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Phi-Lean – The True Philosophie of Lean
+ Added value (quality)“Serve better” pillar

Serve better: quality right first time

The right-hand pillar rests on added value. Quality achieved right first time costs less than quality inspected in, and it lets you sell at the right price.

In the house

Each part of the drawing leads to its own page.

What the literature says

The reference works this part of the house rests on.

Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the crisis. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study.

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W. Edwards Deming is the American statistician whose teaching accompanied the recovery of Japanese industry after the war. Out of the Crisis speaks to Western leaders: the competitiveness crisis comes first from management, not from the people who do the work.

At the heart of the book is the chain reaction: improving quality lowers costs, because there is less rework, fewer mistakes, delays and less waste; productivity rises; the company captures the market with better quality and a better price, stays in business and provides jobs. Deming adds his fourteen points for management, including ceasing dependence on mass inspection and driving out fear. For him, the great majority of problems belong to the system, and therefore to management, not to people.

How Phi-Lean applies it

What we actually do, on the ground and with your teams.

  1. We start from the voice of the customer: what they really pay for, what they will not pay for, and what your mistakes cost them.

  2. We put a figure on poor quality: rework, scrap, returns, commercial gestures, time spent correcting.

  3. Root-cause problem solving (A3, PDCA), and standards built with the people who do the work.

  4. When customers do not expect the same thing, we segment the offer: a tailored service for those who pay for value, an optimised flow for price-sensitive markets.

From the field

This is the approach Manuel Gourmand led at his last site: two levels of service by market, on-time service up from 75% to 98%, and the average selling price up 22%.

Go further :

Lean Plant FlowLean Services FlowProblem-solving training

And in your company?

This will sound familiar if…

  • Quality inspection grows with every complaint.
  • You grant discounts to make up for delays or defects.
  • Your demanding customers and your price-sensitive customers get exactly the same service.
  • The same defects come back, with corrective actions aimed at people.

What it changes for you

  • Less rework and scrap, so costs fall without cuts.
  • A price defended by value, not by discount.
  • Customers who stay, and recommend you.
  • Teams who fix causes instead of looking for culprits.

The cost of waiting

Poor quality is paid for twice: once for the rework, once for the customer who does not come back. And it never shows up in full in the accounts.

Phi-Lean is a small firm, on purpose: Manuel Gourmand leads every engagement himself, from the diagnostic to the last workshop. The number of engagements running at the same time is therefore limited. If this is on your agenda this quarter, it is worth talking now.

Book 30 minutesStart with the VSM Express Diagnostic

The other parts of the house