What really is Lean (or Lean Thinking, as I prefer to call it)?
- Common sense?
- Elimination of waste?
- A fancy management buzz word?
Well, it’s all of those, and much more. But whatever you think it is, unless you’re a Lean Expert, you probably know and understand very little about it, how to apply it, and what it can really do for you. The challenge with Lean is that it’s a way of thinking, not a process or tool. The first step in Lean is ‘Learning to See’, so unless you can think the right way, you can’t see, and vice a versa. It’s all a bit chicken and egg…The best way to learn to see, is through someone else’s eyes, and someone like me, casting their expert eyes over your business, could be a game changer.
So let’s shift tack, and explain why you might hire someone like me to come and ‘kick the tyres’ on your business… Well, it’s simple really. Anywhere that has never had a ‘Lean implementation’ can usually save 20-50% on any processes where Lean has not been previously applied – and the benefits are not just cost, but quality; customer satisfaction; health and safety; employee motivation, retention and engagement… the list goes on.
Too good to be true?
It’s not.
I have been doing it for 30 years and have never failed to deliver this level of improvement – call centres, transport business, manufacturing, Facilities Management…you name it, I have proven it across all sectors.
So, let’s put this all into numbers, as last week I completed validation of a Lean Implementation for one of my clients. I have spent over a month working in detail with the experts in each element of the process. I always start by reminding them that they are going to think me as mad, and I will challenge and question everything that they do (in a nice way). Working through their processes we step through all the stages of “Storming-Norming-Forming-Performing”, until at the last stage, there is a realisation that magic occurs when we couple my knowledge with theirs.
So, what was the outcome:
- 20% reduction in process cost
- 50% reduction in process time
- Monthly saving of over £120k!
Doesn’t sound enough to make it worthwhile for your business? Well, this is only phase one from the data I have so far, there is approximately the same to come again in the coming 12-24 months, as a continuous improvement process is embedded and fully utilised.
If you want to know more, please drop me a line on my contact page.