Office Kaizen, Part 3/4 (Information Wastes)

In our third discussion on Office Kaizen, we address a type of waste that is extremely important to eliminate, or at least minimize, in any organizational setting. Information Waste is the waste that occurs due to the less than optimum information content in a value stream. There are five types of information wastes, as follows:

Translation Waste: requires effort to correct, change, reassess, and rework data, reports, formats, standards, and process steps. It occurs often in organizations of any size and it consumes managers' time. It can also lead the organization to costly errors and mistakes. In an Office Kaizen setting, the most likely solution to translation waste is to ensure that leadership focuses on factual data that are supported by metrics and simplified in their nature. Less is more here. Standardization (and sticking to it) may also help with the level of translation applied to processes.

Missing Information Waste: this type of waste requires extended efforts to compensate for the lack of information in procedures and processes. Office Kaizen teaches us that a hard look at the value stream to identify key metrics and information flow must be performed in order for the organization to cover all pieces of the puzzle. Visual boards should also be reviewed with respect to flow and cadence of information in the system.

Hand-Off Waste: this type of waste requires the extra effort (effort that the customer does not pay for) to compensate the loss (or improper adjustment) of information due to the hand-off being inadequate. Consider for example, when the next department in the value stream "adjusts" numbers from previous steps without a reason. An Office Kaizen organization would tackle this waste by assigning daily metrics and detailed procedures that are to be strictly followed during the hand-off of information. It may sound like bureaucracy at first, but it will guarantee a better and more accurate value stream in the long term.

Irrelevancy Waste: relates to the energy spent to deal with unnecessary information, or the efforts needed to correct issues that irrelevant information may have caused to the organization's processes. Leadership plays an important role here in supporting the avoidance of unnecessary presentations, revisions, additions, and changes to documentation that are not related to the process (value added). Once again, a good look at the value stream and its steps may be needed in order for the organization to clean up the non-value added pieces of information in the flow.

eZsigma Group offers a highly qualified group of experienced professionals who can help your organization achieve higher levels of productivity, efficiency and employee morale. Contact us to learn more about our programs.

Voice of the Customer (VOC)

I like to call it inexpensive consultancy. Think about the amount of money and time that is put into research and marketing so that a given company is able to truly understand its customers' needs and perception about its product or service. To add to that, sadly enough, a lot of organizations nowadays fail to use the right tool or approach, or even the right resources to listen to what the customer (the one who ultimately pays our salaries and bills) has to say. Voice of the Customer, or VOC, is an important concept within the Lean Six Sigma philosophy for process excellence. By applying VOC, an organization is able to collect valuable feedback from customers on what satisfy, delight, and dissatisfy them. There are many different ways of obtaining such feedback. It can be done through focus groups, mystery shopping, surveys, and formal interviews to name a few. Below, we offer 5 steps to properly implement a successful VOC program.

1. Clearly define your targeted audience. Who are your customers? And who are they now and in the future? Will you introduce a product or service that will be tailored to a completely different kind of customer? What are the demographics related to your targeted audience? If you would like to hear meaningful and insightful answers, ask the right  questions to the right customers.

2. Select the appropriate tools and methods. What tools will you use to collect the data you need? These can be of qualitative nature (for example open-ended questions or binary questionnaires - yes or no, high or low, etc.) or quantitative nature (such as tally count on defects through reports submitted by customers).

3. Improve. Use the results collected for continuous improvement. There is no point in collecting data from customers that cannot be translated into valuable information. Use the reports, surveys, and any other piece of data you have gathered to better your products and services, and showcase to your customers that you care about what they have to say.

4. Continue to ask. The beauty behind the VOC approach is twofold: firstly, customers usually like to provide feedback. Secondly, you are using a rather inexpensive (and reliable) way of doing so - it is inexpensive consultancy! The best feedback a company can get is the one from people who actually use the product. It is the user who knows if the product or service actually works, not the designer, not the operations manager, not the decision maker who decided to procure the product or service.

5. Develop an action plan. As per anything related to the PDCA cycle, such as the implementation of a VOC program, write down names, dates, and expected outcomes for everyone involved with the effort. Check the results of ongoing and new actions and hold people accountable for the implementation of initiatives that will sustain the program in the long run.

eZsigma Group is Canada's leader in training, mentoring, and certification in Lean Six Sigma, strategic management, and process excellence. Contact us to learn more about how we can make your organization an Excellence-focused one.

Six Lean Core Concepts

Lean is often described as the philosophy that aids the organization in reducing the lead time between a customer's order and its shipment (be it a product or a service). It has been applied to various organizational settings over the past years (including services) and it has successfully created more value-added flows of information, activities, and networks that ultimately led organizations to become "leaner" (as the name implies). The journey of LEAN starts by the understanding of its core concepts. Some things to keep in mind as you start your journey towards operational excellence through Lean:

1. Low tech / low cost. Lean is about creativity before capital. It utilizes people's experiences, insights, skills and brainpower to tackle small and/or complex issues. The order here is to avoid the organization's funds and use teamwork and Lean principles to minimize waste and optimize processes.

2. Lean works today! A "perfect" solution in 6 months is not necessarily better than a good solution today. A Kaizen Rapid Improvement Event (aka RIE) is an excellent way of starting your resolution towards eliminating non-value added activities in your process flow.

3. Inventory hurts. It is not necessarily an asset (from a Lean viewpoint). The "pull" system (knowingly utilized successfully by Toyota) avoids the build up of inventory that costs money while sitting in the warehouse.

4. The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle is the lead carrier of a well implemented Lean approach. PDCA will help your organization to constantly look at new improvement opportunities as there will never be a "perfectly perfect" process.

5. Based on item 4 above, once started, Lean is a continuous effort. Be it through a Kaizen Rapid Improvement Event or by tackling major issues in your entire functional processes, the effort must go on, and on and on. Spinning the PDCA cycle is the best way to guarantee continuous success in eliminating waste and improving your operational activities.

6. Always remember: there is often more non-value added activities to any given process than value-added activities. The customer is not willing to pay for non-value added activities and someone has to pay for it. You can incur that cost (and lower your competitive advantage) or you can eliminate it by creating an environment of constant improvement towards every single aspect of your organization's operations.

EZSigma Group is the leading consulting firm in Lean, Six Sigma, and Process Improvement in Canada. Contact us to discuss how we can help your organization to become world class in process excellence.