Lean in agriculture : create more value with less work on the farm

181 Pages·2018·52.79 MB·English

by  Fladkjær Nielsen

Lean in Agriculture
Create More Value with Less
Work on the Farm

Lean in Agriculture
Create More Value with Less
Work on the Farm
By
Vibeke Fladkjær Nielsen and Susanne Pejstrup
A PRODUCTIVITY PRESS BOOK
First edition published in 2018
by Routledge/Productivity Press
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Contents
Preface .....................................................................................................................................................................ix
Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................................xi
Chapter 1 What is Lean? .........................................................................................................................1
1.1 What is Lean? .........................................................................................................2
1.1.1 The Lean History ...............................................................................2
1.1.2 Lean – Less of Everything ...........................................................5
Chapter 2 This is How Lean Can be Used in Agriculture ...................................................7
2.1 This is How Lean Can be Used in Agriculture ...................................8
2.1.1 An Additional Gear ..........................................................................8
2.1.2 What is “Value for the Customer” at Your Farm? ..........8
2.1.3 An Eye-opener for Waste in Production ............................9
2.1.4 More Money to Make with Lean ..........................................10
2.1.5 Lean Provides Motivation and Commitment ...............10
Chapter 3 The Five Lean Principles ...............................................................................................13
3.1 Identify Value .......................................................................................................14
3.2 Map the Value Stream ...................................................................................16
3.3 Create Flow ...........................................................................................................18
3.4 Establish Pull ........................................................................................................20
3.5 Continuous Improvement ..........................................................................22
Chapter 4 The Eight Wastes of Lean ............................................................................................25
4.1 The Eight Wastes of Lean ............................................................................26
4.1.1 Learn to See ......................................................................................27
4.1.2 Examples of Waste .......................................................................27
Chapter 5 Involve Your Employees ..............................................................................................33
5.1 Involve Your Employees ...............................................................................34
5.1.1 Traditional, Modern Management and Lean
Management ...................................................................................34
5.1.2 Motivation Requires Trust and Respect ...........................38
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vi Contents
5.1.3 Appreciative Leadership ...........................................................43
5.1.4 Change Management ................................................................44
5.1.5 Communication and Questioning Technique ............48
5.1.6 Use of Questions in Lean Work .............................................50
5.1.7 Talking Stick ......................................................................................52
5.1.8 Catchball .............................................................................................52
5.1.9 Communication with Sticky Notes .....................................55
5.1.10 Five Whys ...........................................................................................56
Chapter 6 That is How You Work with Goals ..........................................................................63
6.1 That is How You Work with Goals ..........................................................64
6.1.1 The Burning Platform .................................................................64
6.1.2 What is a Burning Platform? ....................................................65
6.2 What is a Good Goal? ....................................................................................66
6.2.1 Involve Your Employees ............................................................66
6.3 Breaking Down of Goals ..............................................................................68
6.3.1 Performance Goals and Effort Goals .................................68
6.4 Goal Management ..........................................................................................72
6.4.1 Visible Goal Management ........................................................73
6.4.2 Action Plans ......................................................................................79
6.4.3 Examples of Content in Action Plans ................................80
6.4.4 Visible Action Plans ......................................................................80
Chapter 7 Tools .........................................................................................................................................85
7.1 Tools .........................................................................................................................86
7.1.1 WeekPlanner ....................................................................................86
7.1.2 Board Meeting at the Improvement
Board – Kaizen.................................................................................89
7.1.3 PDCA .....................................................................................................99
7.1.4 Value Stream Mapping ............................................................102
7.1.5 Standardization ............................................................................109
7.1.6 5S ...........................................................................................................113
7.1.7 KANBAN ............................................................................................120
7.1.8 TPM ......................................................................................................124
7.1.9 SMED ...................................................................................................133
Chapter 8 How to Implement Lean at Your Farm .............................................................139
8.1 How to Implement Lean at Your Farm .............................................140
8.1.1 The Current State of Your Farm...........................................140
8.1.2 Leanstart With Simple Tools .................................................141
8.1.3 Expect a Trough ...........................................................................141
8.1.4 Plan for the Implementation of Lean ..............................142
Contents vii
Chapter 9 Examples of Lean ...........................................................................................................149
9.1 Results with Lean ..........................................................................................150
9.1.1 The Production Strategy is Lean ........................................150
9.1.2 Impressive Decrease in Costs at Esbjerg Dairy .........152
9.1.3 Lean – Just Common Sense .................................................155
Chapter 10 Dictionary ...........................................................................................................................157
10.1 Dictionary ...........................................................................................................158
References...................................................................................................161
Index ............................................................................................................163

Preface
We write this book because Lean is fantastic. We have seen the effect ourselves
and cannot help talking about it. It is an excellent management concept for
farmers who want to trim production.
What you can achieve with Lean is more satisfied employees and optimized
processes. Both provide higher earnings.
Lean is based on certain principles, and to help you work with the principles,
some tools are provided that are so simple and practical that they catch on
immediately. They involve both employees and managers by having the daily
work as their focus. Lean creates a structure for the good dialogue that every-
one contributes to. Thus, everyone is committed to pursuing the goal.
Lean is not a project with a start date and an end date. It is a new way to
think. Our ambition is that Lean will be a natural way of working. The new
routines must be maintained, and the improvement work must be an integrated
culture on the farm. Culture means that improvements and working positively
with waste is an entirely natural mindset.
There is much money in Lean, we have discovered. So many things call to be
picked up. Some of the improvements are in the pipeline for a longer time while
others are seen straight away. That is how Lean has worked in a wide range of
companies in other industries.
Now is the time for agriculture.
Vibeke Fladkjær Nielsen
Susanne Pejstrup
READING INSTRUCTIONS
Lean Management in Agriculture is written so that it can be read in different
ways. You can read the book from end to end, you can skip between chapters
and sections, or you can use it just as a reference book. Especially the section
about tools is intended for referencing, depending on which tool you just
need now.
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