Ideas for
set-up time reduction in the establishment of a new Section 21, Not For Profit
Company are really needed! But the ideas
probably will not help us much in our one-off set-up of LIA. We are making progress and the drafts of the
Memorandum and Articles are in a good state.
As I write I am on my way to the United States where I will be
reviewing these drafts with the Lean Global Network people to ensure
compatibility with their requirements.
Registration in SA should not take much longer.
Lots of things
are happening:
·
Ruzivo Chigwedere has joined LIA in
the role of Research Associate – so we have research capacity; she has already
begun work on a hospital-based assignment but keep her in mind if you need some
lean research done (at a fee). Ruzivo
recently completed the MBA programme at UCT’s Graduate School of Business. She
also holds a BSc Honours in Applied Chemistry. She has worked in the
Pharmaceutical, HIV Research, and Retail sectors. Ruzivo is passionate about optimization of
processes and continuous improvement. She was exposed to Lean Thinking during her MBA and subsequently did some Lean research work
with the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS).
·
Dates have been set for the 2008 Lean
Summit: 15th and 16th October in Cape Town.
On the 15th we will have a range of practical workshops, and
on the 16th a splendid speaker programme. So please mark your diaries. But also consider presenting! We need to learn from each other and not just
illustrious international speakers.
·
You may be reading this as I attend the
Lean Transformation Summit in Orlando,
Florida from 3rd to 6th
March. Obviously I hope to learn much
from the programme but also to keep my eye out for speakers for our Summit. Joining the Lean Global Network, now
numbering 13 national members, is also a priority, as already mentioned.
·
LIA will partner with UCT’s Graduate
School of Business and Upavon in offering a Best Practice Workshop with a
Japanese instructor later this year. It
will take place over five days at an operational site (we have been hosted by
12 factories and 1 hospital in previous years).
We have within the last few days had confirmation of the dates: 28th
July to 1st August. We
shortly begin the process of recruiting the host company. Separate communications will follow shortly.
A few days ago I received an email from a friend with whom I
had been out of contact for awhile. When
last we spoke he was promoting lean from a middle-to-senior staff position
within his quite large SA company. He
now tells me that came to an end when the two senior executives most supportive
of lean lost their jobs in a restructuring exercise. In his words, the company went back to ‘the
old way,’ (as opposed to The Toyota Way).
And he decided to look around for something more attuned to lean. He believes he has found a good home in a
company with factories in 10 countries: he estimates that there are savings ‘of
about $100
million just on tidying up the business.’
He went on to recommend some books on 5S he has found useful in the
‘tidying up.’ Of course the savings have
yet to be realised, but I cannot help feeling sad that his previous SA company
has been incredibly short-sighted in abandoning lean. What, after all, is the alternative to a
strategy of intelligent, thoughtful, and reflective continuous
improvement? And the starting point for
many is the sorting, clearing and cleaning up of 5S, so that problems become
apparent and can be dealt with swiftly.
Lorraine, Ruzivo, Clive, Jenny (and the rest
of the Upavon team giving us administrative support) and I are really excited
about what is emerging for the year.
Please keep up the good lean work and let us hear from you about
contributing to the October LIA Summit.
