在我们开始精益转型时，
我们应制定怎样的目标？
大多数公司在开始走精益之路时，都忽略了回答这个极为重要的问题。根据我的经验，大多数公司忽略回答这个问题的原因在于大约95%实行精益转型的公司将精益重点视为降低成本的计划。因此，他们专注于车间的运营成本，强调减少人员。他们没有把精益视为公司战略、也不把它视为企业经营的完整方式。因此，运营副总裁就使用精益工具来削减成本，而不做任何真正的改变。组织的其余部分继续以传统的批处理模式运行。
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这种方法使组织的各个部门相互对立，只会造成混乱。例如，运营团队努力使工厂负荷均衡，而销售和市场团队却努力引入大批量订单。
此外，当他们踏上精益之旅时，传统批量生产型公司所使用的目标设定及测量方法并不会有太大改变。这并不奇怪，因为他们已经习惯了自己长期使用的东西。一个典型的列表可能是：
- 销售额每年增长4%
- 毛利率每年提高0.5%
- 提高直接与间接员工的比率
- 五年内投资回报率提高4%
大多数公司认为他们的增值过程是理所当然的，也都熟悉这样的目标。这种方法的基本思想是：“继续做我们一直在做的事情，但要做得更好一点。”更重要的是，这些目标以结果为导向。它们指明了我们想要达到的目标，但没有说明如何达到目标。例如，如何实现销售额每年增长4%？此外，公司员工中很少有人理解像ROI这样复杂的测量方法，所以很难让他们都为这个目标而工作。
事实是，所有的公司，无论是制造型公司还是非制造型公司，本质上都是相似的，他们都是由试图向客户提供价值的一群人和一系列流程组成。
理解这一事实会改变你对精益转型的看法，并将努力集中在一组完全不同的目标或指标上，但大多数传统大批量制造型公司看不到这一点，他们理所当然地认为当前所为就是增值活动(即流程)。他们认为面对目前的换型时间长或六到八周的交付期的现状，自己是无能为力的。相反，他们制定策略去说服客户忍受漫长的交付期。
如果不改变结果导向的流程，你会注定要一遍又一遍重复相同的结果。
在这样做的过程中，他们忽视了导致现有结果的流程。这种思维是危险的，因为如果不改变流程，注定要重复相同的结果(或许只有微小的差异)。这就是为什么精益领导者建议员工始终“关注你的流程，而不是结果”。我并不是说传统大批量制造型公司从不尝试改进流程（我相信他们会的），只是他们迫于每个月要有好的表现的指标压力，阻碍了去推动改善流程而带来进步的行动。
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专注于流程，而不是结果
转向精益需要完全专注于向客户交付价值，这反过来要求你清楚地明白必须改进流程，必须把精益看作是一种基于时间的增长战略。每一次从流程中消除浪费，缩短时间，从而对快速响应客户需求并提供更多的价值。
采用精益的思想和实践意味着将卓越的运营作为战略优势，要做到这一点，必须清楚地定义公司的“卓越运营”是什么样子的。这种变化需要长期思维，设定的目标都必须是可以延展的目标（具有挑战性的高目标）。你正试图从现在的状态转型到完全不同的状态。
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记住，你正在试图改变沟通，最终改变企业文化。如果你设定的目标不会让人们感到震惊，并让他们说:“你在开玩笑吧，我们永远都做不到。”那么你就没有把标准定得足够高。
想象一下，你的公司库存周转率是3转，而我将卓越运营的目标设定为5转。这个稍微有点挑战性的目标可能会让人们认为，只要做他们现在正在做的事情，他们就可以实现它，相比之前这只是稍微好一点。现在想象一下，如果我把目标设为20转，这种想法就会被抛到脑后！为了达到20转的目标，每个人都清楚的明白一切都必须改变，他们必须跳出思维定势，整个组织将不得不共同努力去实现这样的目标。你如果还是用让生产运营均衡负荷地生产，并由销售带来大批量的订单的方法，目标是没有任何实现的希望。
精益目标应该是具有挑战性的高目标，并且简单到每个人都能理解。
你的精益目标不仅必须是可延展的目标（具有挑战性的高目标），还需要专注于改进流程，精益目标不能只关注结果。当接近目标时，也应该表明竞争优势。最后，目标也应该足够简单，能使组织中的每个人都能理解它们。朝着这些目标努力，将把每个人团结在一起，形成团队的力量，一步一步地，在成功的基础上继续取得成功，这也将改变企业文化。
下周将更新：
在我们开始精益转型时，我们应制定怎样的目标？(下)
文章原文
What Targets Should We Set When Launching a Lean Turnaround?
Most companies overlook answering this excellent question when
they start down the lean path. That’s because, in my experience,
roughly 95% of all companies launching lean see it primarily as a cost
reduction program. So, they focus on operating costs on the shop
floor, emphasizing head-count reduction. They don’t see lean as a
strategy, a complete way to run the business. As a result, the vice
president of operations will use lean tools to cut costs without making
any real changes. The rest of the organization continues to run in a
traditional batch mode.
This approach pits parts of the organization against one another
and causes nothing but confusion. For example, the operations team
will be working hard to level-load the factory while the sales and
marketing team works just as hard to bring in big batch orders.
Moreover, as they head down the lean path, the measurements or
targets used by the traditional batch company won’t change much.
That’s not surprising, as they have become comfortable with what they
have used for a long time. A typical list might be:
Grow sales 4% annually
Increase gross margin by 0.5 points annually
Improve the ratio of direct vs. indirect head count
Increase ROI by four points in five years
Most companies take their value-adding processes for
granted.Most companies are familiar with targets like these.
This approach basically says, “keep doing what we have been doing, but do
it slightly better.” More importantly, these targets are results-
oriented. They indicate where we want to be but say nothing about
how to get there. How, for example, will you achieve 4% annual sales
growth? In addition, few of your employees understand complicated
measurements like ROI, so it is difficult to get them all on board
working for this goal.
The truth is that all companies, manufacturing and non-
manufacturing, are fundamentally alike. They are nothing more than a
group of people and a bunch of processes trying to deliver value to a
set of customers.
Understanding this fact changes how you look at a lean
turnaround and focuses your efforts on a radically different set of
targets or metrics. Most traditional batch companies can’t see this.
They take their value-adding activities (i.e., their processes) for
granted. They assume that they cannot do anything about long setup
times or six- to eight-week lead times. Instead, they develop a
strategy that persuades their customers to put up with their long lead
times.
If you don’t change the processes that gave you the
results, you are doomed to repeat them over and over.
In so doing, they are ignoring the processes that gave them the
results they just got. This mindset is dangerous because if you don’t
change the processes, you are doomed to repeat the same results
(with minor differences) over and over. That’s why lean leaders advise
people to always “focus on your processes, not your results.” I’m not
saying that traditional batch companies never try to improve their
processes. I’m sure they do. It is just that their primary emphasis on
“make-the-month” tends to overwhelm any real push to improve their
processes.
Focus on Processes,
Not Results
Switching to lean requires a total focus on delivering value to the
customer, which, in turn, requires that you clearly understand that you
must improve your processes. You must see lean as a time-based
growth strategy. Every time you eliminate waste from your processes,
you reduce the time it takes to do something — and allows you to be
more responsive to your customers and deliver more value.
Adopting lean thinking and practices means competing on
operational excellence as your strategic advantage. To do this, you
must clearly define what “operational excellence” would look like for
your company. This change calls for long-term thinking. The targets
you set all have to be stretch goals. You are trying to transition from
where you are to something completely different.
Keep in mind that you are trying to change the conversation, and
ultimately your culture. If you set targets that don’t shock people and
make them say, “are you kidding me, we’ll never be able to do that,”
then you haven’t set the bar high enough.
Imagine that your company is turning inventory 3x, and I set a
target for operational excellence at 5x. This slightly more challenging
goal might make people think they can achieve it by just doing what
they are doing now, only a little better. Now imagine instead that I set
the target at 20x—this kind of thinking goes out the window! To get
to 20x, everyone clearly understands that everything has to change,
and they must think outside the box. The whole organization will have
to work together to make something like that happen. You can’t have
operations trying to level-load while sales brings in big batch orders
and have any hope of reaching this target.
Your lean targets should be stretch goals and simple
enough that everyone can understand them.
Your lean targets not only have to be stretch goals, but they also
need to focus on improving the processes. They can’t just be results-
focused. As you approach the targets, they should also indicate your
competitive gains. Finally, they should be simple enough that
everyone in the organization can understand them. Working toward
these targets will bring everyone together as a team and, step by
step, success on top of success, will change your culture.
To be continued next week
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