The Role Of The Plant Manager in Lean

Jim Huntzinger and Michel Baudin discuss the role of the plant manager in Lean implementation. They cover:

• public aspect of the role and the pressure it is subjected to,
• lean leadership,
• key areas and responsibilities of plant manager,
• identifying and selecting improvement projects,
• importance of pilot projects,
• what makes an effective plant manager,
• common career path towards plant manager role,
• what is company culture,
• importance of continuous learning,
• 3 top things a plant manager has to do to successfully implement lean in his plant: (1) study Toyota Production System, (2) do not underestimate the engineering issues of Lean implementation, and (3) accept improvement ideas from sister-plants;
• recommended reading for plant managers,
• 3 things that plant manager should never do: (1) implement tools without thinking, (2) inject his/her own ideas during technical discussions, (3) be a suit;
• how to empower staff to do improvement,
• how to deal with Lean sceptics, and
• engaging executives in the Lean transformation.

This post was originally written for The Lean Presentation.