Job Description for Lean Manufacturing. Instructions: how to implement a lean production system in a company Job responsibilities of a lean production specialist

A large number of global companies consider the concept of lean manufacturing as the main operating principle, while the profession of a lean manufacturing specialist is considered rare and highly sought after in the market today.

A Lean Specialist is an employee who initiates the process of implementing lean manufacturing concepts, assisting all employees in these processes and coordinating the improvement efforts of the entire company or its individual division.

The Lean Manufacturing job description requires the employee to be responsible for training employees on the parts, tools, and principles of Lean Manufacturing, encouraging the sharing of experience between entire departments and various specialists. According to the Lean Manufacturing job description, such employees conduct an audit of the entire quality management system.

Lean Manufacturing Job Description

The Lean Manufacturing Specialist works in accordance with the Lean Manufacturing job description. He must have knowledge in relevant fields and experience in applying them in practical activities.

The Lean Manufacturing job description states that this employee must communicate lean manufacturing ideas to all line managers. If lean manufacturing specialists do not have the necessary qualifications, all initiatives in the area of ​​efficiency growth may be discredited.

The job description for lean manufacturing consists of the job responsibilities of lean manufacturing specialists, which are most often determined by the specifics of the enterprise and the corresponding tasks assigned to this function by top management.

Job Responsibilities of a Lean Manufacturing Specialist

The main responsibilities of a Lean Manufacturing Specialist include the following:

1. Coordinate the work of the project team in the process of developing a methodology and implementing the lean manufacturing philosophy;
2. Collect information to develop a process improvement project;
3. Carry out planning and coordination of project schedules and budgets in accordance with the established methodology;
4. Coordinate events and meetings, organize interaction between the project team and departments with the company’s clients within the framework of the project;
5. Develop documentation for design solutions;
6. Prepare reports on the results of project implementation;
7. Develop regulatory documents in the field of enterprise project management.

In the process of developing an efficient production system, lean production cannot be the function of a specific employee or department. All company employees, from ordinary workers to the director, must take part in this process. Every manager in an organization must become a lean manager to some extent.

To date, the study of technologies and methods of “lean production” has not yet found widespread use in Russian higher educational institutions. Our country at the present stage does not have specialized educational institutions or programs for lean production due to its relative “youth”.

At the moment, the best option for acquiring knowledge in the field of lean manufacturing may be in-house education. The largest transnational corporations began to introduce the practice of transferring this experience and knowledge to their employees. Training in this area is conducted in practical conditions on the basis of joint projects for the implementation of LEAN technologies with consulting companies. Professionals who receive the necessary education and experience can become mentors to their colleagues.

Examples of problem solving

EXAMPLE 1

Exercise

Lean Manufacturing Job Description: 1.) It appeared in our country recently, after foreign countries began to use it, 2.) Typical only for foreign countries, does not apply in Russia,

Basic principles of lean manufacturing

Traditionally, the basic principles of lean manufacturing include:

• Identification of value streams for a specific product;
• Supplying an uninterrupted flow of manufacturing value products;
• Providing consumer access to products.
• Commitment to improvement.
• In addition to these principles, the following are also distinguished:
• Receiving excellent quality;
• Flexibility;
• Establishing long-term relationships with consumers. This is achieved by sharing risks, costs, and information.

Note 1

The core of lean manufacturing is the elimination of waste. Waste involves a specific action that is aimed at consuming resources. It is important to note that losses do not create any value for the consumer.

The main objectives of lean manufacturing are:

• Reducing costs, which include labor costs;
• Reducing the time required to create products;
• Reduction of production and warehouse space;
• Ensuring delivery of products to the customer;
• The highest quality at a specific cost or the highest price at a specific quality.

Instructions for a Lean Manufacturing Specialist

The instructions for a lean manufacturing specialist include the following basic provisions:

• Development and implementation of plans for the introduction of a lean production system at the enterprise. It is important to note that you need to start from scratch. It is necessary to control work at every stage of work. The main requirement for performing this job is the manifestation of leadership qualities. It is not enough to believe that the inclusion of lean production at a particular enterprise includes a huge potential for efficiency; you need to be able to convince every employee of this, convey your ideas to everyone, defend your point of view, motivate employees;
• Introduction of lean manufacturing tools in the production area;
• Organizing the inclusion and training of employees, finding training programs and conducting training for all employees on lean production tools. In addition, this includes training in theory and practice, motivating the exchange of experience between each employee and various departments. All this gives rise to the need for certain knowledge in the field of industrial pedagogy;
• Control over project work groups in projects to increase production efficiency. In this area, a specialist needs to have the knowledge that a project manager has. The project manager is responsible for ensuring that each member of the project team works in accordance with the developed action plan;
• Conducting consultations for heads of organizations, structural divisions, as well as among employees who are involved in the implementation of projects in their departments or who use Lean tools. The knowledge needed to eliminate errors in this area is important for effectively solving various problems, as well as negative consequences;
• Building processes aimed at continuous improvements in the production organization, finding the best practices in the implementation of various projects. For this, communication is key, since the one who is responsible for enabling lean production has to communicate quite often;
• Knowledge and skills of finding and selecting new ideas. The basic requirements in this area are needed to conduct discussions in which specialists without the use of moderation methods will not be able to achieve certain tasks.

We have long been accustomed to the idea that if we get sick somewhere, we will have to spend money on treatment. Therefore, it seems to us that business works the same way: since we invest money in infrastructure, new equipment, automation or digitalization, we will definitely achieve high efficiency and excellent results. This is not entirely true.

What is lean philosophy?

Lean manufacturing, or lean management, is a management tool, the essence of which is to notice hidden losses in time and eradicate them. This increases team efficiency and significantly reduces costs. Therefore, mastering the principles of traditional lean will be useful for any company.

The founder of the lean principles that we know today was Toyota back in the 1950s. Its engineer, and then its leader, Taiichi Ono, identified seven types of production losses. Namely:

• unnecessary transportation;
• excess inventory;
• unnecessary movements;
• waiting and downtime;
• overproduction;
• unnecessary processing steps;
• marriage and alteration.

If you analyze all the processes of your business, you can identify these losses. The reason may be due to employees, equipment, distribution of materials and use of space.

In the 2000s, the wave of lean production, which by that time had long covered Europe and the USA, finally reached Russia - it is believed that the lean philosophy was brought to us by Oleg Deripaska. Later, seeing its success, Rosatom, Sberbank and the heads of other large companies also took a closer look at this concept. The wave has moved on, and now lean manufacturing is being implemented by everyone who understands its benefits and who can do it.

It is important to understand that lean is not at all the philosophy of large corporations and market giants. Any small company or startup can analyze and improve its performance.

How to implement lean in your company?

The main question you should ask yourself every day when looking at a particular company process is: “Does this add value to my product?” If an action is performed only because “we are used to it,” think about how to eliminate it. This tactic is a key principle of lean management.

If you decide to reduce your costs and at the same time increase quality, that is, gradually introduce lean principles, here are the instructions to get started.

• Explain to employees what the seven types of losses are: both managers and their subordinates. It doesn’t matter what you do - create, build houses, produce furniture, prepare food or provide services. Everywhere there is something valuable that buyers pay for. Everything else is loss.
• Allocate the team one day a week - a “bath day” - to improve the work of a specific area. You will need four hours a week, that is, only 10% of your working time.
• Choose the department, area or process that you consider the most problematic.
• Ask all managers to observe this process and note the most noticeable losses. Spend the first two hours on this.
• Take a break and discuss your observations. Put the brightest and most obvious at the top of the list.
• In the remaining two hours, discuss the questions: 1) what is the reason for the losses (nothing in this world happens for nothing); 2) what the solution could be; 3) what will change after implementing this solution.
• If there are no answers, leave these questions for the next “bath day”: observe, look for answers, implement and test solutions; move on to the next work center.

Important: do not try to involve everyone in lean manufacturing and motivate people through their personal interest.

Steps to help strengthen lean ideas

• Once you change any work practices, standardize them and continue to train other employees.
• Analyze how small changes can lead to improvements in overall performance and stay focused on the problem.
• Find a smart coach to correct your actions if you feel that you can’t cope on your own.

And most importantly: do not forget to devote four hours a week to implementing lean.

What does lean look like in practice?

To give a better idea of ​​how lean management works in practice, I will give a few examples from practice.

Case one

The management of a large airport contacted us. They purchased new powerful machines for apron maintenance, but despite the advantages of the new equipment, the overall speed of work and productivity were below expectations.

What did the observations show?

“Defects” in the work of drivers: it turned out that one part of the automation capabilities of the new cars was used incorrectly, and the other was not used at all.

Cause?

Drivers simply could not fully understand how to work with the new automation.

Why?

Personnel training and monitoring of operational efficiency in the company were poorly structured. After undergoing instruction and passing the test, drivers quickly forgot important controls. There was no monitoring of effectiveness and therefore the problem was discovered late.

Solution

First, we “stopped” the problem: we retrained the staff to work with automation. Then we moved on to eliminating problems: we improved monitoring of operational efficiency and restructured standard training methods. As a result, the speed and quality of operations increased, and in some areas there was even downtime, which meant an excess of equipment.

Case two

A large industrial holding company purchased new production lines to increase efficiency in the packaging department. This was supposed to improve order fulfillment and increase revenue. Experts predicted revenue growth of 110%, but in fact they received only 50%.

What did the observations show?

It turned out that operators waste time searching and waiting for auxiliary materials: they do not have enough containers, they cannot keep up with the machine, they make mistakes and begin to slow it down. It turns out that the cars are new, but the speeds are old.

Cause?

Despite the new equipment, the organization of jobs and processes remains old - irrational.

Why?

The management did not take care of this in time. It was assumed that the machines were new, which meant that production capacity would definitely increase. No one thought that there were people behind the cars.

Solution

During the work, we identified six types of losses out of seven.

• First, we calculated the time required to complete operations for each employee “without losses” and “with losses” (we understood the cost of losses).
• After this, the composition of operations between line workers was changed. We removed overproduction for some, downtime for others, and reduced the volume of work in progress.
• We changed the layout of empty containers, pallets with finished products, and the location of auxiliary materials on the site. We eliminated all “cross” movements by aligning the flow in one direction.
• We calculated and reduced the volume of auxiliary materials on the site. With the help of the technical service, we taught operators the elements of autonomous line maintenance, reducing downtime while waiting for an adjuster on simple issues.
• Freed up engineering and technical service time for scheduled and preventative maintenance. All changed operations were standardized.
• We visualized the standards so that any new employee could easily and quickly figure out “how to do it correctly” and “not correctly” to perform the operation.

As a result, excess capacity arose. The question arose: was such an investment necessary?

What do we understand?

• Inefficient operations neutralize the effect of investments, and efficient operations reduce the assessment of necessary investments - for example, in new equipment.
• First, look for reserves for internal growth and only then evaluate investments.
• When you encounter a problem, go to where it is fixed. Observe the workflow: collect facts, talk to people, look for losses and logically move along the “chain” of causes.

What conclusions can be drawn?

First- do not rush into investments until you are firmly convinced that you have reached the ceiling by increasing the efficiency of labor organization and eliminating losses. At least you'll have a good starting point for evaluating your investment.

Second- When you introduce a new process or optimize an existing one, pay attention to how the new rules are standardized to maintain the sustainability of the positive effect over time.

Third- through the practice of lean, that is, rationalization and optimization, you will see the best among your colleagues: raise them in positions and do not be afraid to push aside the worst.

Fourth- think about how partial effects can improve overall efficiency.

Fifth- start small: by devoting just four hours a week to lean practice and focusing on seven types of losses, you will receive a colossal reserve of internal efficiency growth without any capital investments.

Information about the profession of a lean manufacturing specialist

Many global companies consider the concept of lean production management as a basic operating principle. Lean manufacturing specialists are currently considered rare, so their demand in the market is quite high.

A lean production manager, first of all, is an employee who launches the processes for implementing the lean production concept, helps all employees in this process, and coordinates improvement work within the entire enterprise or one department. This employee should be responsible for training staff in the details, tools and fundamentals of lean manufacturing, promoting the exchange of experience between entire departments and different specialists, and conducting an audit of the quality management system.

A lean manufacturing specialist must have knowledge in the relevant field and experience in applying it in practice. This employee must be able to convey lean manufacturing ideas to line managers. If the lean specialist is not sufficiently qualified, this can lead to the discrediting of all initiatives to improve efficiency and “kill” the desire to eliminate any waste in the enterprise’s employees.

Job Responsibilities of a Lean Manufacturing Specialist

Note 1

The specific functionality of a lean manufacturing specialist is often determined by the specifics of the company’s work and the tasks that top management assigns to this function.

Key responsibilities of a Lean Manufacturing Specialist:

• coordinating the work of the project team to develop a methodology and implement the philosophy of lean production;
• collecting information to develop a process improvement project;
• planning and coordination of the project schedule and budget according to the established methodology;
• coordination of events and meetings, organization of interaction between the project team and the company’s departments and clients within the framework of the project;
• development of documentation regarding design solutions;
• preparation of reports on the results of project implementation;
• development of regulatory documents for company project management.

As part of the development of an efficient production system, lean manufacturing is not the function of an individual or department. All employees of the enterprise must take part in this process: from the ordinary worker to the director. In other words, each of the company's managers should, to one degree or another, become a lean manager.

Requirements for qualifications and education of a lean manufacturing specialist

Note 2

It should be noted that in Russian higher educational institutions, teaching the technology and methodology of “lean production” is not yet as widespread as in Western countries. Today, our country cannot boast of specialized educational institutions and programs in lean manufacturing due to the relative “youth” of this field. Together, the education market offers a wide variety of courses and training programs, but there are only a few practitioners on the market who are carriers of knowledge and technology, as well as having practical experience in implementing lean manufacturing.

As a rule, a lean manufacturing specialist must have a higher technical education. An advantage for applicants may be the availability of a certificate of completion of various training courses in the field of lean management. At the moment, the best option for obtaining the necessary knowledge is in-house education. The largest transnational corporations have established a practice of transferring this experience and knowledge to their staff. Training is carried out in practical conditions within the framework of joint projects on the implementation of LEAN technologies with consulting companies. Specialists who have received the necessary education and experience can become mentors for their colleagues.

Last fall, after the publication of a note whose title speaks for itself, and which aroused noticeable interest in the lean community, HeadHunter approached me with a request to comment on some issues related to the “profession”.

I have long intended to collect something like a reference about specialists in the field of lean manufacturing, and this offer to participate in writing an article turned out to be very opportune.

So, now, we can say, there is officially such a profession - Lean manager. I must say it is quite scarce.

Profession information: Lean Manufacturing Technology Manager (LEAN)

Among innovative models of organizing and doing business, LEAN technologies occupy a special place, representing an effective combination of European practicality and Eastern philosophy. Thanks to the experience of the Japanese corporation Toyota and the interpretation of its ideas, “lean production” is today considered the most effective, reliable and low-cost way for companies to overcome the crisis, increase competitiveness and take a leading position.

general description

The concept of production management, which is based on the idea of ​​the need to eliminate all types of losses (LEAN), has been considered by many global companies as the main operating principle for more than half a century. Specialists in the so-called “lean manufacturing” are considered extremely rare, despite the fact that their demand on the market is extremely high.

“We mainly see demand for lean manufacturing professionals from companies in the metallurgical sector, B2B companies offering packaging solutions, assembly plants in the automotive sector, heavy engineering, tobacco industry, and oil and gas companies. This need for LEAN arises primarily among companies with large turnover and production volumes,” says Evgenia Lanichkina, Head of Industrial Recruitment Antal Russia. “Over the past year, we have not had a single application for the selection of a plant director that did not require experience in implementing LEAN.”

LEAN considers any production from the point of view of process optimization by all employees of the company. This global approach hides the main complexity of the “lean production” methodology, since a specialist in this field must combine the skills of a teacher and manager, forecaster and analyst. At its core, lean manufacturing is a technological philosophy put into practice by people who are creative in eliminating waste. It is no coincidence that the concept arose in post-war Japan, whose ideology was based on the idea of ​​combating the negative consequences of World War II.

LEAN considers any production from the point of view of process optimization by all employees of the company.

Pavel Rabunets, publishing development manager ICSI (Institute for Comprehensive Strategic Studies) and editor-in-chief of the blog about production management, believes that a “Lean Manufacturing Manager”, or, more correctly, a “production system manager” is, first of all, a person who starts the process of implementing lean manufacturing, developing software, helping everyone employees in this process, coordinating improvement work throughout the enterprise (or in any one department). This is the one who trains staff in the basics and details of lean manufacturing, various tools, stimulates the exchange of experience between various specialists and entire departments, and conducts audits.”

According to Alexandra Rogozhina, a specialist in lean manufacturing technologies, “A LEAN manager is a person with knowledge in the relevant field and experience in their practical application. I would even highlight the second as a higher priority: you can know Shingeo Shingo’s book “Fast Changeover” by heart, but without the ability to competently “sell” this idea to line managers, this employee will be of no more use than a rug at the entrance to the reception area. Moreover, such “specialists” can even do harm by discrediting all initiatives to improve efficiency with their amateurish approach and “killing” in all potential allies the desire to identify and eliminate losses in current activities.”

But if, as Alexander notes, “manager” means an ordinary specialist (not a manager responsible to top management for the implementation of the program), then the need to search for such employees on the foreign market raises very serious doubts. “In my opinion, internal candidates are more suitable for this position as they are more familiar with the specifics of the enterprise. As mentioned above, it’s not enough to know - you need to be able to convey it, and with this, people from outside who do not have enough weight may have problems (as I had: “well, I don’t know how it is in your mechanical engineering, but in ours There is no conveyor belt in metallurgy, so there is nothing to talk about...").

At the same time, Russian companies prefer to outbid experienced professionals from Western manufacturing companies, which are a priori (but not always deservedly) considered businesses that preach LEAN. At the same time, they take a rather narrow view and hire such people to solve specific problems, implement a specific project (upgrading one production site, launching a new production line, etc.). Russian enterprises are not ready to consider LEAN as a long-term investment and expect quick returns.

“For our candidates, Russian companies can become a good platform for the implementation of existing knowledge and skills. At the same time, Russian companies outbid such professionals as carriers of valuable experience, offering salaries on average 1.5 times higher than in Western businesses,” comments the situation Ekaterina Tretyakova, Consultant, Industrial Recruitment Department Antal Russia.

Pavel Rabunets adds that “the very formulation “lean production manager,” despite its apparent unambiguity, is rather vague. The ideas of lean manufacturing are used in many industries, and almost each of them, or even different companies, can put a completely different essence into this formulation.

In general, now, at a time of greater interest in lean technologies, operational efficiency and production systems, a lean manager (production system manager) is understood as a specialist with extensive knowledge and experience in the field of modern production systems and lean manufacturing. I deliberately do not talk about tools, since knowledge of them, as well as knowledge of the basic principles, is self-evident.”

Irada Marunenkova, company recruiter RichatsMeyer adds: “You also need to understand that a lean manager is to some extent an “entrepreneur.” Among his other responsibilities, he must be able to sell the idea, calculate the risks and understand who needs to start implementation first - which employees to communicate with, who to meet with.”

Today in the Russian market there is a shortage of professionals with experience in optimizing production processes through the implementation of lean manufacturing technology.

Functional responsibilities

Russian enterprises are not ready to consider LEAN as a long-term investment and expect quick returns.

The specific functions of an internal communications specialist often depend on the company and the tasks management assigns to the function. The fact is that LEAN technologies, due to their exotic nature, are often “thought out” by the business owner, which can lead to misunderstandings.

A general list of responsibilities related to the position of “lean production manager” can be identified:

• training in lean production methodology for company employees;
• involving staff in the process of continuous improvement;
• organizing work on the implementation and development of a lean production system at the enterprise;
• planning and reporting on the development of a lean production system;
• forecasting and obtaining the effect of implementation.

Pavel Rabunets draws attention to the following important point: “Look at the phrase “manager for...” (a function is missing here). Unfortunately, in the minds of most people, including in the minds of the owners and managers of many enterprises who have paid attention to lean manufacturing, there is confidence that the person hired for this position will be responsible for this function and manage the element. Look: HR manager, sales manager, advertising manager, purchasing manager, supply manager manager, customer service manager... It is incorrect to write “lean production” or “production system” in this row.

Lean manufacturing and the development of an efficient production system is not the function of an individual or department. This is a process in which all employees of the enterprise participate, from the worker to the general director. It may seem strange, but all company managers should become lean managers to one degree or another. And the most important specialist in lean manufacturing and production systems should be the top manager, the first person.”

Education

Teaching “lean manufacturing” technology in Russian universities has not yet become as widespread as in the West. “Experts admit that in Russia today there are no specialized educational institutions and programs on LEAN. The main reason is the “youth” of the region itself, explains Ekaterina Tretyakova. – Active implementation of LEAN in production began about 10-15 years ago. Behind all the variety of courses and training programs that the education market offers, there are only a few practitioners on the market who themselves are carriers of knowledge and technology, practical implementation experience.”

With all this, there is a certain established requirement that employer companies often include in published vacancies, namely, higher technical education. As a rule, the most preferable is a diploma from Moscow State Technical University. Bauman. As for additional education, the choice of courses is unusually wide, ranging from multimedia trainings to training conducted by the LIN-Systems company.

“According to the professionals in the field of LEAN management with whom we work, in-house education is currently the best opportunity to gain the necessary knowledge,” continues Ekaterina Tretyakova. – The largest transnational corporations strive to transfer this experience and knowledge to their employees. Training takes place in practice during joint projects for the implementation of LEAN technology with leading brand-name consulting companies. A specialist who has received the necessary education and experience becomes a mentor for his colleagues.”

Pavel Rabunets states: “To become a lean manager, you first need to become just a good manager. Moreover, you can be a specialist in any industry, be it mechanical engineering, metallurgy, food industry, book publishing, finance or medicine. Yes, lean manufacturing is not limited to industry. Many financial institutions, including the nation's largest bank, are building their production systems around lean manufacturing. In the West, lean manufacturing in healthcare has brought and continues to bring amazing results. The main secret and the most important element of education is practice, practice and more practice. In lean manufacturing there is such a concept - “gemba”, that is, the place where value is created (relatively speaking, for industry it is a workshop). This is where managers should work and learn, not in clean offices. Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, came up with one of the most unusual and interesting ways of teaching - “standing in a circle.” The manager must stand in a circle drawn on the floor, observing what is happening in the gemba, and noticing losses.”

A key success factor is the ability to convey the need to use new ways of working to performers.

But no practice is possible without theory, says Pavel. The correct theory ends up being very practical. “And I recommend starting with self-education, with books on lean manufacturing. This is perhaps the most accessible and most effective way to get acquainted with the basics and some elements. But don't overdo it. You need to go step by step from literature that is easy to perceive and understand to more complex literature. Books allow you, so to speak, to correctly format your consciousness. Therefore, it is very important to use primary sources, that is, undistorted data. For lean manufacturing, this is the Toyota Production System. Quite a few business novels related to the theme of LEAN and TPS have been translated into Russian, but it is better to first pay attention to them and only then to the classics of the genre.

Online resources on lean manufacturing are a very simple and even more accessible opportunity to gain initial knowledge, discuss some features, and keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of LEAN and PS. Start with a blog about production management. As for educational institutions, the only specialized program in production systems in Russia is the “MBA-Production Systems” at the Graduate School of Business of Moscow State University. But the selection for the program is very strict: since 2005, only a little more than 100 production managers have completed the program, and until 2010 it was carried out in a corporate format - for the Basic Element group of companies (Russian Aluminum, GAZ Group, EurosibEnergo, "Glavstroy") And only since 2011, anyone can enroll in the program after selection.”

Alexander also agrees with Pavel’s opinion: “The best place to gain knowledge on lean manufacturing is the shop floor. It is impossible to become a production optimization specialist without holding a wrench in your hands. Returning to the first paragraph, the key factor for success is the ability to convey the need for new ways of working to performers. As my personal 5-year experience shows, they trust a smart Moscow boy much less than a guy who is ready to tell them in detail and show them how the pins will need to be rearranged after the implementation of the new standard.”

Related professions

Related specialties that are closest to LEAN are change management specialist, production manager, effective manager, and unit efficiency improvement manager.

According to Pavel Rabunts, specialists responsible for the same process are called differently in different organizations. “Here are just a few examples I've seen,” he says. – Lean Manufacturing Manager; production system manager; lean manager; Lean Project Manager; production system engineer... Plus various variations of these and other position designations with the words “development” and “implementation”, as well as the replacement of “managers” with “specialists”, “masters”, “experts” and “directors”. Often the “functions” of a lean manager are assigned to quality managers and engineers, managers and development directors.”

Consulting companies can outsource lean manufacturing professionals from manufacturing companies as project managers. However, to get to such a position, you need to go through a rigorous selection process, many stages of interviews and testing - both professional and psychological. A big plus is having a Lean Six Sigma certificate (“green” or “black belt”), and people who have completed such a program are often considered for the role of coaches in the implementation of optimized business systems.

Skills, business qualities

The specifics of “lean manufacturing” determine a number of aspects, without which the employer is unlikely to be interested in the candidate’s resume. A company planning to introduce LEAN principles in production requires the manager to have at least 3 years of experience in production work in this industry and experience in reorganizing business processes (not only based on LEAN). Secondary requirements may include fluent knowledge of English and working with basic computer programs (including Power Point).

Consulting companies can outsource lean manufacturing professionals from manufacturing companies as project managers.

Applicants for positions in the HR function are required to have an economics or management education. “At the same time, companies often expect such a person to act as a consultant and trainer for staff, and also provide support for projects implementing LEAN principles. The main task of such a person is to convey the principles of this concept to the staff,” comments Evgenia Lanichkina.

As for personal qualities, activity and initiative, strong leadership skills, the ability to organize and/or coordinate the work of other people, as well as the ability to learn to further develop oneself as a methodologist and LEAN practitioner are valued.

Alexander Rogozhin believes: “A manager for the implementation of lean manufacturing must clearly understand what he wants to achieve as a result, and be able to convey his understanding to the top management of the company. These should not be dreams like “we will turn our collective farm into a Toyota”, “we will increase the competitiveness of domestic industry” (in how many centuries? how? and most importantly - why, if the management is already quite happy with the current situation?), “we Let’s get the staff involved!” (what? why?). As is known, “changes can take place if dissatisfaction with the current situation, multiplied by the attractiveness of the vision of the future and the certainty of the first step, is greater than resistance to change.” A necessary requirement for a lean manufacturing implementation manager is the ability to present to senior management:

1. problems of the existing system (“we lose 100 million rubles per year due to a longer (30%) cycle time than our competitors

• loss of orders, because customers don't want to wait that long
• interest on loans,
• the salary that we pay to unnecessary employees of the executive apparatus, whose approvals increase the cycle time");

1. target state that is planned to be achieved before the end of the manager’s contract (“cycle time will be reduced by 45% due to

• transferring the functions of technological, design, economic expertise for standard orders, constituting 80% of the total, to the sales department,
• moving the procurement area to the forge shop,
• reduction in inventory by 30%");

1. first steps to implement changes (“fire the chief technologist, perform an ABC-XYZ analysis of inventory in the warehouse and transfer economic expertise to the sales department”).”

Irada Marunenkova calls communication the main quality for a lean manager, since “the person responsible for implementing lean production has to communicate a lot and often with involved company employees at all levels, and be able to find an approach to different types and characters. Non-conflict and readiness for the fact that at first implementation may be accompanied by failures are also important; a kind of manifestation of fortitude in the fight against difficulties (considering that no one likes to live in the “era of change”, without which the implementation of lean cannot do, this quality becomes truly significant).

Leadership qualities are required: it is not enough to believe that the introduction of lean manufacturing at a single enterprise will make the world a better place; you also need to be able to convince other employees of this, convey your message, defend your idea, inspire and instill enthusiasm. In other words, one of the key skills is the ability to prove to each employee that the imposed implementation of lean is not just another idea, but an improvement that really matters for the enterprise.

Well, in any case, you need to be an excellent entrepreneur, that is, treat the implementation as your own project, assess the risks, feel the atmosphere in the company, and not lead to “popular unrest” with sudden and revolutionary actions.”

Salary

According to the press service of Antal Russia, the salary range for a manager of lean manufacturing technologies ranges from 130 to 230 thousand rubles per month (before taxes).

A plant director with experience in implementing LEAN is rated on average 20-30% higher than a similar professional without such experience. On average, the salaries of LEAN consultants and project managers in leading international consulting companies are as much higher than those of professionals working in companies: their starting level is on average 200,000 rubles.

At the same time, true LEAN professionals can confidently be classified as in short supply. “Over the past 3 months, we have met only with four truly high-level professionals, with technical and special education in the field of LEAN management, with good Western work experience and experience in implementing technology in production,” says Evgenia Lanichkina.

The average figures announced in some sources are 100-250 thousand rubles per month, although the upper ceiling is not limited in any way.

According to Pavel, the average salary is like “the average temperature in a hospital.” The range of amounts is very large. So, in a small provincial town, employers can offer a lean manager 20-30 thousand rubles, due to the fact that the standard of living is lower, but even more so due to insufficient understanding of the role of such a production manager and the potential effect. The average figures announced in some sources are 100-250 thousand rubles per month. Although the upper ceiling is not limited by anything. It all depends on the industry, company and region, and, of course, on the specialist himself and his experience. Sometimes the income level of a production system manager is tied to some company performance indicators, such as EBITDA.

“The spread is really wide,” agrees Irada, “and is calculated solely by the company’s capabilities and desires to “get” a truly valuable specialist. So, for example, a number of companies are even ready to hire an expat and provide a really high level of compensation. If the ideal specialist is found within his home country, the level of compensation is very flexible and depends primarily on the successful experience of the candidate, his projects and qualities.”

Prospects

LEAN technology is a special form of production reorganization that does not provide for its place in the corporate structure of the company. As a rule, we are talking about project activities, often freelance. Ekaterina Tretyakova speaks about this: “Employers prefer to lure managers with knowledge and experience in implementing LEAN technologies from competitors rather than train their own employees.” Therefore, the lean manager works to promote his own image, increasing his visibility as a successful professional in the market. We can talk about the expert branch of specialist development.

Pavel Rabunets has his own opinion on this matter: “Career prospects are difficult to assess in the abstract. If the owners or initiators of these transformations correctly understand the essence of the transformations, as well as an extremely clear understanding of the goals, the prospects for the lean manager are very bright. Again, all this takes into account that any employee of a lean enterprise must be, to one degree or another, a lean manager. Any operator, foreman or manager has a chance to become a production system director. Why not?"

Alexander Rogozhin believes that the prospects for a manager are expressed in the following: either growth to the position of general director (whose function, as you know, is development, and not operational activities, as is now the case in most enterprises), or the position of a consultant (in the top 4) / head of the “Lean Manufacturing” direction (in other consulting companies).

Irada Marunenkova elaborates: “Just as a company employee with almost any background can become a lean manager, there are also many prospects for further development ahead. In large holdings, the lean direction is often placed in a separate structural unit, the leadership positions of which occupy a high place in the hierarchy of the entire enterprise. In smaller companies, experience in implementing lean production systems gives the employee a few points ahead if he wants to develop in the field of management. What remains, of course, is consulting. Objectively, lean manufacturing is not very widely represented in Russia as a separate area of ​​consulting, but it is increasingly included in the area of ​​“Increasing operational efficiency/Performance Management/Organization Performance”. Accordingly, there is a wide range of potential positions of different grades, the number of which will only grow over time.”

Pros and cons of the profession

The advantage of the profession is the absolute opportunity to realize your creative potential and introduce something new, interesting work with projects and communication with people. In addition, joint activities with different departments provide new knowledge about the business and help to establish new connections. The disadvantages of the specialty are evidenced by the fact that the LEAN “guru” will still have to do a huge amount of work alone. Often companies are not ready to go all the way and bring the entire process of reorganizing production into lean mode.

Pavel Rabunets considers the advantages to be quite high salaries and the “exotic” nature of the profession, which arouses interest. “But there is one thoroughness that can be considered both a plus and a minus at the same time. Once you become infected with the idea of ​​lean manufacturing, understand the basic principles, realize the importance of customer value and learn to see waste, you will be a completely different person. You can easily identify losses and their source, find bottlenecks and ways to neutralize them. You will be very valuable as an employee, and that's a plus. But in ordinary life it will be quite difficult to look at reality - you will understand that much is arranged and is not going as it should, that processes are slow and consist of almost nothing but losses. Naturally, this will irritate you, and this is probably a disadvantage in some way.”

The advantage is the opportunity to “change the world”, because any plant is an entire planet.

Alexander Rogozhin expresses the opinion that the advantage, first of all, is the opportunity to “change the world,” because any plant is an entire planet. Secondly, this is an opportunity to gain contacts useful for your future career. Disadvantages - inevitable difficulties, because... It is difficult to change the “world” (otherwise it would have been done before us), and often it is necessary to sacrifice friendship/alliance for the sake of success. “But what do these difficulties mean when there is an opportunity to change the world?” - he asks.

Irada Marunenkova says that “there are several specific difficulties that managers encounter when implementing lean production systems, but one of the most basic is the so-called “fight with users.” Lean implementation is essentially a change management process, and when changes affect company employees, they leave their “comfort zone.” In other words, a lean manager will definitely face resistance from employees, because no one likes change. It is important that the need to use lean manufacturing is understood not only by management, but also by the team. This requires training and agitation at all levels of management – ​​the so-called “ideological component”.

Another difficulty, directly related to the previous one, is the fight against the bureaucratic apparatus. This is more typical for large companies with a branched structure. It takes a lean manager a lot of time to go through all the bureaucratic stages, and therefore it is obvious that bureaucracy should be one of the first things to be the focus of lean changes.”