VIDEO INTERVIEW – Roberto Priolo speaks with Dave Brunt, CEO of Lean Enterprise Academy, at last month’s lean summit in the UK. They discuss lean in retail and the increased interest in lean in the public sector.
Interviewee: Dave Brunt, CEO, Lean Enterprise Academy
IF YOU PREFER READING, HERE’S AN EXCERPT OF THE INTERVIEW
Roberto Priolo: At the UK Lean Summit you held a masterclass on the Lean Transformation Model, which John Shook introduced almost a year ago now. What sort of reaction have you had from people here in the UK?
David Brunt: Feedback was very good. What we need to do now is gathering more examples and doing more experiments using the Lean Transformation Model. At the summit this year, we chose some of the speakers because their work reflects one specific aspect of the LTM, an example being the work Peter Watkins has been doing with GKN’s management system.
RP: You have a lot of experience with lean in retail, in particular car dealerships. What is the hardest part of applying the methodology in a sales-based environment?
DB: Sales are the biggest challenge, and knitting together all the elements you need to become a successful lean company. These are often little businesses and finding the time to improve alongside doing the work can be difficult. Breaking that cycle is key.
RP: This year, 50% of the attendees at the summit came from the public sector. There were not this many, even a couple of years ago. What do you think is coming next?
DB: This year, by having Dan Florizone talking about the public sector has encourage more from that sector to come forward. To see what’s next we will have to look at the feedback this year, as well as at global trends. That way we’ll be able to design something people find valuable.
RP: Finally, what has been the highlight of this year’s summit in your opinion?
DB: Lots of highlights. We reduced the number of keynotes to create more learning sessions, which were really good. For me the highlight was seeing Terry O’Donoghue talk about the work we have doing together at Toyota Halfway in South Africa. I am guessing that for most people the highlight is to see Dan Jones and Jim Womack together on stage talking about what they think the future will be.
THE INTERVIEWEE
Dave Brunt has been both applying and researching lean since 1990. He manages activities at the Lean Enterprise Academy and helps firms with their lean transformations. He has worked with Dan Jones since 1997. He has walked, mapped, taught and coached lean in over 500 value streams across several sectors.
