MBOE recap: Learning from observing
With the theory of value stream mapping internalized, our MBOE program’s health-care cohort traveled to Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center while the industry cohort headed to Center for Operational Excellence member Tosoh USA Inc. A key step before launching a value stream mapping exercise is to go to the gemba. You can’t really map a value stream unless you’ve seen the process and have the relevant data, and you can’t do it accurately without the people who are a part of the process.
Legend has it that Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, had his engineers stand inside a circle for eight hours to observe the process. There is a lot of learning that results from just observing. Once you understand how the process flows you go speak with the people who do the work. Share your findings with them. Ask them to validate the findings. Ask them why they do what you observed. Note the issues they point out and ask them what would make the process better and why.
On the hospital gemba, students went to three different areas: Outpatient endoscopy, inpatient endoscopy and Invasive Prep and Recovery (IPR). Ryan Haley, Peg Pennington, Jill Treece, Jason Swartz and Tim Nelson were key in assisting.
The biggest hurdle in getting started with the value stream map is selecting the correct group of product or services to represent on a single flow map. For example, in IPR, the manager was interested in understanding the flow of EP (Electrophysiology) patients. Within this group there were multiple procedures, such as ablation (that took the longest to perform and recover) and cardioversion (the shortest procedure to perform and recover). There are many more within that range. What procedure should one focus on? The answer: Select the family of procedures that if improved upon will have the most benefit to the patients and organization.
The students spent three hours on the gemba and mapping the process and later presented their findings to hospital leaders. As our students benefit from gemba partnerships, so do these organizations. In fact, many departments have implemented the recommendations made by the students and achieved positive results.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
0 Comments