1. Thinking in Processes

Most participants are not used to think in processes. We think in tasks, in work a person does. What we need to do now is to discover the FLOW of the process. Don’t worry! You will learn it!

2. Go into detail while keeping the overview

Makigami is about ‘Kaikaku’: breakthrough improvement. And at the same time the devil is in the details. So we have to find the right mix in diving into details, yet not losing sight on the structure. The method will support this, however you may get used to this hopping up and down….

3. Distinct ‘Value’ from ‘Loss’

When team members are not trained- or used to think in ‘Value’ and not accepting ‘Non-Value’, this usually is quite a paradigm shift.

It is not easy to ‘let an activity go’ because it adds no value, while you have no clue how to do without… 

4. Not getting distracted

On the shop floor, in the operation, there is little space to step out for a couple of days… Yet this is precisely what is being asked form the team… Here a serious management support is required;

As one manager said: “I am the teams Shield against Corporate Shit…”

5. Preparation for implementation

In terms of throughput time, the most time consuming part is the preparation for the implementation;

so the time between the ‘booster week’ and the actual ‘go live’ of the future state design. It takes a good deal of communication to all the involved parties, since the new process usually is fundamentally different from the old one!

6. Ongoing Management Focus

Although major changes can be achieved within 2 or 3 months, the real change of attitude and internalization of ‘new behavior’ takes at least a year to start with… but remember the scale of improvements we are talking here!

And so an ongoing focus of the management is essential.

Unfortunately many managers are ‘too busy’ to keep focused that long… Understandable when drowning in organized losses.

But consider this:

When you can afford all those losses, how could you not afford to eliminate them…?? Isn’t that the main task of managers? 

Just start doing it, it is worthwhile!