Learning and Reality Teaching: transfer and apply knowledge to small groups as close as possible to reality. As the Japanese say: we go to "Gemba".

For projects related to Lean, QS Consult works a lot with PvO (see “partnerships” because their philosophy is closely related to ours. In the field of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) we have a unique approache that has been developed in cooperation with Volvo Cars Gent for managing processes and maintenance from the design stage on.

Services offered:

• Consulting on the introduction of Lean
• Training and coaching in TPM
• Training and coaching specific Lean tools
• Training course Lean Six Sigma

References:

Volvo Cars, Stankiewicz, public course with PvO, Gevalo, …

Additional information:

• Overview of Lean and Lean methods
• Overview of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
• Detailed descriptions of Condition Management
• Publication on Condition Management