| LA0909 - Workshop on Lean Accounting at the Lean Summit Africa |
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LEAN ACCOUNTING AFRICA Location: Cape Town (RSA) Speakers: N. Gianesin, M. Sheriff Period: 21 September 2009 The summit, the third consecutive one held in Africa, was organized by the Lean Institute Africa which is based in South Africa and is a member of the Lean Global Network. The venue of the summit was Cape Town International Conference Centre, a modern structure equipped with a lot of facilities and services to accommodate a wide variety of summits, seminars, conferences and workshops simultaneously. It is flanked by two tourist and historic attractions: the Table Mountain and the Water Front. The duration of the summit was three days from Monday September 21 to Wednesday September 23. Workshops were held on Monday while presentations and plenary sessions were held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting from this year and thanks to De Beers’ sponsorship, a special trophy will be awarded every year to a South African Company which will achieve the best results in the lean transformation process. The summit was designed to promote the adoption of Lean Transformation as a means of improving service and quality while reducing cost and waste in any organization. Hence the theme “Lean for Lean Times and Beyond.” Top gurus in the global Lean movement made presentations, most noticeably: • Jim Womack – Founder and President of The Lean Enterprise Institute USA. • David Brunt - A key member of Dan Jones’ Team in the UK • Michael Ballè – Co-founder of Project Lean Enterprise – Europe. About two hundred and fifty delegates from different sectors of the economy, both public and private, were present at the summit. Ten workshops were held on various aspects of lean transformation. GC & Partners was in charge of the workshop on the theme; “Lean Accounting: The New frontier of Management Accounting.” The workshop was led by Nicola Luca Gianesin, CEO of GC&P, with Michael Sheriff as assistant. The main objectives of the workshop was to make participants aware that a lean transformation is incomplete without lean accounting. Applying Lean Accounting a company can achieve two goals: simplicity and the capability to measure the true benefits of a lean transformation. Some of the major topics dealt with were: 1. Why traditional accounting is harmful to lean transformation. 2. Concepts and Methods of Lean Accounting 3. Best approach to implement lean accounting and problems involved About 10% of the participants attended the workshop from various enterprises, among which: • Coca cola - Swaziland • Standard Bank – South Africa • VSC Solutions - South Africa • Powertech Transformers - South Africa • Areosud Aviation - South Africa |
LA - HIGHLIGHTS
| Lean Accounting Case History 1 |
Lean Accounting in an Automotive Components Manufacturer The Company: Our client is a middle-sized company in the automotive industry. It has two main business units: the After Market Division and the OEM Division. The Challenge: The company, due in part to its history, was already divided into Value Streams and had already started a lean transformation process. What was missing was an information system capable of measuring the results of this transformation. The Action: Our job had two goals: create a set of indicators, accepted by all parties involved (Operations, Accountants, etc), in order to measure Value Stream performances and allow management accountants to produce timely income statements by Value Stream according to the principles of Lean Accounting. The Results:Today every Value Stream has a similar set of indicators and these indicators are available for all those interested (Operations, Techical design, Management Accounting, Purchasing etc.). The indicators refer both to operational performances and to economic and financial results. They are available within 5 working days and the effort required to produce them is quite limited. Everybody in the company agrees that these indicators are very useful to guide and to monitor the improvement process: people working in each value stream can now constantly and effectively measure the effects of their actions. |
| Lean Accounting Case History 2 |
Lean Accounting in a Pneumatic Components Manufacture The Company: Our client is an Italian company specialized in the production of pneumatic components for industrial automation. The Challenge: The company has transformed its product family “cylinders” according to the principles of lean manufacturing, but their management accounting system has remained unchanged and based on traditional concepts such as the determination of unit standard costs. Being increasingly conscious of the inadequacy of this system to measure the effects of a lean transformation, they have consulted us to learn and then apply the principles of lean accounting. The Action: Our job has had the following objectives: Teach a number of managers of various areas the principles of lean accounting- Activate the lean accounting system for the cylinder flow - Verify the benefits of the new system and its applicability to other areas. The Results: Today the company is able to produce, at each month end and within two working days, all significant performance indicators (Supplier Service Analysis, Customer Service Analysis, Inventory Cross Analysis, OEE) as well as all economic and financial indicators (Profit & Loss Account, Cash Flow, Takt cost, return on investment, Income per person etc.) |
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