VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [26]
“You’re probably right,” said Amy. “I don’t know why they have to shut down five miles of highway when they’re only working on some little stretch – and half the time they’re not even working.”
“Exactly. The thing about Lean is that value is always defined from the customer’s point of view. We, the motorists, are the ultimate customer, but the state highway departments and the contractors always seem to do things for their own efficiency, not ours. Anyway …”
The two of them were riding in Wayne’s white SUV hybrid, Amy perched in the passenger seat catching up on email with her Black-Berry, while Wayne fumed in frustration as he drove. They were headed for the Oakton plant, about twenty miles from downtown Highboro, at the rate of about three miles per hour thanks to a construction zone that had narrowed two westbound highway lanes to one.
“Hey, on a brighter note,” Wayne said, “I just want to say I’m really looking forward to introducing Lean and Six Sigma to Hi-T, especially at the Oakton plant. I really am a hands-on kind of guy. I love to immerse myself in the details, help figure out the value stream, get people turned on about LSS, get the projects going, all of that. And my goal for the implementation at Hi-T is for it to be worthy of a Lean case study – you know, pure and by the book.”
“Well, great. Of course there are a lot of books out there, especially on Lean, as I’m finding out,” said Amy.
“That’s true. And there are a lot of different variations of Lean – including the one we developed for Winner, the one that I use. But what I mean is I’d love to see us achieve that cultural change that transforms the entire company into a Lean organization in every aspect, so that it’s more than just a program … so that it’s, you know, a mind-set.”
“Hey, go for it,” said Amy. “Wayne, you know you have my support, and that of Winner corporate. I’m really fired up about it myself. Just remember, you’ve got all of operations to manage, not just the Oakton LSS improvements. And of course we have to make some bucks, too. Nigel Furst is expecting growth from us, and Randal Tourandos set a pretty high bar.”
“Amy, I’m going to stick my neck out here, because we don’t have the projects defined or the potential savings or any of that – but my gut hunch is that, if we do it right, and keep striving for perfection, you won’t have any trouble meeting your growth goals.”
“Really? I mean, what makes you so sure?”
“Well, one of the first things I was taught when I was learning the Lean philosophy at Winner was that little improvements add up to big accomplishments. Every project we finish, while some of them may not seem that significant, will ultimately – maybe not immediately, but eventually – increase the success of the business. The gains we achieve with Lean Six Sigma are accretive – they can and should add up to big numbers over time. And the more we focus on customer value, the more the marketing side of things will flourish.”
Inspired, Amy held up her hand with fingers splayed to do a high-five, and Wayne took his right hand off the steering wheel and their palms smacked. At the same time, as Wayne turned his body so his palm could reach hers, his left hand skewed the wheel and the SUV veered off the highway, grazing an orange barrel with the edge of his bumper and toppling it. Wayne recovered quickly, but Amy’s eyes were wide as she watched the barrel roll into a gully.
“I hope that’s not an omen,” she joked.
“Nah!” said Wayne. “We’re good. Probably not even any paint damage.”
“No, I meant … never mind.”
“Hey, more good news; I’m finding out, now that I’ve been longer in Highboro, that the ops administrative staff here is really strong. So of course I’ll be keeping a firm hand on everything, but I should have ample time to make sure that we really do Lean Six