Specialty Fabrics Review March 2021 - 27

likely affect the way companies run
their businesses.
" One aspect I see that is sure to
impact our future business is our
ability to pivot and adjust as the world
around us changes, " Kouzmanoff says.
" It was this one ability that allowed us
to be nimble and adjust. "
The pandemic changed where many
employees work and how businesses
communicate internally and with
customers, vendors and industry
partners. Many predicted that these
changes will be permanent.
" The combination of the workfrom-home program and the extensive
use of videoconferencing in our

This truck tarp is an 18 oz. vinyl-coated polyester fabric, one of TVF's most popular industrial
offerings. The heat-sealable fabric is also used to manufacture industrial curtains and
dividers, as well as industrial hose covers, mooring covers, oil booms and more. This varied
customer base has been an advantage for TVF during the pandemic, as some markets
suffered while others prospered. Photo: TVF.

Q: How did the pandemic
test lean principles?

Q: Some may think lean principles failed the pandemic challenge.
What are they getting wrong?

A: Everything goes out the window

A: I don't think lean principles failed but some companies failed to execute them. If

in a situation like the pandemic.
If you made masks or ventilators,
for example, you made a certain
volume until now when suddenly
you need 100 times the volume.
You're going to have to add people,
equipment and production shifts.

introduced purely as a cost-cutting measure and a way to cut the number of people,
lean management isn't going to be applied effectively. Plus, unfortunately, many
companies view lean only as inventory management. There are two problems with this.
First, some people are portraying just-in-time production purely as inventory
management, which it isn't. Secondly, people are subsequently portraying lean as
purely just-in-time. We need to go back to the fundamental principle of just-in-time-
providing a high-quality product to the customer in the shortest lead time based on
demand. The managing of inventory (including the misperception that this means zero
or near-zero inventory) is merely one of many methods to support just-in-time. In fact,
because our focus is on the customer, if we cannot deliver to that just-in-time way of
thinking, we're not lean. This is the question we need to answer, not how low or high is
our inventory.
Having said all that, what lean does challenge us to do is consider that we have
traditionally held " excess " inventory to cover wastes in our system. But lean or TPS
never said don't hold inventory-that's a major misinterpretation of lean thinking and
practice. Just-in-time is an important component of lean, but it's only one component.
Lean management isn't a static system. Yes, there are core principles we should
never abandon, such as focusing on providing the most value to the customer. But the
pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on lean management and use this
opportunity to adjust.

It doesn't make sense to
design production systems or
stockpile inventory with the idea
that once in a century you'll have
to contend with a pandemic.
But lean principles still will
help. The lean practice of total
productive maintenance ensures
that every machine can always
perform its required tasks. Lean
also encourages cross-training
employees so they can move to
produce what's needed.

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Specialty Fabrics Review March 2021

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