Lean is Not Just the Production Line

Imagine walking into an office environment where you could literally see and feel the buzz of positive productivity –where you could immediately witness the dynamic information flow of customer value from the instant an order is taken right up to the point it reaches the hands of the skilled workers making the product in the facility.  Imagine an atmosphere where the proverbial and literal walls of communication are toppled by the united force of a value-focused organization.

I encountered this phenomenal scenario a few years ago as I stood back and observed quietly while visiting a client well on their way to successfully implementing the principles of Lean Enterprise in their office area.

This organization had applied these same Lean principles in their manufacturing processes for years.  Realizing their main obstacle to rapid customer response no longer resided in how fast they could make product, management decided it was time the company learned to flow information through their office processes as quickly as they’d learned to flow material through their production processes.

As I stood in this lively office and listened to the testimonials of this team of  salesmen, buyers, engineers, schedulers, and accountants describe how they reduced order processing time to the shop floor from 8 days to 6 hours, I immediately realized the mountain of office waste that has been overlooked by so many organizations.

Since this eye-opening visit, we’ve trained hundreds of office and administrative professionals in the principles of Lean Office and assisted dozens of progressive companies in implementing these principles in their organizations.  Do any of these 3 situations describe your organization?

• Business is booming and you are interested in growing without substantial investment in expansion

• Business is slow and you need to operate more efficiently to stay afloat

• You are an organization that thrives on educating and empowering your workforce and staying on the cutting edge of modern business processes

If you identify with any of the above, you are ready to learn how to harness the power of eliminating office waste to achieve high levels of performance in our Lean Office 101 training course…I have a hunch it will open your eyes much the same way that visit years ago did mine!

Nic

Nicholas Loyd  (NicholasLoyduahedu)  , Director
Alabama Technology Network
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
www.atnlean.com