Lean Enterprise

Lean is a collection of principles, methods and tools that improve the speed and efficiency of any process by eliminating waste. Although Lean originated in Toyota’s manufacturing operations - known as the Toyota Production System – the tools have been successfully applied in organizations across all sectors.  The principles of lean include the following:

Define value from the customer's perspective.
Identify the value stream from each product/service family.
Make the product/service flow.
Deliver when the customer pulls from your operations.
Manage towards perfection.

The common methodologies of lean include: Kaizen, Design for Lean Sigma, Value Stream Mapping and 5s.

Kaizen

A highly focused, action oriented event
Clear objectives,
Measurement focused,
Data driven and fact based,
Uses creativity before capital
Empowered team takes action to improve a specific process
The new process is designed immediately

Kaizen events do not last more than 4 ½ days (Monday morning through Friday morning). There is a half-day pre-event meeting held two to six weeks prior to the event and 30, 60 and 90-day, 6 month and 1 year follow-up meetings.

Design for Lean Sigma

Methodology to crew service, product or process
Applicable to any high-value project that needs a significant amount of new design
Strong emphasis on capturing and understanding the customer and organization needs

Value Stream Mapping

Mapping of many processes that are part of an overall theme or value stream (e.g. DNR-Groundwater and all the programs that work with groundwater) from a 30,000 foot level to show where gaps or overlaps are in programs and services.  Each individual value stream map will entail at most 15 steps.  Value Stream mapping will be used as a strategic planning tool and will give agencies a plan to work off of for typically 3-5 years, but can be used for shorter time frames such as 1-3 years.

5S

A process and method for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, high-performance workplace, which:

Enables Waste Identification
Promotes Employee Satisfaction
Enables Standard Operations
Enables Visual Control

Lean methods and tools apply to any process where an employee:

Chases information in order to complete a task
Must jump through multiple decision loops
Is constantly interrupted when trying to complete a task
Is engaged in expediting (of reports, purchases, materials, etc.)
Does work in batches
Finds work lost in the "white space" between organizational silos
Doesn't know what they don't know"

From Lean Six Sigma for Service by Michael L. George

Lean recognizes that for most processes only 5% of activities add value for the customer, which means that 95% are either necessary non-value adding activities or waste. By clearly defining value for a specific service or product from the customer’s perspective, non value activities and waste can be targeted for removal. Eliminating waste is the greatest potential source of improvement in process performance and customer service. Once waste has been identified, processes are redesigned to allow service, information or product to flow through the new process without interruption.

Lean helps organizations to streamline how work gets done and eliminate waste. Through the use of Lean tools your agency can:

Eliminate or dramatically reduce backlogs.
Reduce lead times by more than 50%.
Decrease the complexity of processes.
Improve the quality of applications and consistency of reviews or inspections.
Free up more staff time for "mission critical" work.
Improve staff morale and process transparency.

Common roles in lean include: senior management, lean event sponsor, lean event team and process employees.

Senior Management
Senior management engagement and commitment is the most important factor in long-term success. Lean is a top-down drive to change the culture to one of continuous improvement.

Lean Event Sponsor
The critical role of a team sponsor is to support the team, both during and after the event. To ensure team success a sponsor must be:

Passionate - Enthusiastic support of the team
Strategic - Utilizing the event activity to advance a business objective by improving the performance of the targeted process while being aware of the impact to the total system
Committed - Engaged from pre-event planning through sustainment
Willing to Take Risks - Encourage creative thinking to drive paradigm breaking results
Open Minded - Influence the team to develop the best solution without introducing pre-conceived ideas

Lean Event Team
The team is expected to attend the entire event and fully participate by providing input and ideas. The team is also expected to complete assignments identified during the meeting or tasks that may be defined after the event.  The members should be cross-functional.  Remember the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 Rule:

1/3 who work directly on or are close to the process
1/3 who are somewhat touched by the process
1/3 who have no knowledge of the process, i.e., external stakeholders/customers

The ideal team has 12 members, although larger teams may be accommodated as necessary.

Process Employees

Employees not directly involved on the team may be asked questions by team members to clarify your part in the process. Team members may observe and time employees while they complete a step in the process, or discuss the time necessary to complete a step. Events are performed under the assumption that everyone involved is already doing their best – but with some assistance, efforts can be altered to reduce steps, delays, and time, with no loss of performance or quality.

The process should be large-volume, follow the same steps each time, and be a core business activity. Specific projects should be evaluated on their potential impact on customers and citizens, and on internal effectiveness or efficiency. Sample criteria include:

Funding concerns
Customer service complaints
Productivity problems
High volume and/or criticality