Part 2

MY FIRST LEAN TOUR

BUS JOURNEY TO THE OFFICEI had the pleasure of sitting next to their CEO for the 20 minute journey. She explained to me how important people were…

Private tour

….she had not missed a recognition event in

the last 20 years It was a case of priorities

Priority #1 Meaningful recognition

Priority #2 Take planned vacation

Priority #3 Attend board meetings

MY FOURTH LESSON OF THE DAYIf people are your company’s most important asset; they need to be at the top of the leader’s priority list.

WE ARRIVED AT THE OFFICEThe supplier payment process was explained to me. It was disappointing, I felt there was insufficient detail in the process map, it was too simplistic.

OpenPost

EnterInvoic

e

Check Invoic

e

PayInvoic

e

I turned around and it was true, there were 4 desks and an invoice was completed in less than 4 minutes.

I was told this was not a representation of the process this was the actual layout of the process.

MY FIFTH LESSON OF THE DAYMake things simple not simpler; this is harder than making processes complex.

I was asked where is the most experienced person?My reply was easy: They check the invoice

No, they open the post.This ensures perfect goes into the process and errors do not.They follow-up with actions to prevent the issue repeating.

MY SIXTH LESSON OF THE DAYMaybe experts should prevent fires instead of putting them out. Then problems in my organisation will reduce.

IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME, I HAD SIX LESSONS TO TAKE WITH ME