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LEAN
OFFICE
Creating Value for Customers

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Learning Objectives
1. Understand the principles and key concepts of
Lean
2. Identify value and waste
3. Gain an overview of common Lean principles
and tools, and their applications
4. Apply 5S principles to improve workplace
organization and efficiency
5. Apply a simple problem solving process
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Outline
1. Introduction to Lean Office
2. Key Concepts of Lean Office
3. Overview of Lean Methods & Tools
4. Ways to develop “Kaizen Eyes”
5. Lean Office Roles
6. Sustaining a Lean Office
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What is Lean?
• Value streams or processes
• Focused on improving process performance
• Clear view of end state
• Wide range of Lean techniques & tools
are available
• Learn-by-doing approach
• Culture of continuous improvement
• Lean is a management philosophy based
on the Toyota Production System (TPS)
• Eliminate everything that does not add value
(waste) in the customer’s eyes
Objective
Focus and
scope
Approach
and tools

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What Lean IS NOT
• Laying off employees by the bus load
• Only applies to manufacturing companies
• A cost reduction program
• Delivering less or working harder
• Just a set of “tools” like 5S, kaizen events, etc.
• Automation or implementing an IT system
• Another “extracurricular activities”

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What does Lean in a service environment
look like? (1/2)
Banks
•Mergers and
acquisitions
•Loans application
IT
•Outsourced
managed services
Application Common Issues Typical Solutions
•Differences in
business practices
•Loans approval
process
•Complicated tasks
•Unbalanced capacity
•Manpower utilization
•Process integration and
streamlining
•Fast track processing
for low-risk loans
•Segmenting complexity
•Pooling resources for
economies of scale
•Flexible manpower
systems
Telco
• Procurement
• Call centre
operations
•Cost-based and capex
management
•Customer service
•Inventory management
•Network sharing
•Channels efficiency
Source: Operational Excellence Consulting Research

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What is Waste?
• Consuming more resources than are necessary
to produce the goods, or service, that the
customer wants
• Pure Waste: Actions that could be stopped
without affecting the customer
• Incidental Waste: Actions that need to be done
based on how the current system operates but
do not add value
 Government Regulations/Policies, Audit requirements,
Facility Layout, Technology

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Work versus Waste
Value Add
Non-Value Add:
Incidental Waste
Non-Value Add:
Pure Waste
Focus here for
improvement

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“There is nothing so
useless as doing
efficiently that
which should not be
done at all.”
Peter Drucker

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20 minutes of waste a day…
• Find a way to remove
20 minutes of waste
from your daily work
routine
• This will add up to 2
weeks over a one year
period

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Eight Types of Office Waste
Over-production
Producing more than what
the customer needs
Inventory
Building and storing extra
services/products the
customer has not ordered
Transportation
Moving from one
place to another
Defects
Reprocessing, or
correcting work
Over-processing
Adding excess value
when the customer
does not require it
Motion
Extra physical/mental
motion that doesn’t add
value
Intellect
Not using employees full
intellectual contribution
Waiting
Employees waiting for
another process or
equipment
Waste

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Examples of Value-Added Activities
• Entering orders
• Translating materials
• Creating codes
• Preparing drawings or artwork
• Assembling goods
• Shipping to customers

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Non-Value Added activities in office
environments
1. Checking
2. Signatures
3. Asking
4. Approving
5. Reviewing
6. Filing
7. Copying
8. Reporting
9. Monitoring
10. Rework
11. Transporting
12. Double or multiple
handling
13. Searching
14. Gathering

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“We must always
keep in mind that
the greatest waste
is the waste we
don’t see.”
Shigeo Shingo,
a Japanese industrial engineer and expert on the
Toyota Production System

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Lean Thinking Philosophy
Identify and eliminate all activities that are waste.
Focus on optimal flow throughout the process.
Focus on creating value for customers.
Current
State
Future
State
Identify
Waste “True North”
Value Added Time = Lead Time
Full of Waste,
Variation, and
Rigidity
Eliminate
Waste

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Lean Principles
1. Define value from the customer’s perspective and
provide what they want.
2. Identify the value stream or process for each product
or service and reduce or eliminate steps that do not
add value.
3. Align the value-added steps so they flow continuously.
4. Allow the level of customer demand to pull the
process, i.e., produce only what is ordered.
5. Pursue perfection through continuous improvement
Source: Adapted from Lean Thinking by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones

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Activities that do
not add value
Workload that is
not balanced
Overloading creates burden for the
team members or processes
Source: Toyota Motor Company
The 3 MU’s: Muda, Mura, Muri

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What is 5S?
Principles General Description
1S Sort
Remove what is not needed and keep
what is needed
2S Set in Order
Arrange essential items in order for
easy access
3S Shine
Keep things clean and tidy; no trash or
dirt in the workplace
4S Standardize
Establish standards and guidelines to
maintain a clean workplace
5S Sustain
Make 5S a habit and teach others to
adhere to established standards

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Office Desk – Before & After 5S
An office desk before and after conducting 5S Sort and Set In
Order. Clutter and unused items have been removed leaving
only what is needed.
Before After

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What is the purpose of 5S?
Immediately make problems visible

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5S your computer hard/shared drive
5S Principle Description
Sort • Check all your files and software, and get rid of any that
are unnecessary
Set In Order • Organize your files and optimize the use of file folders
• Keep in mind how often you need them and how much
time you need to store them
• Create specific shortcut icons for the most used files or
programs
Shine • Eliminate any files under deleted items, sent items and
the recycle bin
Standardize • Establish procedures for maintaining your computer 5S
system
Sustain • Include hard drives in 5S audits
• Focus on how people maintain files and program
organization, and the time they spend ding so

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Three Types of Visual Management
• Label to make it perfectly clear
where things belong and what
the procedures are
Visual
Displays
• Quantify the path to targets for
success
• Graphs and Pareto charts
Visual
Metrics
• Create an mistake-proofed
environment to promote easy
adherence to standards
Visual
Controls

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• Creates an end-to-end view of the system
• Demonstrates interaction between material/work and information flow
• Provides a common visual language for understanding a complex system
Supplier/
Customer Management
Control
Customer
Work & Information Flow
Information flow
Value stream mapping provides an overview
of the end-to-end administrative process

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Standard Work
Make it the only way:
• No alternatives left
Warning:
• Warns for abnormalities
Showing:
• One-point-lesson
• Visual information
Reading:
• Manuals
• Procedures
• instructions
Fail-safe
Visual
control tools
Visual
aids
Procedures, Instructions
and Manuals
The Compliance Pyramid

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Heijunka (Load Leveling)
Level out the workload - Work like
the tortoise, not the hare

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The source of good quality lies in
Prevention. . . . through:
 PRODUCT DESIGN
 PROCESSES
 MATERIALS
 PEOPLE
. . . Not in Inspection or Correction
Make It Right First Time, Every Time
Quality At Source

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Dealing with Root Causes
• Solutions must deal with
root causes, not
symptoms
• Make use of the fishbone
diagram
• Ask “Why?” five times to
get to the root cause
The system for quality is prevention.

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Poka Yoke (Mistake-proofing)
• Mistake-proofing refers
to techniques that make
it impossible to make
mistakes
• Also known as Poka
Yoke in Japanese
• Mistake-proofing helps
people and processes
work right the first time

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Kaizen Event
• Rapid, focused application of Lean to reduce waste to
improve cost, quality, delivery, speed, flexibility and
responsiveness to customer needs
• 3-5 day dedicated event
• Clear objective and scope
• Continuous small
improvements
• Changes are
implemented quickly
• Everyone gets involved
Source: "The Idea Generator” by Norman Bodek

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Example: Lean Kaizen Summary
Project type: 5S Area: Sales & Marketing Office Team Leader: John Smith
Before After
Reasons project chosen:
• Difficult to move around a cluttered
office
• Difficult to find information and
supplies
Tools used on project:
• Cleaning equipment and tools
• 5S principles
Results:
• Unwanted materials were discarded
• Less waste – e.g. transportation,
motion, waiting, etc.
• Improved staff morale
Next steps:
• Conduct monthly 5S audits
• 5S for other common areas

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A Simple Lean Implementation Roadmap
Create
Awareness
Build
Capability
Operations
Management
&
Improvement
Lean Training
Lean
Leadership
Training
Build Lean
Activity Board
Kaizen #1:
5S
Kaizen #2:
Waste
Elimination
Value Stream
Mapping for Key
Processes
Train-the-
Trainer
Training
Information Sessions
for Whole Organization
Senior
Management
Awareness
Kaizen #3:
Standardization
Month 1
Lean Methods &
Tools Training
Month 3Month 2
Daily Management Meeting
Lean Update in
Monthly
Newsletter &
Intranet

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Understanding Responses to Change
Critical Mass Direction of Enrollment
Middle
Enrollers
Late
Enrollers
Early
Enrollers
Initiators
Slugs
Die
Hards
5% 15% 30% 30% 15% 5%
Source: The Atlanta Consulting Group, Inc.
Enrollment Curve
It is key to understand and leverage is the rate and pace at which
people adapt to change
It is key to understand and leverage is the rate and pace at which
people adapt to change
Enrollment Curve
Start by focusing
time and effort on
the middle/late
enrollers

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Sustaining a Lean Culture
• Management commitment
• Alignment to vision and mission
• Availability of resources
• Address “what is in it for me”
• Success measures and KPIs
• Management review
• Rewards and recognition

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“Whether you
think you can,
or you think
you can’t,
you’re right.”
Henry Ford

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