Posted by Locher, Drew
Applying lean principles in service organizations and administrative processes within manufacturing companies often confounds companies. Lean faculty member and author Drew Locher offers four key steps to focus on for success.
Creating Lean Flow in Office and Service Processes
There are many well documented lean successes in manufacturing applications. However, service organizations and administrative processes within manufacturing companies often struggle with applying these concepts. A big problem is that companies tend to focus strictly on lean “tools,” and fail to fundamentally change how work is performed and how it flows, and therefore do not realize the significant results that can be achieved. It’s discouraging and can lead to the abandonment of lean altogether. Staff members then view the effort as “just another program”—and a failed one, at that.
Another pitfall of many lean office and service efforts is the lack of alignment to an organization’s strategy and key business objectives. Upon learning a new tool, people tend to go out and seek an application. Such well-intended efforts do not always provide the results expected because they are not aligned with the key objectives of the business, or do not address a key business need.
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