Breadth vs. depth: How to start deploying the daily management system for your lean transformation

Abstract

For a health care organization that has adopted Lean methodologies, a Lean Management System provides the means to sustain the Lean transformation. The Lean Daily Management System (LDMS) is an element within the comprehensive Lean Management System; it addresses the management of daily operations and centers around continuous improvement at the process level. This paper proposes a framework for organizations about to start their deployment of LDMS; it focuses on how to introduce LDMS and how to manage its dissemination. After a literature review, a deployment model that addresses these key points is produced. In developing the model, the question of whether to concentrate on deploying a comprehensive LDMS in one area at a time or to introduce a simplified version of LDMS to the entire organization at once is examined. Who is expected to play the greater role in deploying LDMS in any area is also studied; whether it is executives, middle managers, or front line staff. In order to test the validity and applicability of the deployment model, field research was conducted in three Canadian hospitals that have already begun their deployment of a management system.