Latest Articles
- Information – an Office’s Gold
As America moves to service based industries the raw materials needed to bring a service or product to market is information. This is the “gold” in an office. With today’s technology we are able to collect, measure and quantify our leads and customers. The question then becomes what do we do with that information?
- BPs Lack of Seeing the Big Picture
No matter what side of the political fence you fall, BP failed to take the proper quality control measures. As the weeks pass more information is coming to light how the organization cut corners with safety to keep costs down. Safety is not the place to take short cuts. In the long run this can cost you thousands of dollars and possibly your business. In BP’s case it is running in the billions not to mention what it is doing for their stock value. The ramification of poor quality control is costly. So how could a corporation
- Make Your Bottom Line Grow
No matter what size your organization doing things as efficiently as possible is not only ideal it is necessary in the new world economy. One area that can be significantly improved is the office. In fact, 60 to 80% of costs associated with providing a service or product to market is administrative. If you were able to reduce these by one third how much could you increase your cash flow?
- Proper Planning Can Ensure Success
Planning is the backbone of success. Not doing it can cost thousands of dollars, man hours and resources. Proper planning can save you money, increase your cash flow and help fulfill your mission. Here is a simple tool to aid in ensuring your success.
- Working Between Departments Means Faster Cash Flow
When you look at a traditional organizational chart it has silos which contain various departments and the people overseeing and working in those departments. In today’s business climate where information is your company’s gold this can be troublesome. Why, because the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing. We have all [...]
Standardization of Workflow Processes – 5S
Before an organization can begin to streamline and reduce waste in the office they need to create standards and best practices. We help our clients do this through the 5S system. This is the foundation for any lean office initiative and the start of an organization’s journey to become a lean enterprise.
5S Encompasses the following:
- Sorting
Sorting is the first step to making a work area neat and practical. Keep only what is necessary
- Set-In-Order
Identify and label everything. Organize and arrange everything in a work area. Setting-In-Order provides the most efficient means for retrieval and return of items to their proper place.
- Shine
Implement regularly scheduled cleaning practices to shine things up. When a structured system is established and becomes part of the culture, cleaning and inspection (audit) can be done quickly.
- Standardize and Simplify
Continually look for ways to standardize and simplify the work area or process(es).
- Sustain
Sustain the benefits you derive from your 5S system by creating a formal method of auditing and monitoring results.
The benefits of doing this first and vital step is reducing wasted time and materials, improving office productivity, improved morale and an organized work environment. Anyone who has worked in a cluttered office knows how disruptive it is to workflow and mental focus. 5S creates an environment of productivity and pride. This will trickle into other areas of the business as well. We assist our clients in creating a 5S environment for their office by working with staff and management through each “S” in the process.
- Diagram provided by The Lean Store - Lean Office Training Set