As Lean continues to gain momentum in North America, more and more businesses are starting to realize that the benefits of Lean are not limited to manufacturing. The concept of waste reduction can and does apply to any process. Think for a moment how we move and process information in a service environment. The value creating steps are only those that the customer considers to be of value.
Consider the process of buying a cup of coffee as an example.
Drive to coffee shop > Park car > Walk to store > Get in line > Wait for your turn to order > Order coffee >Wait for coffee > Pay for coffee > Return to car > Drink Coffee
Now, your experience may be different depending on a few variables but it looks basically the same.
Of all of the steps in the process of buying a cup of coffee, only the very last step, the enjoyment you get from drinking coffee, is of value. So in this case, if we were the owners of such an establishment, our focus would be to improve all of the non-value added steps (again, from the customers perspective) to reduce the overall lead-time.
The same logic is applied in the office area. In any transactional process there is value added activity and non-value added activity. As Lean Practitioners, our job is to identify the latter and eliminate it where possible. In a Lean environment waste is considered to be the enemy and we can’t and won’t stop until it is gone.
"Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we cancatch excellence."Vince Lombardi (1913 - 1970) Hall of Fame football coach
We first need to understand that Lean is a “mindset” or a way of thinking as apposed to a tool. Once we do, it then becomes easier to conceptualize that it can apply to any type of business or area within a business. Lean thinkers know that waste is the enemy. It prevents us from providing the customer what he or she really wants and is willing to pay for.  Where we have a process we have the possibility that waste exists. The challenge is really in understanding first what waste looks like and second how to eradicate it. Many of the tools used to identify and remove waste from the manufacturing environment can be equally effective in transactional processes.
And certainly the methodology is the same.
I. Understand the current state
II. Identify the non value added or wasteful activity
III. Utilize team based problem solving activities to identify root cause
IV. Apply a solution to eliminate the cause
V. Create standard work
VI. Validate the effectiveness of the solution
VII. Implement sustainability measures
Lean Velocity has engaged in countless Kaizen Events with our clients improving performance in the quotation department, design engineering, customer service, order desk, financial period reporting, accounts payable and receivable and human resources utilizing the above approach. Our experience tells us that the methodology is sound and can work for your organization as well.