A proven method to make the results of Lean transparent.

Does your organization apply Lean's method and do you see that it leads to improvement, but can you make these improvements difficult? Or are you experiencing more and more pressure from the top of the organization to account for the investments in Lean, and do you have no idea how this can be done adequately? Then this blog offers a solution!

Often one tends to express Lean's results only in financial returns. Although the financial returns are important, they do not tell the whole story. In this blog I will tell you which aspects should be taken into account in order to fully map the benefits of a Lean process.

Research into the development of a method to measure lean performance on behalf of a customer has yielded a set of perspectives and related indicators that can provide guidance to an organization in measuring the performance of a Lean process. The set of perspectives and related indicators is shown below. The perspectives are based on the Balanced ScoreCard and made specifically for application within a lean environment. The download of a previous blog describes how the indicators can be further shaped by means of a template for the development of KPIs.

The 4 perspectives

The first thing you notice about the table is that the continuous improvement perspective is represented vertically, instead of horizontally like the other perspectives. The reason for this is that continuous improvement is such a crucial part of Lean, that it is constantly necessary to improve the scores on all indicators in the perspectives. It is important to formulate SMART's goals in the context of continuous improvement.

In the table, the indicators are spread over four different perspectives. In the literature and by the interviewed Lean managers, these four perspectives and related indicators are the most valuablel to measure the Lean performance. As shown in the table, the benefits of a Lean project are much more versatile than just the financial returns. The results in the customer, employee and process perspective must also be measured in order to adequately reflect what Lean provides for an organization. Too much emphasis on just the financial picture can, for example, be at the expense of the employees, who are often a driving force in the financial performance of an organization. In short, to prevent your organization from entering a negative vicious circle, it is important to perform in a balanced way, according to the principle of the Balanced Scorecard. This means that we must strive for a good score on the indicators of all perspectives.

Are you working on a Lean trajectory and are looking for handles to measure the yields integrally? Then download the document containing concrete tips to measure the lean performance. You can also contact me freely to discuss the topic and discuss the possibilities for your organization!

Sander van der Laan
+316 81 31 85 13
s.vdlaan@supplyvalue.nl