Recently our company embark lean transformation. There is already a dedicated Lean Team form to lead this initiative. However our quality director would like the quality department to run some projects on lean too. Most of the projects are either taken up by the Lean Team. For example the Lean Team is working on Visual factory. How does the quality department play a role in this Visual factory so that the effort is not seen as duplicated effort? I am lost of ideas. Can anyone shed some light?

Recently our company embark lean transformation. There is already a dedicated Lean Team form to lead this initiative. However our quality director would like the quality department to run some projects on lean too. Most of the projects are either taken up by the Lean Team. For example the Lean Team is working on Visual factory. How does the quality department play a role in this Visual factory so that the effort is not seen as duplicated effort? I am lost of ideas. Can anyone shed some light?

Who makes up this "Lean" team? Ideally, if this a company wide initiative, then participation from all departments should have been included. Teams should typically contain membership from outside an area/department where the improvement is to be made in order get some fresh ideas.

I really don't see why the quality department would be excluded given that "quality" (non-quality actually) data is an important part of any operation.

As for a project, take the lead and begin some of your own activities such as:

1) Value-stream some of the typical activities such a first-article approvals, corrective action process, etc.
2) 5S the QC lab, workbenches, toolboxes.
3) Create standardized work instructions that are more user friendly than the typical ISO document.

Tell your Director that given the amount of resistance normally associated with beginning a lean initiative, not accepting the offer of assistance is pretty strange. It kind of sounds like there may be some politics at play here.

It could be possible that the "Lean" team is cherry picking all of the easy projects and will then ask for help once the in-depth projects are uncovered.

Wayne