KAIZEN Lean Office

KAIZEN Lean Office Workshop Overview

Application of Lean in an Office / Administration environment is similar to work done on the shop floor, in manufacturing. The distinction between the two worlds has been the difficulty in "seeing" work in an Office. Often there is difficulty in defining the "Customer". This is a critical element of Lean. Our workshop helps participants define and understand the different types of work in an Office and assists in distinguishing between internal and external customers. One of the important aspects of Lean is the focus on 'system-level' improvements (versus 'point improvements'). It's the system-level work that can dramatically improve a company's bottom line results. Within this system level of thinking, Office work and shop floor work often converge. Work in either the office or on the shop floor can have significant impact to the customer. This knowledge, combined with the understanding of how to remove waste properly, is critical for any successful Lean implementation.

Common Lean improvement tools and techniques will be identified and the class will discuss how best to apply these techniques from a Lean system perspective. The common mistake companies make by focusing on 'point' improvements versus 'system' improvement will be studied. 'Point' improvements create 'exciting chaos' and 'system' improvement creates dramatic bottom line improvements as well as cultural transformations.

Different types of Waste will be defined from a KAIZEN Lean point of view. Class will brainstorm, identify and classify the different types of waste they see within their own work environments. Identifying waste is the first necessary step. Knowing how to properly remove it is much more challenging. The root causes of Waste will be examined and successful methods used to eliminate it will be discussed. A group simulation will demonstrate the power of one-piece flow (vs. batch production). Introduction to KAIZEN Lean will briefly discuss other key factors within an organization necessary to sustain KAIZEN Lean. An examination of the company organization; the leadership and culture, common company measures will be studied in terms of how they reinforce present behaviors and alternative KAIZEN Lean measures will be introduced.

Learning Objectives

• Introduce the concept of KAIZEN Lean in the Office


• Define your Customers


• Move KAIZEN Lean beyond the Manufacturing world


• Build enthusiasm to change

Program Agenda

AM

• Define Value in the Office


• Understanding who is your Customer


• Defining types of Waste found in the Office


• Conduct a Waste exercise


• Simulation on traditional Office work

PM

• Defining the Principles of Lean


• Introduce Enterprise Value Stream Mapping ™


• Introduction of KAIZEN Lean Tools, Techniques and application in the Office


• Final Simulation applying KAIZEN Lean and creating Office Flow


• Measurement and Leadership

Who Should Attend?

In many cases, efforts to implement KAIZEN Lean have stalled because the organization involved used various Lean techniques without sufficient thought about creating a Culture that would enable success.This workshop is for those individuals whose task is to create an environment that fosters and sustains KAIZEN Lean changes in their organization.
These could be:

• Operational Leaders


• Value Stream Managers


• Human Resource Managers


• Financial Managers


• Trainers

Prerequisites

Novices to KAIZEN Lean implementation should attend 'Introduction to KAIZEN Lean' first to familiarize themselves with the basic concepts and principles of KAIZEN Lean.