Achieving a "Lean" Office

While the concept of running a lean organization has its roots in the manufacturing sector, its influence was bound to spread throughout many different types of organizations and industries.

Many organizations have now adopted a lean office, and have seen great success in cutting waste in both materials and employee work hours. The success of many of these lean offices depends on developing processes which allow for the maximum output for effort. The increase of the service sector around the globe has really lead to an increased interest in lean processes, even though they have been around for quite some time along with other quality processes including Six Sigma.

It is easy to see the benefits of running a lean office. This quality management system has many advantages which have lead to the improvement of offices throughout the world. Need more information to see the real benefit of lean offices? Below we have outlined some key improvements.

Improved Efficiency
When we speak of improved efficiency, we are taking about as much as a 90% improvement in some office environments. That is no small achievement. The process of lean manufacturing leads to the review of all the company processes, making changes where they are necessary, and implementing those revised processes.

Cost Savings
Many companies are interested in running a lean office because of this main point. You will see both direct and indirect cost savings as a result of the improved processes discussed in the previous point. The implementation of a lean office will result in direct savings in resource and input costs, as well as timely responses which will lead to an improved performance around the company overall.

Identify and Reduce Waste
Lean office practices focus on both identifying waste and eliminating it from the organization. The implementation of lean office processes often allows managers to identify hidden activities which are wasteful in terms of both time and money. Companies often find that they can achieve improved results with a leaner process because it eliminates activities that were implemented without proper planning.

Simplifies Processes
During the implementation of a lean office system managers will have the ability to examine all of the offices processes and determine if the same (or better) results can be achieved using a simpler process and the same resources. Managers should remember that the company’s current wasteful procedures are not the result of employee error. The truth is that processes tend to become cumbersome over time as steps continue to be added little by little. You can end up with the opposite of a lean office if you don’t pay attention.

Keeps the Knowledge in the Organization
As the results of the implementation of a lean office all procedures will be properly documented and many will be automated. Companies will be able to put their trust in the process, not the unique knowledge of a particular employee. Employees are trained to work within the written framework of the system, thus keeping the knowledge base for the process inside the company, whether the employee stays there or not.

Improved Customer Response
One of the key benefits of implementing a lean office is the dramatic increase in customer response times for organizations that regularly deal with customers. Improved customer response times often lead to better customer relationships, increased orders, and more company profit. You can see how implementing a lean office can have a huge positive impact on the bottom line of the company.

Conforming to Rules and Regulations
Depending on your industry you no doubt have a series of rules and regulations that need to be followed. Having a lean office allows you to work them into your office processes, making them easy to follow on a consistent basis. You will get faster turn around times and smoother issuance of any required regulatory reports.

You will not doubt see that running a leaning office is the only way to go once you truly understand all the benefits it offers. The implementation of a lean office may require that you hire consultants with knowledge of Value Stream Mapping and who have an expertise in providing assistance with process flows. It will also be beneficial for your consultants to have knowledge of various kaizen processes, which many average business consultants do not.