Our Results

Through a Value stream mapping diagnostic workshop on the inbound receipts process with a team of 10 people many improvements were identified, especially in reduced handling, layout, process flow, Standard work, Workplace organisation and Ergonomics. Following planning and a 3 day Lean / kaizen event the team came together to implement many of the changes to increase the no. of receipts possible by over 50% with 1 less resource in the same time, who was able to move to another area of the business as a change agent for lean and has since improved other areas.

Following considerable engagement with the HR function regarding the performance of the Payroll process it was decided to run a 3 day diagnostic to understand the process and look to rationalise and streamline this key business process. Pulling a small team together of Managers, specialists and people who worked in the process with key knowledge, the diagnostic involved walking the process, understanding it, collecting data, asking questions, getting the facts, and analysing problems and opportunities to reduce time, improve communication, decision making and reduce mistakes, etc. Having conducted this work and reviewed the issues and problems and put countermeasures to the problems, the team put together a future state process that significantly improved the process, reduced the overall touch time in the process, the number of transactions and steps, made it easier for the customers of the process, reduced the burden on staff and due to a change in process significantly reduced the likelihood of errors.

Following a Lean Learning Academy to engage senior leaders in what lean was about and train them in the principles and tools including the completion of a Value Stream map, a mini lean event was held to engage the teams in solving a long term problem. Warehouse returns process was a Customer priority due to a backlog of returns in excess of 300 pallets or approx. 2.5 years of work. Using lean principles, thinking, tools and application the team reduced this to zero in approx. 6 weeks further embedding the power of Lean to solve business problems through engaging and challenging people and using the lean tools.

Our clients Customer was experiencing major problems with availability of its vehicle fleet due to the amount of time being spent in the maintenance and servicing depot. A lean engagement was discussed and following consultation a Lean Leadership Academy was decided as a key place to start to breakdown the conflicts across many different parties and engage them in understanding how a lean approach could help the situation. Following this the team, now with the belief  and understanding of lean as a system decided a lean diagnostic could help to deep dive into the issues and we facilitated a 3 day Value Stream mapping activity to diagnose the problems. Having mapped the current state it became obvious where the issues and bottlenecks were and the team created an aspirational vision to achieve a 50% reduction in total lead-time from opportunities identified. We helped the team create a plan and proceeded to implement the improvements under our guidance. The team beat the target and found many other improvements along the way.

Following a very successful Lean Leadership Academy, a follow up lean event was held to focus on the inspection, maintenance and vehicle servicing process. Improvements were made in standardising the inspection process across team members, making time savings in the process, creation of a ‘Standard Bay’ using Standard work, 5S and Visual Management principles and emulating a Formula 1 pit-stop concept and overall reducing time by over 50%

This event was focussed on Transmission, engines and gearboxes due to the increased volume required for the next 2 years. This presented a major opportunity to achieve, without having to invest further by applying lean thinking and principles. The first step of the event was to map the ‘end to end’ process looking for waste and improvement opportunities.  With this diagnostic approach it became obvious there were major improvements, especially through layout changes, delivery to Point of use from the warehouse and small but effective practical ergonomic solutions in all areas. In addition the application of 5S and Visual Management principles and provided a potential lead-time reduction even with increased volume of approx 40%.

This project delivered a capacity utilisation of 40% by reviewing the storage media solution. The project was influenced by the lean approach to challenge the current process. It meant that much more storage space was available for the Customer to use, without the need to purchase more space. The cost avoidance of purchasing additional floor-space saved thousands of dollars for a very simple improvement and proved the simple ideas are the best and improvement does not have to be expensive.

The specific focus of this event was to improve workflow of vehicles in and out of the workshop to meet Customer demand. Whilst the event achieved some significant outcomes the people engagement, involvement and motivation was outstanding and the team gelled together more than ever before to tackle some specific issues that they had wanted to make changes to for a long time. Many of the changes resulted in some physical changes to share the practice and implement Standardised work Bays, Visual Vehicle location boards to reduce time to find vehicles, Safety practices, more clear, organised and efficient working areas, a DSUM (Daily Start up meeting status boards) to monitor performance and create a forum for engaging staff and discussing improvements daily as well as many other small kaizen ideas.