Operational Effectiveness and Productivity
Electronic controls company
What was the problem?
A division of a $6 billion diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies, our client had been losing market share for a number of years and improvement efforts had not delivered the significant increases in revenues or expanded customer base that were needed. The company had been using lean techniques for some time, but recognised that those techniques needed to be integrated into all facets of their office activities if they were to achieve the desired levels of expansion and revenue growth.
What did you do?
We initially designed an eight–week pilot project to generate immediate results from various office process improvements. The objectives of the pilot were to make immediate improvements to the work processes (productivity improvement); to convey a methodology, system and tools that would allow the involved work groups to sustain results and make continuous improvements; and to put in place certain fundamental team-building structures including a daily communication protocol and a work group primary visual display.
Time was a critical factor so work groups focused on a ‘learn-by-doing’ approach. A structure was created which allowed all teams and work groups to get involved in the lean office implementation and a Project Office was established to handle all administrative support tasks. We then ran a series of mobilisation events to get everyone ready and enthusiastic about the change that needed to take place. Following on from these activities, the pilot work group Kaizen Improvement Events (KIE) were reviewed as prototypes for the new lean office methodology and a detailed business case incorporating all the lean office process improvements was validated. Finally, documentation and training materials for the ‘to be’ environment was developed.
What was the outcome?
During an eight week period, 17 work groups were trained in lean office techniques and each team established its own metrics, visual displays and 20 Keys assessment and improvement plans. A KIE in the Quotes area resulted in 26 Quick Hits and annual savings of over $.5 million through process improvements. Gross revenue enhancements were estimated to be $14 million once the improvements were fully operational. While in the New Product Development area, 32 Quick Hits were identified and a KIE led to an estimated increase in new product sales of over $3 million annually.