New Delhi, Nov 17: The biggest obstacle to lean thinking, according to K Mahesh, CMD, Sundaram Brake Linings Ltd, are the CEOs themselves. Not one for mincing his words, while emphasising the importance of implementing lean management, during the session on `Implementing Lean Thinking' at the CII Quality Summit, Mahesh came down heavily on top and middle level managers: ``The CEOs are the biggest obstacles. They lack strategic understanding and don't want to walk the floor. The younger generation of CEOs are even worse. Trained in foreign countries, they are far removed from reality.'' Mahesh-who even today spends four hours a day on the shopfloor-has personally pioneered a major change in his company: getting down to the shopfloor himself-where the `money is actually made'-for hands-on functioning. However, ask him if he's satisfied and he says ``No. We're still not world class.'' Though a beginning has been made in Sundaram Brake Linings Ltd since 1987, when the process of change actually began and 1997 when the company stumbled across lean manufacturing, it will take at least four to five years more to reach anywhere near perfection, he feels.
Explaining the concept of lean thinking, Mahesh said it meant balanced use of people, equipment and material in such a way that it gives the lowest manufacturing costs. The lowest manufacturing costs assumes that all `muda' or wastage on production, movement and processes, is eliminated. Lean thinking is really then the Toyota Production System in practice. The basic principle it functions on is: ``don't forget the customer''. It is not a strategy, nor is it a philosophy. It is a customer-oriented process that focuses on the customer's needs. The starting point is value, which can only be defined by the ultimate customer. The process begins by challenging the traditional definition of value.
The five principles of lean thinking are: Specify value of product; identify the value stream of the product; make value flow without interruptions; and pursue perfection.
Mahesh is happy that Indian industry is ready for the process. The beginnings of lean processes are evident with some OEMs already insisting on daily deliveries and eliminating paperwork. Mahesh spelt out the other obstacles to the successful implementation of lean thinking as:
Lack of specific lean enterprise skills;
Culture, ego;
Organisational inertia;
Reluctance to perform;
Fear of change;
The `Not invented here' syndrome.Says Mahesh, ``A company's biggest assets are its workers and they must be made conscious of this. The most intelligent people in a company are the machine operators, who know the reality.''
So, what's Mahesh's advice to Indian companies keen on implementing lean thinking? ``Just Do It''. And the option? ``Sell, close down and go into coconut farming!''
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.