The next Lean in Europe visit will be on 4 July to Fly S.p.a. in Treviso, Italy, a new-generation machining company producing components for the aeronautic, aerospace and energy industries. It will include a process mapping / improvement exercise around two specific components. A pre-visit group discussion will take place on the evening of 3 July. 

April’s Lean in Europe visit was to Ski Beat in La Plagne, France, and addressed lean in hospitality and linked lean tools (process mapping and preventative maintenance) with customer satisfaction (net promoter score, NPS). 
The visit was an opportunity for participants to see how lean tools and approaches developed by Japan’s manufacturing industry could be applied in the hospitality sector and identify improvement possibilities for the host company.
Ski Beat runs catered chalets in ski resorts offering week-long stays in a ‘homely environment’. The visit focused on the work of the chalet hosts who play a crucial role combining customer-facing duties, with food preparation, housekeeping, running changeover processes and other duties. Participants worked in a wide range of sectors: from cable solutions, biogas refining equipment, textiles, lean coaching, stamping and welding, oven hinges, ammunition, to a care home.

The visit included:

• a process-mapping exercise and feedback session around meal preparation and serving; 
• a look at how customer satisfaction can be driven by combining NPS and lean tools, such as a portable Andon developed in-house to highlight when action is needed, and by empowering and trusting staff;
• a discussion and feedback session around preventative maintenance;
• a fireside chat about how to infect the next generation of leaders with Lean.

If you would like to get details of future visits as and when they are arranged, please email lean(at)eu-japan.eu.

Published: June 2023