Lean Thinking and Lean Process are two terms that are gaining currency in local government.

What do they mean to you and what can Lean do for you? 

These terms have been imported from the manufacturing world where they have been used for many years.  At the heart of Lean is the concept of Value Add and Non Value Add activities.  Lean processes only contain Value Add activities.  Typically, a lean process contains the minimum number of handoffs and so minimises delays and opportunities for error.  This simultaneously increases customer satisfaction at service quality and speed of delivery, while reducing the cost of delivering the service – debunking the myth that quality costs money.

Achieving the transition from your current process to a Lean Process requires some Lean Thinking and the use of some well proven tools and techniques.  The fundamentals are the two sound principles of One Touch Processing and Right First Time.  The tactics used will invariably follow the five BPR steps and use the ten tactics for process improvement.

Click here to see some examples from the decision tree

To give an example of this in practice, one of the London Boroughs is processing new Benefit Claims within 24 hours of application.  The actual process is Lean and takes less than an hour; the delay is simply to allow the customer to gather the proofs that support their claim – nevertheless 24 hours is in stark contrast to their previous performance of 39 days!  In a further development, the Council can now access evidence required for claims on-line, allowing some claims to be put into payment during the course of the initial phone enquiry from a potential claimant – now that’s a way to exceed customer expectations.

Maintaining a lean process requires lean thinking by all those involved in it. The use of esoteric terminology can be daunting – terms such as kaizen, poke yoke, , JIT, TPM, kanbans, "Seven wastes", "5 S's" and value chain mapping.

At ValueAdding.com we use the techniques but not necessarily the terms, simple language is all that’s required to develop lean processes. If you would like us to help you make sense of Lean with plain language and practical advice, please contact us.

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