Avans Colleges: Lean implementation

“We, employees of DFS offer, a recognizable quality, the right knowledge and expertise to all business units within Avans, with the aim of contributing to effective management and control and thus together realizing the educational and research ambition of Avans.”

Lean implementation strategy (Hoshin Kanri)

A senior consultant first conducted a comprehensive intake with all managers individually. A development picture of the organization was also taken, after which a broad training curriculum and approach were developed. This began with coaching the board and management team in determining a Lean implementation strategy. Normally, Lean training for managers takes about two days, but seven days were scheduled for this course.

The Hoshin Kanri approach with the X-matrix has always been the common thread. The Hoshin Kanri is a Lean technique for translating strategy into breakthrough projects. The management sessions always began by covering one or two theoretical topics. Then this theory was linked to the Lean strategy.

Lean quality house (House of Quality)

Together, a proprietary Lean quality house was designed, based on a handful of examples from other organizations and the Avans Lean strategy. Each member of the management team then presented the House to the rest of the team so that at the end of this session there was one unified narrative. Then each MT member presented the house to their own department.

At the end of each training session, the program was reviewed to see if it was still appropriate and what topics needed to be adjusted or added.

Lean Green Belt training (Theory)

Parallel to the management training, an 8-day customized Lean Green Belt training was organized for about 10 employees. The strategy, quality house and breakthrough projects from the management training have always been the starting point for this Lean Green Belt training. Some non-relevant sections have been omitted (such as TPM and SMED) and some specific topics have instead been added or explored in greater depth. For example, the topic of SCRUM was added and the design of communication boards and improvement boards was explored.

The time between training days was stretched so that teams had time between training days to work on the improvement boards in their own departments and to gain experience with day startups. During the training days, the group viewed signs in two departments (Go to Gemba) and time was set aside to improve the signs. The topic of Value Stream Mapping was also covered in more detail than in standard Lean training.

Lean improvement projects (Practice)

During the Lean training program, each participant took on a concrete improvement project according to the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC roadmap. Presenting progress during each training session was added as a component to the customized training.

In management training, the consultant constantly linked improvement projects and progress to the X-matrix. The management training also focused on the role of management in supporting and coaching the Lean Green Belts. Especially for this purpose, Toyota Kata has been added to the training as a topic. By running the management training and the Lean Green Belt training largely in parallel, there was good alignment between the strategy and the improvement projects. It also greatly strengthened the cooperation between management on the one hand and the Lean Green Belts on the other, resulting in visible results.

Latest news/blogs