Lean Tools in Adult Educators and Trainers Development

MUSAT, CristinaPhilean Consulting & Training, Romania

Lean Tools in Adult Educators and Trainers (AdET) Development

Keywords: Adult Training, Adult Trainer’s Skills, Process Improvement, Lean1 ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................................22 CONTEXT & BACKGROUND...................................................................................................23 BRIEF LEAN INTRODUCTION................................................................................................44 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................85 STUDY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................................86 REFERENCE LIST.......................................................................................................................11Annex 1 - BRIEF LEAN TERMS GLOSSARY....................................................................................12

1 AbstractThe world is rapidly changing due to scarcity of resources and social responsibility drives. People need also to change along with the environment. Training makes no difference and acceptable criteria some years ago are no longer valid today. Trainers fostering adult’s learning processes are facing professional challenges, but today they have also to be more proficient in other areas, not only in “traditional” competences described by occupational standards. For example, according to the Romanian occupational standard, a “trainer” needs different categories of competences: a series of specific competences (to be able to prepare training, deliver training, evaluate trainees and apply special training methods and techniques) and a series of optional competences (training marketing, training design, training organising, training evaluation and improvement).When discussing about AdET, as part of proficient adult training organisations, I want to highlight the need for additional competencies to support dynamic capability of training services, increasingly significant to help to better adequate to nowadays complicated management issues and problematical business change. The purpose of this paper is to promote the use of Lean tools by the people involved in teaching/training of adults, as a set of key competences suitable for all types of occupations relevant for training: trainers, other learning facilitators, training content developers, instructors, training managers, training course organisers, and so on.

2 Context & BackgroundMy name is Cristina Musat and I am the founder of PhileanCT, a small training and consulting company in Romania. I work as a trainer since 1995 and since 1996 I am a fan of continuous process improvement techniques. Before becoming aware of Lean Manufacturing, I was involved in quality management, TQM and business excellence

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related services. So practically all my adult life consists in mixing training skills with continuous improvement initiatives.As a member of the European Society for Research on Adult Education, I have now the opportunity to address both topics enjoyable for me at this moment: Lean and Adult Training.Trainers dealing with adults (or all other persons with relevant occupations for training delivery, regardless their title: trainers, learning facilitators, training content developers, instructors, educators, training managers, training course organisers, and so on) are actors of the processes performed to achieve desired results, either within own organisations or at the interface with the trainees or other stakeholders. Here is a list of some of the most common processes: Training Design, Training Materials Development, Training Evaluation, Training Delivery / Facilitation of the Learning Process, Training Marketing, Training organising, and so on.A way to understand a training process it the well-known model of transforming inputs into outputs via a series of actions and operations specific for any area of activity, as seen in Fig.1.

Fig. 1 – The Process ModelTo exemplify for the process of training delivery, used by all adult trainers, it is obvious that the following main issues are significant to be identified:1 Environment:

1.1 International, national, regional, local level

1.2 Category of training: Initial or LL learning

1.3 Type of learning: Formal, non-formal or informal

1.4 Etc.2 Inputs:

2.1 Data on trainees and their training needs

2.2 Training specification2.3 Training materials2.4 Training rules, standards

and regulations2.5 Trainers’ proficiency2.6 Other useful resources

and facilities – financial,

material, human, etc.

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3 Outputs:3.1 New skills and

competences3.2 Feedback and future

improvement opportunities3.3 Etc.

4 Process steps:4.1 Welcome of trainees and

group development4.2 Objectives and content

delivery4.3 Trainees assessment

4.4 Etc.5 Methods:

5.1 Lectures5.2 Games5.3 Examples5.4 Etc.

6 Procedures:6.1 Face-to-face training

delivery6.2 E-learning6.3 Self-learning6.4 Etc.

According to the Romanian occupational standard, a “trainer” needs different categories of competences: a series of specific competences (to be able to prepare training, deliver training, evaluate trainees and apply special training methods and techniques) and a series of optional competences (training marketing, training design, training organising, training evaluation and improvement).When discussing about AdET, as part of proficient adult training organisations, it seems obvious that additional competencies are needed to support dynamic capability of training services, increasingly significant to help to better adequate to nowadays complicated management issues and problematical business change.Between these competencies it should be included the competence to use Lean tools for the improvement of the processes involved in teaching/training of adults, as a set of key competences for effectiveness and efficiency.Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify how Lean tools may be useful for the management of education and training activities or for managing people involved in learning processes. Additionally, I would like to put together knowledge about previous experiences in the area and to provide future drives for AdET development.

3 Brief Lean IntroductionLean is the generic name of a set of tools and principles used to control, manage and improve process performances, to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, and time by focusing on process performance. There are many definitions, and a simple one is the following: “…Lean is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing). Or even a simpler one: “Lean is a philosophy that shortens the time needed between the customer order and the delivery of required goods or services”.Moreover, Lean is seen as a philosophy, not only as a collection of empirical tools, or as a

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methodology for continuous reduction or elimination of waste, useful. Its history is long and rich in interpretations, but the term “Lean” became worldwide known after the issue of a book with a visionary title: “The Machine That Changed the World” (Womack, James P.; Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos, 1990). Nevertheless, Lean is based on a series of common tools used originally in production, some of them being developed since 1950s as part of what nowadays is known as TPS (Toyota Production System). But more important, it brings also a set of Lean principles and specific approaches to all types of activities, which enable the development of the so-called Lean behaviours and Lean leadership, supporting the operational tools used to generate improved process results.There are five key principles, which aim at continuous reduction of the time needed to provide a product or service requested by a client, from order to delivery, and consequently, of process costs, by cutback or elimination of waste.The five Lean principles are:

1. Specify value from the standpoint of the end customer by product family.

2. Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family, eliminating whenever possible those steps that do not create value.

3. Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so the product will flow smoothly toward the customer.

4. As flow is introduced, let customers pull value from the next upstream activity.

5. As value is specified, value streams are identified, wasted steps are removed, and flow and pull are introduced, begin the process again and continue it until a state of perfection is reached in which perfect value is created with no waste.

(Source: http://www.lean.org/whatslean/principles.cfm)Obviously, there are some key words for understanding the Lean principles:

1. Value2. Value Stream3. Process Flow4. Pull Flow5. Perfection.

In brief, value is what customers are likely to pay for. Let’s think of a trainer delivering a course. He/she needs some time for preparing before coming in front of the trainees. For example, how many clients do you know that would pay a 5-days-fee, for a 3-days course? Obviously, no one may be perfect; therefore usually it is impossible to do only what the client would pay. So Lean defines an antonym for “value”, i.e. “WASTE”, meaning any activity done that takes up time and uses resources, but does not add value when it transforms inputs into outputs that meet customers’ requirements. Waste is not about controlling financial loss (to be easily spotted in financial statements),

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Fig. 2 – The Lean Principles

but it means to identify and approach extra resources spent during current activities (caused either by high variation due to process instability, by overburden processes, or by unreasonableness operational decisions).For that reason, Lean considers that any process is composed of value added and non-value added activities, even if the non-value added activities may be considered as necessary ones (hidden waste) or as non-necessary ones (obvious waste).The 7 waste categories defined by Lean are:

▫ Overproduction –production of materials, offers, products ahead of demand

▫ Waiting, or queuing, or idling – inactivity due missing needed resources: an answer, a decision, a person etc.

▫ Transport - unnecessary motion or movement of materials, products or persons

▫ Extra Processing – doing something repeatedly, more or more complicated than necessary, including rework, reprocessing, recurrent handling or storage

▫ Inventory – all existing components, actions or orders waiting to be processed

▫ Motion – people or equipment or documents or information moving more than necessary

▫ Defects – non-conforming products or services, the effort involved in inspecting results and fixing complaints or unsatisfactory results.

(Source: Womack, James P.; Daniel T. Jones, 2003, Lean Thinking. Free Press. p. 352).Attempting to make an analysis of the training processes, one may find similar categories of waste, such as, for example:

Overproduction

More input than needed to achieve learning objectivesOverstuffing topics for a limited amount of time for a training program such as a day or week. Very little of this training will end up being used because it’s too much, too soon with too little practice.The forgotten knowledge - as the retention rate for lectures is less than 20%, everything that is forgotten the next day or next week is waste. Huge binders full of stuff that nobody ever looks at again, involving much time and costs to be created, printed, multiplied, bound, manipulated, etc., used rather as door stops and paper weights

Waiting Longer breaks then planned, postponement of training due to trainer/trainees availabilityCompanies often wait until they have enough employees to make up a class. Waiting time is often weeks or months.

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Larger groups of trainees and only one trainer – it involves waste of time during work in small groups

Transport Long distance to/from training roomExtra Processing

Repetitions during classesWritten tests – even if tests are relatively easy to score and simple to create, they are almost always about testing knowledge. However, there is often no correlation between doing well on a test or in school and doing well on the job. So testing knowledge is often waste.Gaps between training needs communicated by the manager and the actual needs of the attendees

Inventory Larger groups than effective for trainingMore printed training materials than the number of participantsOld stuff in the training materials (out-of-date information, processes that have changed or are no longer used and old procedures)

Motion Poor content and layout of written materials, difficult to find a topic in the training material

Defects Misspelling, missing words in the written training materialsInappropriate participants - many times attendees are sent to a training that does not pertain to their job or to achieve competencies they already have or do not needCommunication barriers – due to misuse of a foreign language or to misunderstanding of specific vocabularyLack of standardization of knowledge delivery – different trainers deliver different courses based on the same training courseExceeding time provided to deliver trainingLack of organizational support – trainees may be eager to apply tools from training, but when returning in the organization, the pressure from the management is to do things as before

Table 1 – 7 Wastes in Training (Source: This Research and http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?

viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=27003&discussionID=7612380&commentID=6932874&trk=NUS_DISC_Q-subject&goback=

%2Ehom#commentID_6932874)Consequently, to be able to identify value, it is important to understand the processes used to provide products or services and to be able to focus on the value stream. Once the value stream is known, a flow as continuous as possible should be deployed for delivering the planned process results with minimum waste.

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Another key word in Lean is “Pull”, usually used as an antonym for “Push” process flow. For example, in training delivery, “Push” means to persuade the customers to buy the already existing products/services, available as “inventory”. Obviously, “Pull” means the opposite approach, namely being ready and capable to provide only what, how much, when and where is actually required by the customer. Process simplification comes from not doing things that are not needed, as stated in Just-In-Time philosophy.The last key word, but the essential one, is “Perfection”. It is not about having the perfect product or service, but about pursuing perfect processes through continuous improvement.There are a variety of tools and techniques associated with Lean production; however the following are perhaps the most commonly used and easy to implement in an office environment, regardless the field of activity:

▫ Standardized Processes & Takt Time▫ Value Stream Mapping (VSM)▫ Visual Workplace & Visual Management▫ 5S▫ Jidoka▫ Poka Yoke (Mistake Proofing or Error Proofing)▫ Pull Systems and Kanban▫ Continuous process flow, Just In Time (JIT), Process

Smoothing & Load Levelling▫ Setup reduction (SMED)▫ Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)▫ Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)▫ Hoshin (Policy Deployment)▫ Quality and Problem Solving Tools: Pareto Principle; process

mapping; product family analysis, etc.For better understanding of Lean terms used in this paper, see the

glossary (page 13) or check on http://www.lean.org or http://leanromania.wordpress.com – only for Romanian speakers.

4 Research MethodologyThe approach used for this research is a non-scientific survey, following the next steps:

▫ Identify interested adult trainers, using personal and professional social media networks

▫ Use a questionnaire to obtain data on topics related to adult trainer’s additional competencies needed to identify typical waste in training activities and to employ specific Lean tools for reducing or eliminating waste levels

▫ Use discussions and interviews with people interested both in Lean and adult training topics

▫ Qualitative analysis and report of main findings.The questionnaire used focuses on issues that are currently faced by adult educators and trainers, covering most of the competence units

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described in the occupational standards. It has been designed to identify perceptions and ideas from both people using Lean tools, and trainers not familiar with Lean concepts and tools. It was finalized in June and has three parts, as follows:

A. General InformationA.1. Personal and Professional InformationA.2. Organization Information

B. Lean Tools in AdETC. Training Needs Assessment in AdET.

It was made public via direct mailing, using several professional communities and discussion groups related both to adult training and lean issues and it is available at http://leanromania.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/how-to-use-lean-tools-in-adet-development.

5 Study Results and ConclusionsSome results are available after receiving some answers at the questionnaires and after interviews and discussions with Lean practitioners.Even if the target group consisted of over 300 trainers, there were only 17 questionnaires received - mainly from trainers specialised in Lean-related topics, and 21 answers declining the ability to fill in the questionnaire, due to lack of any knowledge related to Lean issues.After a brief literature review and more open discussions with Lean practitioners, some conclusions are obvious at this stage:

1. Lean is still unfamiliar for most of adult training organisations. There is no much information on how and if Lean is used in workforce education or training, but there are some initiatives in formal education - mostly schools and universities from USA and UK, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Oakland University– USA or University of St Andrews – Scotland. (Sources: http://lean.mit.edu/, http://www.oakland.edu/leanschools, http://www.leaneducation.com/home.html, http://www.educationreport.org/pubs/mer/article.aspx?id=9674)

2. Even for Lean practitioners, it is not a priority to apply Lean principles for own activity.

From the trainers answering the questionnaire, the majority work with

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Rate of response to the questionnaire

89%

5% 6%

Not answering

received

N/A

Fig. 3 – Rate of response

Fig. 4 – Average age of trainees0%0%

88%

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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

1

>65

45-65

25-45

14-25

<14

trainees between 25 – 45 years old, employed in large companies, which usually apply Lean on a large scale.

As far as usual training activities, from the major groups usually identified in occupational standards, the ratio of VA/NVA activities is as follows:

% Time

VA activitie

s

NVA activitie

s1. Planning for Adult Education and

Training Activities 14% 14%2. Training Marketing 11% 11%3. Training Materials Design 29% 29%4. Organising Training Programmes 11% 11%5. Training Delivery 14% 14%6. Trainees’ Assessment 1% 2%7. Training Evaluation and

Improvement 1% 1%8. Other Training Management

Activities 3% 3%9. AdET Development and Self-

Development 14% 14%

TOTAL100% 16% 84%

Table 2 – Percentage of VA/NVA Activities in Training (Source: This Research)

Concerning the possible use of Lean Tools and other improvement tools, to eliminate waste in the different adult education and training processes, the results are as following:

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NVA activities84%

VA activities16%

Fig. 5 – VA/NVA Activities Distribution in Training

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Balanced Score Card

Quality Management Principles

Process Management Principles

Dashboards for KPI’s

Six Sigma

Quality and Analysis Tools: ParetoPrinciple, process mapping; productfamily analysis, etc.

Hoshin (Policy Deployment)

Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

Setup reduction or QuickChangeover (SMED)

Continuous process f low , Just InTime, Cellular Operation, ProcessSmoothing & Load Leveling

Pull Systems and Kanban

Poka Yoke

Jidoka & Zero Quality Control

5S (Sort, Straighten, Shine,Standardize, Sustain & Safety)

Visual Workplace & VisualManagement

Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

Standardized Processes

6. If one looks at the training process from a Lean point of view, it is worthwhile to know how to identify the Lead Time to move people from "Unconscious incompetence" to "Unconscious Competence". Usually the training processes are considered as simple and linear, i.e. sending people on a training course is supposed to make them learn and spontaneous moving them through all these steps. It will do to have a simple value stream map, an estimation of the existing "inventory" (number of people at each step) and "first

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pass yield" (the number of people who get past each step from first time) for each step. This should give a clear picture of where the focus needs to be applied on training process, to yield effective training. Practically training process may be approached like any other process, but unfortunately training is more often seen as a "box ticking" exercise in most of the companies, even within training organisations. Instead "Lean" in training should mean VSM, improvement to cut waste and to enhance value in the eyes of the customer.

7. It is advisable for trainers to use 5S and visual management, and also elements of SMED. But these tools are more about being more comfortable as a trainer, regardless the environment. It is also important to identify and control Lead Time for the learning process.

In conclusion, it is obvious that using Lean by adult educators and trainers has started in formal education organisations in some countries, but there is still a long way to go before case studies and best practices will be available to support AdET competence development.

6 Reference listWomack, J. P., Jones, D. T., Roos, D. (1990). The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production, Macmillan Publishing CompanyWomack, J. P., Jones, D. T. (2003), Lean Thinking, Free Press

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Annex 1 - BRIEF LEAN TERMS GLOSSARY 5S A methodology for creating a self-sustaining culture

that perpetuates an organised, clean, safe, and efficient workplace. The English words approximate the Japanese originals for the 5 steps:▫ Sort (Seiri) - Clearly distinguish between what is

needed and what is not needed to perform a given work process

▫ Straighten (Seiton) - Organize those things that are needed, making it easy for users to locate, use and return them

▫ Scrub (Seiso) - Clean everything in the area, including floors, machines and furniture

▫ Standardize (Seiketsu) - Maintain and improve the first four S’s in addition to personal orderliness and neatness.

▫ Sustain (Shitsuke) - Achieve the discipline or habit of maintaining an organised, clean, safe, and efficient workplace.

Often there is a 6th S added: Safety– Provide the operator a safe and ergonomic workplace.

Continuous Flow

Only one work item is processed at a time and it is moved directly to the next process. It implies no waiting time for the item after entering the process.

Flow Production

A philosophy that rejects batch, lot or mass processing as wasteful. Product should move (flow) from operation to operation in the smallest increment, one piece being the ultimate. It implies no defects on the process flow, only quality parts are allowed to move to the next operation.

Heijunka (Process Smoothing & Load Levelling)

A Japanese term that refers to the act of levelling the variety and/or volume of items produced at a workplace over a period of time, by sequencing orders in a repetitive pattern and smoothing the day-to-day variation in total orders to correspond to longer-term demand.

Hoshin (Policy Deployment)

Japanese term for annual planning process, used throughout operational, financial, strategic, and project based scenarios, focusing on a few major long term customer-oriented breakthrough objectives, critical to a company’s long term success. This process deploys major objectives to specific support plans throughout the organization.

Jidoka Built-in quality, such as if a process is not capable of creating the required output then it will not operate until it can.

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Just in Time (JIT)

A strategy that concentrates on delivering quality products/services, in the quantity needed, when and where it is needed.

Kaizen Continuous improvement of cost, quality, delivery, safety and responsiveness to customer needs

Kanban A signal that specifies what and when to produce within a pull system. It is generally used to trigger the movement of material where one piece flow cannot be achieved, but is also used to “signal” upstream processes to produce product for downstream processes.

Lead-Time The total time from the beginning of the supply chain to the time of delivery. It includes the sum of the VA/NVA time for a product to move through the entire value stream.

Lean A business improvement strategy persistently focussing on reducing waste within a system. It is applicable also to business processes such as paperwork flow through an office.

Overproduction

This was considered by Taiichi Ohno to be the worst type of waste as it creates and hides all other types of wastes.

Pareto Chart A vertical bar graph showing the bars in descending order of significance, ordered from left to right. It helps to focus on the vital few issues rather than the trivial many (also known as the 80/20 rule).

Poka-Yoke A method or device that prevents errors from occurring during the process.

Pull / Push PullMaterial flow triggered downwardly by actual customer need rather than a scheduled production forecast. Downstream processes signal to upstream processes exactly what is required and in what quantity. PushThe production of goods regardless of demand or downstream need, usually in large batches to ensure “efficiency”.

Setup reduction / Quick Changeover (SMED)

A method for rapidly and efficiently converting a process from running the current product to running the next needed product. Single Minute Exchange Of Dies (SMED) A technique to reduce setup or changeover times, therefore to eliminate the need to produce in batches.

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Six Sigma Six Sigma may be approached at three different levels: As a metric

A process that is six sigma generates a maximum defect probability of 3.4 parts per million (PPM), i.e. a probability of 99.9997% to have good products. As a methodology

Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that focuses an organization on driving rapid and sustainable improvement to business processes by minimizing variation in those processes. At the heart of the methodology is the DMAIC model for process improvement (Define opportunity, Measure performance, Analyze opportunity, Improve performance, Control performance)

Standardised Work

A defined work method that describes the proper workstation and tools, work required, quality, standard inventory, knacks and sequence of operations. Related terms Standard: A prescribed documented method or

process that is sustainable, repeatable and predictable.

Standardization: The system of documenting and updating procedures to make sure everyone knows clearly and simply what is expected of them.

Standard Work: It details the motion of the operator and the sequence of action, based on the best process currently identified. Standard Work has three central elements; Takt time, Standard Work Sequence, and Standard Work in Process.

Takt Time The pace at which the customer is demanding a product (how frequently a sold unit must be produced).

Takt Time = Available Time / Customer DemandTotal Cycle Time (TCT)

The time taken from work order release into a value stream until completion / movement of product into shipping / finished goods.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM.)

A means of maximising production system efficiency by analysing and eliminating down-time through up-front maintenance of equipment. It is based on the principle that equipment improvement must involve everyone in the organization, from line operators to top management.

Toyota Production System (TPS)

The production system developed and used by the Toyota Motor Company which focuses on the elimination of waste throughout the value stream.

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Value Added Activity / Non-Value-Added Activity (NVA)

Value Added Activity (VA) Any activity that transforms input into the output for which a customer is willing to pay for. Non-Value-Added Activity (NVA) An activity that takes time, resources or space but does not add value to the product sold to a customer. The activity may be necessary from the point of view of the provider; however the customer is not willing to pay for it.

Value Stream The value stream of a business is the sequence of steps that a company performs in order to satisfy a customer's need.

Value Stream Map (VSM)

A visual representation of the aggregated material and information flows within a company or business unit. Using VSM icons, it shows interdependent functions, material and information flow, buffer inventory, flow time, cycle time, and decision points.

Visual Management

Systems that enable anyone to immediately assess the current status of an operation or given process at a glance, regardless of their knowledge of the process.

Waste An activity that that consumes valuable resources without adding value for customers. Eight types of waste have been identified for business processes: Waste from over production Waste from waiting or idle time Waste from unnecessary transportation Waste from extra processing (inefficient

processes) Waste of unnecessary inventory Waste of motion and efforts Waste from producing defective goods

Zero Quality Control

Each individual is educated, trained, and empowered so there is no need for inspection of their quality of work.

Sources: www.lean.org, www.motorola.com

Cristina MusatPhilean Consulting & Training, RomaniaBucharest, Drumul Taberei 90, Bloc C8, Sc. D, Ap.122, S6, Cod 061405+40745252428, info@philean.ro

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