Principles of IBQMI® Lean Project Management

IBQMI® Lean project management is a philosophy founded on the need to continually provide value to customers and eliminate waste in the process. The general principles of lean management which originated from the manufacturing industry was transferred to other processes and it obtained great success.

IBQMI® Lean project management - originated from the manufacturing industry

A reduction in the cost of production, increased product quality and reduced production time was observed. Owing to the results, the lean management technique took the world by storm and is continually applied in several processes.

The IBQMI® Lean Project Management technique is based on five principles which are explained below:

Identify customer and specify value: The first step to applying lean management to a product or process is identifying value. value as defined by Womack and Jones in the book the machine that changed the world, as the capability to provide to the customer, at the right time and at an appropriate price and this is defined in each case by the customer. Value is an important starting point and should be defined by the end customer as opposed to marketers, distributors, and suppliers.

Map out the value stream for each product: The value stream is defined as all the activities both value-adding and non-value-added, required to process a product from its raw state to the point where you get to the hands of the customer. It involves the creation of two maps, the first reflecting the current state of the process and the second incorporates the analysis of waste and value creation.

Creating value flow by eliminating waste: This principle is applicable following the specification of value as defined by the customer and mapping out the stream. Eliminating waste involves analyzing the value stream and ridding it of scraps, redundancies, and interruption. Room for stoppages and waste are greatly minimized. When analyzing value streams three types of work works are considered:

• Value-added work: This work focuses on maximizing customer values and are analyzed here. they include form, fit and function.
• Value and enabling work: This work is important for the continuous running of the process, although they may be eliminated with the improvement of the process technology.
• Non-value-added work: This work has little or no effect on the production efficiency when eliminated

Responding to customer pull: This principle signals that before any product or service is designed and plan for launching is carried out, there must be a customer request for it. This prevents inventory build and waste.

Improving the pursuit of perfection: The final stage of implementing lean management is a continuous application of lean principles to achieve perfection which is a never-ending process. this involves analyzing the value of every activity in the process stream.

With the lean principle as a framework, a more efficient and effective organization is created. Ineffectiveness is easily identifiable by a manager and attended to. The manager by this means is able to deliver better services to the end customers. When the lean principle is practice in its entirety the competitive spirit of an organization is boosted, the value supplied to the customers improved, there is an apt reduction in the cost of doing business and more profit is made.

Learn how to use Continuous improvement and build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right from the first. Enroll in the Certified Lean Project Manager®