Perhaps the reference to MacGyver, a television show popular in the 1980s, is a bit dated. But we admire MacGyver for his incredible ability to use the most mundane objects, such as a paper clip or a chocolate bar, to save the day (or the world, for that matter). Each week millions would tune in to watch MacGyver diffuse a bomb with a hairpin or plug a leak in a tank of acid with a wad of chewing gum—always in the nick of time, of course!
Today, we are on a mission to rid the world (or at least our plants) of waste and inefficiency. Though it's great fun to have the latest "bells and whistles" it's not very practical for many companies, especially when software, special racking, lifting devices, load-levelers and the like cost tens of thousands of dollars. So if becoming Lean on a budget is required, low tech MacGyver ingenuity becomes ever more important. In such situations, we commit to employing "creativity before capital" to becoming Lean.
Afterall, shouldn't Lean itself be "lean"? Certainly it should! Before spending money on any Lean improvement device, the team should rule out the possibility of using something already owned by the company, fabricating the fixture or device in-house, or eliminating the need for the item altogether. We do this at home don't we? Baby food jars separate bolts from nuts, empty whipped topping bowls make handy containers for just about anything. And who hasn't used a little duct tape to temporarily solve a problem or two? Low tech Lean opportunities are everywhere you look.
