The Kaizen Institute are well known for their Lean office methodology , Total Service Management – our 6 level model approaches the implementation of Lean thinking in the office and administration in a disciplined and structured way.

Level 3 in our model focussed continuous improvement effort through using structured problem solving tools, including value stream mapping. For service, Lean Problem Solving (PDCA) and Process Mapping to eliminate waste.

Process Mapping is not new, but in my experience, people fail to use this very effective tool to harness the team’s enthusiasm and collective process improvement ideas and suggestions.

I first visited New Zealand in February 2005 to study and travel.  Since then I have been hooked on this wonderful, unique, green (I could continue if you like ;-) country at the “edge of the world”.  Once I returned home I decided to try to live – and work in “Aotearoa” one day.

In mid September 2009, KAIZEN Institute made my dream come true, and I transferred from Switzerland to Auckland, for a one year sabbatical. It’s going to be an enriching year full of new situations, challenges, beliefs and experience.

In the typically open-minded Kiwi way, “KAIZEN Institute New Zealand” made me very welcome, and it was very easy to fit into the local KAIZEN team.

Not only are they nice people to work with, but the office seems so familiar: thanks to global standards I have not had to ask for a lot explanations about how this works and that works. Kanban, One-Point-Lessons (or just OPLs) and other visual methods like Team board forms and the calendar are the same, even the printer is the same model as in the Swiss office!

I know each person’s role and responsibilities, where to find the office materials and who the “Fullback of the week” is, by seeing the All Blacks Rugby ball on the designated person’s desk. The “Fullback” is the person that is the first point of contact for customers/visitors and has other general office duties.    

Shadow boards, floor markings, colour and picture visualizations make a new office familiar very quickly. Of course, offices are not identical, they don’t have to be, and this exchange will provide opportunities for further improvements in both offices, an internal “learning from each other” so to speak.

Thanks to “Online Record Filing” and “Internal Computer Standards” I can easily do the job I was doing in Switzerland from here. My work deputy is still in Switzerland, accessing my work files on our shared drives. From clean desk policy I went one step further to a “Paperless Office”: I realized that a paperless office is not only working, but also liberating, making you more efficient and giving tremendous flexibility to work where you please

I look forward to the next days, weeks and months here in Auckland, and thank KAIZEN Institute for giving me this great opportunity and the “new viewing angle” from which to assess my work and life.

Céline Achermann

There are many books and blogs discussing the merits and application of the Value Stream Mapping technique in Lean Manufacturing.

However, good examples of the application of this technique in the office or business process are less common. Why should this be the case? Our observation is that it is ‘too hard’ for Lean thinkers to tackle the complex, lengthy, disparate processes found within the office or administrative processes. Often the real bottom line benefits of eliminating waste in the office are not that obvious or quantifiable

We are increasingly called upon to assist our clients to ‘learn to see’ how value stream thinking can identify waste, expose the whole value chain, and target improvement in a holistic fashion.

Value Stream Mapping in the office is a Lean tool or technique which shows or analyses the flow of the work process from beginning to end and identifies all the value and non-value added steps which are required to create a customer product or service.

It is very important for anyone attempting Value Stream Mapping in the office to understand Waste and the difference between Value Added and Non-Value Added activities in an office environment. In general we can define the term Value Added as those activities in the process which the customer is willing to pay for. Non-Value Added activities consume resources without contributing to the product or service and are classified as Waste.  

Wastes in the service area are very similar to the seven wastes we find in manufacturing and can include:

·         Information Overload - e.g. Long Meetings, Paper work, Full desks and In-trays etc.

·         Information Waiting – e.g. Waiting in In-boxes, Waiting on a decision, Waiting to be processed etc.

·         Information Transport – e.g. Change in format (print, then fax), Importing and exporting files, Information cycles, Internal mail etc.

·         People Waiting – e.g. Waiting for colleagues, Decisions, Waiting through IT systems etc.

·         People Movements– e.g. Office Layout - long distances

·         Over Processing Information -  e.g. No standard format to document information – creating duplicate spreadsheets etc.

·         Defects – e.g. Wrong Calculations, Printing errors etc.

It is important to define and prioritise the customer value produced by the value stream – from the customer’s point of view. A cross-functional team with representatives from all areas of the Value Stream to be mapped will ensure this occurs.

We start off by mapping the current state from the beginning of the process (i.e. incoming order from the customer) to the end (where the service or product gets delivered to the customer). The Value Stream will include all resources (no. of employees, systems etc.) and capture the actual process times and delay times. The Value Stream map is very visual and it helps anyone looking at it to clearly see the wastes and identify improvements or opportunities.

The next step is to design the future process, based on customer value, the removal of waste and the best use of equipment and resources.  By identifying improvements and opportunities on the current state map there will be a chance to set up an action plan for some of the “quick win” activities to move towards the implementation of the Future State.

Are you struggling to improve your office processes? Does your administration team miss deadlines, targets and are you constantly fixing up mistakes and complaints?

Research by the KAIZEN® Institute has indicated that over 70% of customer complaints are now related to the administration or office functions!

So how can a Japanese management philosophy help create and sustain long term improvements in quality, cost and service delivery in our offices?

Today, there is a growing belief in many sectors such as financial services, local and central government, retail, accounting, logistics, and health care that the application of lean techniques really can deliver step changes in overall performance.

Over the past 10 years the KAIZEN® Institute has developed a model for implementing a Lean Office based on Lean Manufacturing concepts, specifically designed to create effective, fast, and customer focused processes aligned with the company strategy.

The KAIZEN® Institute’s lean office model is designed for implementation into service industries and this approach has been embodied within in the “Total Service Management” methodologies.

Why Adopt Total Service Management?

The trend towards “Lean Office” or “Lean Administration” continues to grow. An increasing number of managers are identifying those wasteful practices, long lead times, lack of capacity, bottlenecks, and reliance on high levels of staff that reduce margins, fail customers and constrain productivity in the administrative area.

More and more service organisations are looking for a continuous improvement model to implement in their business or office processes. However, superficial improvement campaigns are insufficient to transform and control the process.

We believe that administrative staff need to be given a mandate for change so they become improvement entrepreneurs rather that process spectators’ in their own organisation.

By engendering the spirit of KAIZEN® we are able to create flow, improve the sense of ownership and accountability and align everyone to add value and deliver meaningful benefits to the customer.

Total Service Management utilises Lean Administration concepts to create streamlined, flexible processes with shortened turnaround times, minimum inventory and a strict focus on customer requirements as goals. Creating the Lean Office is achieved by observing the entire value chain in all areas of service and administration.

Total Service Management also taps into the KAIZEN® philosophy that there is unlimited employee potential which should be used in improvement. The results are not aimed at eliminating employees rather increased efficiency targets with improvements in quality, cost, flexibility and enhanced customer service.

Lean Office Training

The KAIZEN® College’s Lean Office seminar - Total Service Management, offers training in how to develop and implement Lean Office principles and is best practice in professional development. Participants are taught to identify waste and then, using a variety of tools, systematically eliminate it. Administrators can improve not only their own processes but also get involved in improving the work life of the organisation as a whole.

To follow in the leading footsteps of our global colleagues, KAIZEN® Institute New Zealand brought the first “Office Live tour” group through the Office on the 11^th of March 2009. “Office Live” is a practical way to demonstrate to clients how KAIZEN® principles and techniques can be applied in an office environment. It is a way for KAIZEN® Institute offices to practice what they preach to their clients. A group of 12 people from diverse industries like Manufacturing, Recruitment, Education, Health Care and Information Technology, visited the KINZ office in the afternoon as part of the recent three day Total Service Management training course.

Based on the 6 Level model for Total Service Management, the team at KINZ showed the group practical examples to increase office efficiency by:

·    creating an awareness of waste – preventing the loss of time to non-value adding activities in the office

·     utilising the 5S campaign – sort, straighten, scrub, standardise and sustain the implementation of standards throughout the office

·    Process improvement using Value Stream Mapping and Process mapping to eliminate waste

·     the use and benefits of visual management – easy to understand, keep everything in its place, stock control

·     the creation of a flexible layout and the benefit of working in teams.

Richard introduced the KINZ team board including skills and responsibility matrix and KINZ event planning visual calendar.

Junet introduced few office live examples being used for the college courses preparation and coordination including item Kanban, stationery, item on loan management and some One Point Lessons examples.

David took the participants through the IT part of the KINZ office and demonstrated few examples around IT standards, web page statistics measurements, software management and computer maintenance.

Even though it was only on a small scale, KINZ could offer the group examples of ‘Best practice’ in the office environment and offer inspiration and suggestions to the group to successfully start the improvement process in their own office environment.