Lean is a Team Effort. Everyone Needs to Be On Board.
One of the key benefits of a successful lean medical device manufacturing program is the synergistic effect realized from a committed and focused team. In fact without the commitment of the entire team a lean system can fail. It is this interdependency of team members that fuels the team spirit, an essential element of lean medical manufacturing program success.
Let’s talk about lean manufacturing in situ and team …
Back in the day (~480 BC) the famous Greek battleship commander Themistocles gained acclaim for leading the attack and ultimately destroying the Persian fleet. His fleet of trireme ships were of an eloquent design. They provided the superior evasive speed and ramming power to be victorius in the battle of Salamis.
So one might ask … How did they power this ship? (hint – this is where the team part comes in).
The standard warship in Greece at that time was the trireme, a vessel which had three banks of oars with one man to each oar. The total crew of a trireme was about 200, of whom 170 were oarsmen.
Immediately, I’m thinking how did they ever coordinate their rowing strokes? … especially when the need for course correction was necessary !!