Applying Systems Thinking and Active Learning Strategies To A Lean Manufacturing Program
Applying Systems Thinking and Active Learning Strategies To A Lean Manufacturing Program
Applying Systems Thinking and Active Learning Strategies To A Lean Manufacturing Program
Vancouver, Canada
necessary to understand immediate and delayed impacts of the changes, as well as direct
and indirect results of these changes. This systemic approach should enhance the
learner’s understanding of the system (the manufacturing company), its variables, its
outcomes, and the relationships among the system’s components. This paper presents
using systems thinking. This design process is conducted for the development of job
reducing waste in operational and administrative processes to make them more efficient.
It has evolved during 50 years in Toyota. In spite of Toyota’s recent woes, Lean
To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to keep a general look to find the real causes
of waste, not only the symptoms but the root causes. Only an integral understanding of
lean tool and technique generates an impact on the company’s performance and these
in Colombian universities. Lean has only been a part of Industrial Engineering curricula
since some five years ago. It is also taught in graduate programs related to Industrial
Engineering and Management. Systems Thinking has been more widely taught in
subjects to professionals currently working in operative areas. This paper presents the
The structure of the paper is as follows: In section two we briefly present main concepts
related to lean manufacturing, systems thinking and the methodology that was chosen
for curricular design. Section three presents the curriculum development process for the
program, and section four presents the contents and learning activities for the course.
Finally, in section five the main learning achievements that students should attain are
2. BACKGROUND
techniques came to be due to the constraints and requirements brought upon Toyota due
to its market, the resources available and demands from the banks and the government
of Japan.
Standard
Work
Flexible
Work JIT
Total
Systems
Value Productive
Stream SMED Maintenance
Mapping
5 S Heijunka
Jidoka
learning program would present the philosophical framework, the characteristics of the
techniques and enable students to discover and identify the relationships between
techniques, critical company variables and functional areas. A quick reference to the
• Value Stream Maps: These are high level visual representations that show the
• 5S: These are five key concepts to implement cleanliness, order and discipline in
any company. They are so called because the five Japanese words that designate
with the right management style, develop responsibility and autonomy in their
processes.
implement a system where best practices are documented and standardized. This
• SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die): This is a set of principles and tools
applied to reduce the time required for setups when there is a change in the
implementation.
• JIT (Just in Time): As its name implies, it means making and moving the precise
WIP (Work In Process) and to smooth out the flow of materials through the
system.
scheduling of production lots that reflect the real proportions of demand in the
These different techniques are well documented; for further information the reader is
referred to Ohno (1998), Womack et. al. (1990, 1996), Shingo (1985, 1986), Monden
(1998), Villaseñor and Galindo (2007a, 2007b) and many other useful Lean
Manufacturing materials.
Many of the entities found in daily life are systems. In a certain situation there are input
variables, components interacting under certain rules, desired and undesired outcomes,
and great efforts and resources are invested in knowing, understanding and predicting
the behavior of these systems to achieve the desired results. Systems Thinking is a
System Dynamics tool that allows the understanding of a system’s behavior through the
identification of rules, patterns and events. Thanks to the knowledge of these elements it
is possible to assert more control over the system, plan for its future evolution and
influence and modify the elements of the system and their interactions.
Systems Thinking must break with traditional approaches that follow a “logical”
• Cause and effect are separated and the effect happens after the cause.
For Systems Thinking, these relationships are not necessarily true. An effect can be the
future cause of further effects in a cyclical pattern. This is why a systemic outlook must
analyze the secondary effects of a change in an element of the system, because it can
2.2.1. System Complexity: Every system rests in the interactions between the parts that
make it up, therefore, the relationships between the system’s elements and their
influence on each other are more important than the number of parts in the system or the
dimension of these elements (O’Connor and McDermott, 1997). Detail complexity is the
amount of parts that comprise a system, pieces on a puzzle. Dynamic Complexity refers
to the manner in which system elements relate to each other. A system is considered a
complex one when both kinds of complexity are high, because it contains many
different parts, theit interactions are rich and any action can have diverse impacts and
results.
2.2.2. Feedback loops: Sometimes an action can have an impact that later will reflect
over itself. The behavior of subsystems can be presented in feedback loops that are the
“system’s reaction that regenerates in the form of a stimulus or return information that
influences a subsequent step” (Op. Cit., p 51). These feedback loops can be
creating more changes in the same direction, amplifying the cause from which
system oppose the original change and therefore dampen its effects.
2.2.3. Causal Diagrams: One of the most useful (and therefore preferred) tools to
present and understand systemic behavior is the Causal Diagram. These diagrams are
useful to show internal system variables, outside forces, delays in behavior and other
system components in such a way that it is possible to observe the effect they have on
each other. Emergent behaviors and reinforcement loops become visible in this way
(Figure 2).
Growth limiting
condition
+ +
+
Effort Crec Results Decreasing action
imiie
+ nto -
There are many other aspects in Systems Thinking. However, the main tool used as an
educational resource was the causal diagram. For further Systems Thinking and
The third distinctive element of the learning experience presented in this paper is the
paradigm of curricular design under which the course was developed. Its two main
2.3.1. Active Learning: The Active Learning paradigm was chosen with the conviction
that “no one can really impart knowledge into someone else. Each individual will build
his/her own knowledge; educators and institutions can do little more than designing and
administering the contents and learning experiences through which the students will
model, students are passive subjects that come to the class to witness a “show”, a
presentation of some sort that will (hopefully) help them to store key concepts and
material into their memory. Application and connections are left for homework, projects
and the student’s own ability to make connections and generalizations. In Active
Learning, the instructor designs and delivers learning experiences that give the student
her autonomy back. Each student will then construct their own knowledge through
• Relate material to the what was previously discussed and to the material yet to
come.
• Balance concrete information (facts and data) with abstract concepts (principles
and theories).
• Present material that emphasizes practical problem-solving methods and
Have students develop their own graphs and maps to explain learned material.
• Use activities such as paired and group work, practical discussions, problem
learning and experimentation of the skills that are in play in each class.
• Traditional lectures should not be the main class resource. They should be used
to introduce new concepts, solve doubts and integrate issues and conclusions of
2.3.2. Constructive Alignment: This model is used to build a curriculum at any level of
Definition
of tlearning
objectives
Learning
outcomes
evaluation
Course Learning
strategies
contents strategies
and and
resource didactics
selection selection
to achieve in terms of content and abilities (terminal objectives) and what steps
define the behaviors or actions that students will be able to perform at the end of
• Selection of contents and resources: After the definition of the learning elements
and their sequence, contents and resources required to achieve each element are
here. It is necessary to define course activities that support the learning elements
and their contents and resources in such a way that active learning principles are
upheld. The instructor must choose at this point readings, class discussions,
materials and learning strategies that have been previously defined. “The
in such a way that he/she can achieve the learning objectives for the course”
(Bahamón, 2007).
3. DEVELOPMENT OF A COURSE TO TEACH LEAN MANUFACTURING
Learning objectives must be defined according to the needs of the student towards
whom the program is directed. In this case, since it is a Continued Education class, the
between 22 and 40 years of age. This program could be offered open to people from
The main categories of objectives (course, terminal and specific) were defined for the
3.2.1. Course Objective: At the end of the course, the students will be able to configure
lean manufacturing-based improvement projects that are systemically desirable for their
companies.
3.2.2. Terminal and Specific Objectives: Terminal (T) objectives present the main
abilities the student will acquire during the course, and Specific (S) objectives detail
A. (T) At the end of the course, given a real or hypothetical situation, the
student will be able to find the main problem issues based on lean
manufacturing principles.
1. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to explain
scenarios.
B. (T) At the end of the course, the student will be able to explain lean
or real situations.
1. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to describe
2. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to predict
system.
describe and analyze the behavior of the operations system with the
decisions, and the results of the internal and external system variables
performance.
1. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to describe
2. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to design a
D. (T) At the end of the course, the student will be able to design a systemic,
2. (S) At the end of the course, the student will be able to create a
productive way.
Contents were chosen taking into account that they should cover all the concepts
For the systems thinking subjects, the instructor who teaches the graduate courses
Contents and materials are shown on several tables following next. Knowing the
concepts and knowing what to do with them are presented in the tables; knowing what
Learning objective D2: At the end of the course, the student will be able to create a Lean
Manufacturing implementation plan, considering the organization’s systemic behavior to direct efforts
in the most productive way.
Knowing the concepts Knowing what to do
Design a Lean Manufacturing implementation plan taking
advantage of the systemic comprehension of its tools.
3.4. Selection of learning strategies
Learning strategies were selected under the constructive alignment methodology. These
strategies will enable the student to achieve the categories of knowledge presented in
For knowing the concept, the main strategy will be the directed individual study of
bibliographical material that is relevant for each subject. The material will be discussed
in class through questions and examples. For knowing what to do, different strategies
were defined, such as games, debates, case studies, supervised practices and design of
causal diagrams. As an example, Table 2 presents the learning strategies for each
learning element in Learning Objective A1, along with the assigned readings for the
subject.
Table 2: Learning Strategies for Objective A1
Learning Element Material Learning Strategy
Knowing the concept
Pensar al revés
Chapter 1: El espíritu Toyota
(Spirit of Toyota)
Chapter 4: Subcontratismo y
rentas relacionales
Lean Manufacturing philosophy: History, context (Subcontractors and relational
and objectives. revenues)
Individual directed study: Students must perform analytical reading
Manual de Lean Manufacturing,
over assigned materials to comprehend main concepts.
Guía Básica.
Class discussions: Debate about questions and viewpoints from the
Chapter 1: La historia de la
students.
Manufactura esbelta (History of
Use real examples where the application of the proposed subject is
Lean Manufacturing).
shown.
Manual de Lean Manufacturing,
Understanding the concept of waste Guía básica
Section 2.3: Desperdicios (Waste)
Competitive Manufacturing
Management
Production flexibility and pull system.
Chapter 8: Pull production
systems
illustrate the activities that will take place during the class and after it.
3.4.1. Directed individual study: This relates to the reading of the class materials
following a study guide assigned by the instructor. The guide is designed to stress
important issues and highlight the takeaways the student should acquire on a certain
material.
Faculty of Engineering
Industrial Engineering Department
Material:
Chapter 1 “El Espíritu Toyota” (The Spirit of Toyota) pages 19-38
Chapter 4: “Subcontratismo y Rentas Relacionales” (Subcontractors and relational revenues) pages 98-
123
Questions.
1. What is the “Spirit of Toyota”?
2. In your own words, describe the fundamental differences between what the author calls
“Fordism” and “Ohnism”.
3. Why is it important to know the history of the spirit of Toyota?
4. In 100 words, present the main ideas of the author on the subject of subcontractor relationships.
5. In 100 words, present the main ideas of the author on the subject of inter-company relationships
in Japan.
6. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of these subcontractor relationships. Would they be
viable in Colombia?
knowledge of concepts into a practical ability, into knowledge of what to do with the
theory. Eight different practical experiences were designed for this course; Figure 5
presents just an example, The Game of Matches (adapted from The Goal, Goldratt
Faculty of Engineering
Industrial Engineering Department
Subject: Waste
Objective: To show the effects that variability and dependency can have on a system.
Materials:
• 2 dice
• 4 boxes of matches
Procedure:
1. Two groups of 10 people are formed.
2. A member of the group rolls a die 100 times and records the average points. This should
(theoretically) be 3.5 for a fair die.
3. The instructor tells the groups that the die represents their average production capacity.
4. Each teams then makes up a production line with 10 stations. The first person will take as many
matches from a box as the points obtained in a roll of the die. The second person will then be
able to process as many matches as the points obtained in their roll of the die. If he gets more
points than the available WIP, he will only process whatever units are available. If he gets less
points than the available amount of material, he will only process whatever he obtained in the
die.
5. The instructor then proposes a wager to the group: If they can produce 36 or more matches in
10 rounds of the whole line, he will buy them a case of wine (or pay for dinner). If they can at
least get 35, the instructor offers a solid A as a grade for the whole group.
6. At the end of the 10 rounds, each team will document how many units could they get through
the whole process and how much WIP was left.
7. Each team must generate the conclusions of the activity and share them with their classmates.
individual and group work. Their objective is to have the student apply concepts and
techniques that have been discussed (or some others that have not been discussed yet) to
Some skills that students should acquire in this course are the calculation of production
capacity of a work cell, takt-time and pitch, number of machines required on a cell and
SuperLean Ltd. manufactures its main product, SuperBroche, in a six-workstation cell. The image of
their cell is shown in image one.
4 3
5 2
6 1
SuperLean Works daily from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Employees have a break from 9:00 to 9:15, have
lunch from 11:30 to 12:00 and have a coffee break from 1:45 to 2:00 p.m. Machine and activity times are
presented in Table A.
Work is performed in the following fashion: The operator arrives to the machine (that has already
stopped), unloads the unit that was processed in that machine and sends it to the next destination, loads
the next product unit, sets the unit up in the machine, and when processing starts he walks to the next
workstation and leaves the machine running with the unit he just loaded (he does not stay in a
workstation while it processes the unit of product). When he gets to the next workstation he repeats the
same cycle.
5 2
6 1
2. ¿How many units could this cell process per day if it is run by two
operators? 4 3
5 2
6 1
3. ¿How many units could this cell process per day if it is run by three
operators? 4 3
5 2
6 1
3.4.4. Design of causal diagrams: This learning strategy is probably the most important
and distinctive one from this course. One of the first skills that are developed during the
between techniques and company variables. They are built towards the end of each of
the subjects as a way to solidify learning of the concepts and improve complexity
Order
Implementation
of 5 S
Time wasted Environment for new
looking for tools improvements
Investment in
workplace Worker
improvement satisfaction
were designed for each subject unit in such a way that they measure the achievement of
objectives as they were expressed in this curricular design. This also makes the whole
Evaluation
Elements Performance criteria Application
strategies
The student faces problematic situations that go
against lean manufacturing philosophy. The
solutions proposed by the students are
Knowing
Case study solution consistent with lean manufacturing principles, Class time
what to do
including relevant issues about waste,
production planning and control and other
subjects that are presented in the case..
4. CONCLUSIONS – WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
variables
Towards the end of the course, we devote one and a half sessions and also some out-of-
class work time to the development of a causal diagram that includes the major lean
manufacturing techniques and some of the high-level system variables. It has been
observed that never two diagrams from different groups look complete alike; however,
the heart of the relationships and connections is always present. Then an additional task
is assigned; it consists of the explanation of the main relationships in the causal diagram
through some paragraphs of text. During this assignment students realize how hard it is
to put in (linear) text what has been understood systemically; yet, they realize that the
ability to convey systemic meaning to others must be developed. It is not a given that
other people will automatically understand their systemic diagrams in the same way
they do. At the same time, students realize that trying to understand and explain these
relationships without having done the diagram first would be close to impossible in the
first try. The universal comment that students make is that systemic diagrams and
systems thinking have given them tools to better handle complexity and to make them
companies. Many times they are in charge of these types of improvement projects and
have felt under-prepared because they had the intuition related to the complexities of the
A typical causal diagram that was designed during a class and then improved upon by
the instructors is shown in Figure 8. Note that main Lean Manufacturing techniques are
defects
-- + FWS
training +
- +
STANDARD
+ 5'S WORK
+ + + + SMED + -
KAIZEN
+ + + +Flexible Inventory
level
Production
+ + +
Motivation
source +
inspection
+ TPM
+
reliability -
Defect
visibility
+ +
JIDOKA +
Due to the engineering-friendly paradigm of curricular design that was employed, once
the whole design of the course is completed, it is easy to configure an instructor’s guide
to replicate and improve upon this course. It is the intention of our faculty to develop
specific versions of this course for target industries in our region (sugar cane,
pharmaceuticals, paper and printing), and to have a group of faculty members that are
Based on the learning gained with the design and teaching of this course, it seems
manufacturing implementations in Colombia are still few and far between, so a tool
such as this one could increase the understanding of the people of the company, their
ability to manage their own transformations, and thus become a more successful and
Also, more in-depth courses will be designed. The next target might be a research-
oriented course for the Master’s Program in Industrial Engineering, and maybe a joint
offering for the Ph.D. program in the leading public university of our region. A more in-
depth immersion in the techniques and quantification of variables and their behavior
would be next. Maybe even the development of system dynamics models with
The authors believe that systems thinking, along with the paradigm for curricular design
that was used would be a great pair of tools to teach any subject in engineering that
transforms systems such as companies or operative areas. Probably subjects such as the
design of distribution networks starting with logistics strategies could be another type of
5. REFERENCES
Goldratt, E. (2004). The Goal: A process of ongoing improvement. North River Press,
Great Barrington, MA.
O’Conor, J., McDermott, I. (1997). The Art of Systems Thinking: Essential Skills for
Creativity and Problem Solving. Thorsons, San Francisco, CA.
Ohno, T., (1988), Toyota Production System, Productivity Press, Portland, OR.
Shingo, S., (1986). Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System,
Productivity Press, Portland, OR.
Sterman, J. (2000). Business dynamics: systems thinking and modeling for a complex
world. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Bogota.
Villaseñor, A., Galindo, E. (2007a). Manual de Lean Manufacturing. Guía Básica.
Limusa, México.
Womack, J. P., Jones, D. T., Roos, D., (1990), The Machine that Changed the World,
Macmillan, New York, NY.