The Mouse Trap® Experience:
The Power of Lean Learning
Course Objective
• Recognize the value of experimentation
• Strengthen lean knowledge
• Apply and test scientific method principles
Agenda
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Assumptions and Other Barriers
Lean is Born From How We Think
Mouse Trap®: The Simulation
Key Lessons and Call to Action
Barrier 1:
“Lean Only Applies to the Shop Floor”
• Manufacturing association is a result of:
– Lean integrating easily into existing processes
– Impact is readily apparent in visible processes
– Impact is easily evaluated using existing
measurements
Barrier 1:
“Lean Only Applies to the Shop Floor”
• Applicable to all industries and processes
• Waste exists in every process and job
• Identifies opportunities for improvement in
processes you think are working well
• Lean departments don’t win, organizations
do!
Barrier 2:
“Lean is the Magic Tool”
• Tools isolate improvement areas
• Tools are not the answer
• Exercise video is tool for weight loss
• Purchasing the video does not guarantee
success
Barrier 2:
“Lean is the Magic Tool”
Tools Do:
• Assist the lean journey
• Solve a specific problem
• Help standardize and
improve processes
• Produce immediate and
visible results
Tools Do Not:
• Ensure lean success
• Provide long-term
sustainability
• Address every problem
• Govern thinking and
behavior
Barrier 2:
“Lean is the Magic Tool”
Tools
• Disappointment
develops
• No one single tool can
address every problem
Lean
• Lean governs thinking
and behavior
• Lean can address every
problem
Barrier 2:
“Lean is the Magic Tool”
• Are you and your organization searching
for a quick fix such as a band-aid to
address existing problems?
• Are you committed to dig deeper, address
the root cause and sustain improvement?
Barrier 3:
“Lean Isn’t Going To Work Here”
• Frustration is often result of unexpected
barriers
• Barriers are not an indication of failure
Barrier 3:
“Lean Isn’t Going to Work Here”
Barriers:
• Allow you to dig deeper
• Provide a new improvement
opportunity
• Prioritize the problem that
you should focus on next
• Addressed immediately
Lean is Born From How We Think
• Lean cannot be made successful by:
– One person
– One department
– One job title
• Lean requires dedication and commitment
of all
• People must first understand before they
can make a commitment
A Learning Organization Structure
Learn
• Formal seminars
• Informal coaching
Apply
• Organization-wide
• Departments
• Job responsibilities
Reflect •
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What worked well?
What didn’t work well?
Why?
What can we do
differently?
Apply
Learn
Reflect
Standardization Enables Learning
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Identify the most efficient way to
accomplish a process
Ensure that everyone follows same
structured process
Visibly indicates deviations
Improvement opportunities become
evident
Standardization Enables Learning
• How do you do this
work?
• How do you know you
are doing this work
correctly?
• How do you know that
the outcome is free of
defects?
• What do you do if you
have a problem?
Experimentation and the
Scientific Method
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Directly observe the problem
Brainstorm an idea
Develop hypothesis of anticipated results
Implement an idea
Directly observe and record results
Compare actual results with anticipated
The Hypothesis
• ‘A tentative assumption made in order to
draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences’
• Learning occurs as the hypothesis is
tested
Why Create a Hypothesis?
• Provides direction to the ideal state
• Prevents becoming sidetracked
• How can you identify success if you don’t
have a vision of what it looks like?
• Source of all process learning
Experimentation Barriers
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Failure to understand current state
Failure to develop hypothesis
Focus on symptoms
Failure to verify results
Plan-Do-Check-Act
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Identifies improvement area
Maps out an action plan
Details time frame
Continually assesses progress
When Do I Use PDCA?
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Implementing any change
Defining a repetitive work process
Identifying root cause
Developing a new process
Plan
Identify the condition •
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Analyze the current •
state
Develop ideas
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Develop hypothesis
Recognize an opportunity
Clearly define current state
Identify current reality
Brainstorm ideas
Narrow down ideas to
one
• Define your idea
• Define expectations
Do
Execute an idea
• Perform your experiment
• Implement on trial basis and
test
Check
Evaluate results • Direct observation
• Gather data
• More important to learn process
than achieve the desired result
Act
Experiment did not
produce desired result
• Determine “why?”
• Strategize revisions
Experiment produced
desired result
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Expand solution
Adopt solution
Standardize solution
Continue to search for
improvements
XYZ Widget Company
Plan
Identify the
problem
Analyze the
problem
Develop idea
• Excessive amount of
response delay
• Delay is result of
communication gap
• “If we expand the staff
meeting, we expect that
response time on key
requests will improve by
10%”
XYZ Widget Company
Do
Implement an idea • Expand staff meeting
XYZ Widget Company
Check
Evaluate the results
• Measure response time
for IT requests
• Measure response time
for HR requests
XYZ Widget Company
Act
Experiment did not
produce desired result
• Analyze “why?”
• Strategize revisions
Experiment produced
desired result
• Standardize meeting
participants
• Continually assess
PDCA: A Group Reflection Activity
• Problem real to your organization
• Create hypothesis
• Create plan
Mouse Trap®: The Simulation
1. Identify problems/inhibitors
2. Brainstorm potential solutions
3. Develop hypotheses of expected
outcomes
4. Execute solution
5. Reflect
The Objective
• Capture as many mice as possible
• Make the process as efficient as possible
• Teams compete against one another
Mouse Trap® Mechanics
Role Responsibilities
Operator
• Begins when Set-Up has returned
trap to ready state
• Turns crank to trigger trap
Material
Handler
• Begins when Operator has triggered
trap
• Removes mouse from trap
• Transfers cheese from cup one to
• Holds mouse throughout cheese
transfer
• Returns mouse under cage
Role Responsibilities
Set-Up Person
• Begins when Material Handler
has returned mouse under cage
• Returns trap to ready state
Timer
• Collects data
• OBSERVER
Improvement
Coordinator
• Looks for improvement ideas
• Documents improvement ideas
• OBSERVER
Mouse Trap Ready State
Guidelines
• Trap must be reset to ready state if trap
malfunctions at any time
Mouse Trap® Process Guidelines
Material Handler
acts once mouse
Is caught
Operator
triggers trap
Material Handler
returns mouse
to cage
Set-Up returns
trap to
ready state
Role Responsibility Guidelines
Permitted to do active
work during Mouse Trap®
is operating
Material Handler
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Operator
Set-Up
Material Handler
Picks up the mouse
Moves cheese pieces
Must always pick up
mouse during cheese
transfer
• Move 1 piece of
cheese at a time
Practice Round
• 2 minutes
• Familiarize yourself with trap mechanics
• Operating the trap is permitted
Round 1
• Operate Mouse Trap® in current state
• No method changes
• No modifications to process or
operation
• 1 mouse caught = 1 cheese piece
• Material Handler transfers cheese piece
from cup 1 to cup 2
• Complete results report
Let’s Begin!
• 5 minutes
Round 1 Continuous
Improvement Discussion
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10 minutes
2 improvement areas
Document improvements in PDCA
Timer and Improvement Coordinator
actively contribute
Let’s Begin!
• 10 minutes
Round 2
• Only 2 ideas may be implemented
• Every change is 1 idea
• Improvement ideas must be documented in
PDCA
• Complete results report
• 5 minutes
Round 2
Operation Guidelines
• Turn crank to move boot
• Marble falls from bucket and follows red
rain gutter to hit blue helping hand rod
• Blue helping hand rod allows marble to fall
into bathtub
• Marble lands on diving board and
catapults diver into yellow washtub
• Cage falls down pole to catch mouse
Let’s Begin!
• 5 minutes
Round 2 Continuous
Improvement Discussion
• 10 minutes
• 4 improvement ideas
• If you are keeping ideas implemented
during round 2, these count toward the 4
maximum
• Document improvements in PDCA
• Timer and Improvement Coordinator
actively participate
Let’s Begin!
• 10 minutes
Round 3
• Only 4 ideas may be implemented
• Every change is 1 idea
• Improvement ideas must be documented in
PDCA
• 4 ideas implemented may be new or may
be ideas implemented during round 2
• Complete results report
• 5 minutes
Round 3
Operation Guidelines
• Turn crank to move boot
• Marble falls from bucket and follows red
rain gutter to hit blue helping hand rod
• Blue helping hand rod allows marble to fall
into bathtub
• Marble lands on diving board and
catapults diver into yellow washtub
• Cage falls down pole to catch mouse
Let’s Begin!
• 5 minutes
Identifying Current State is Key
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Key to Mouse Trap simulation success
Valuable usage of time
Essential to the lean journey
Contributes to sustainable solutions
Current State Results
• Identifies effective processes
• Identifies improvement opportunities
• Ensures that you are addressing the root
cause and not firefighting
• Provides direction toward ideal state
• Assists in identifying change as it occurs
• Serves as point of reference
Experimentation is Vital
• You must be constantly looking for
improvement opportunities
• If you stop searching, you become
complacent with the current state
• Complacency with the current state halts
the ideal state
Standardize Improvement
Through PDCA
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Identifies the current state
Identifies the problem
Develops potential solutions
Maps out an action plan
Evaluates results
Standardizes effective solutions
Assesses improvement progress
Small Steps =
Significant and Sustainable Change
• Wide-sweeping and sudden change is not
recommended
• Wide-sweeping and sudden change is
difficult to monitor
• Lean is a journey that never ends
Call to Action:
What You Can Do
“If I”
“I expect to get”