Lean Leadership

I. Briefly describe the answers to the following questions about the readings:

a. What simple, inexpensive tool is used by UNC Health Care to

communicate to patients? What are the doctors required to do to use

this tool? Why did the tool work so well?

UNC Health Care initiative included a written care plan and a whiteboard in every room with daily goals to help keep the patient focused on his or her discharge date. So there was a focus on communication with patients. They had also daily care plan meetings and improved communications based on centralized, accessible data. According to Scholl, creating a fast, easy-to-use plan of care was the essence BCG's work. Within first 24 hours following admission, the doctor now checks off the care and education a patient will need. With that care plan in place, the care manager and nurse know exactly what to do. Another part of lean initiative was a top-down review of day-to-day administrative procedures, and identifying common problems, bottlenecks in another areas.

No one had to work more hours. UNC Health Care launched a lean pilot program that is increasing efficiency and enabling the hospital to serve more patients.

No new hires were needed. UNC health care did more with less!

This tool work so well because a hospital with 800 beds that cuts average length by just 10% can free up nearly 80 beds per year, enabling the delivery of more than 4000 additional procedures and boosting operating profit by almost $30 million.

b. What are five ways that businesses in the lean transformation might utilize "excess" people (i.e. those people made available as wasted time/motion is removed from the system) rather than letting them go from the company

(1) Reduce overtime

(2) Put the extra people on Kaizens (to get future payback)

(3) In-source some components rom marginal suppliers

(4) Cut the workweek across the board

(5) Develop new product lines to grow the business.

c. According to Art Byrne what should be the core of any company's strategy and why?

According to Art Byrne, the core of any company's strategy is:

"To my way of thinking, this is exactly backwards. Introducing lean techniques in every business activity should be the core of any company's strategy. These provide both the opportunity and the resources to generate and sustain profitable growth. Profitable growth is what the strategic planners of the world are always seeking, but find hard to achieve because their company's