Delivering 200% Growth using a Lean Approach
Key Business Challenges and Project Objectives
Working with an IDA client on a LeanPlus project, our multinational client was enjoying unprecedented growth as a result of successfully executing a diversification strategy. Their existing processes were becoming very stretched in their core business as a result of this growth and customer service was suffering significantly. Our client needed to stabilise their core business performance to enable leadership transition from firefighting to focus on strategic goals.
The Primary Objectives of the Project Were:
- Stabilise the core business
- Recover customer service performance
- Introduce Lean thinking to the process
- Instil a continuous improvement mindset in the organisation
Crystal Lean Solutions Approach & Changes Implemented:
Working with the key stakeholders, we conducted a root cause analysis of the “Pain” points in the clients core business. Out of this analysis 3 areas were highlighted as significant opportunities for improvement;
- Communication
- Schedule Ownership
- Work Prioritisation
Actions taken included;
- Developed daily stand up meeting charters to drive daily accountability
- Designed visual production scheduling board complete with Action Plan
- Implemented stand up daily team meetings (Tier 1 Meeting)
- Developed an escalation process to Tier 2
- Implemented Schedule adherence and Lead time as key metrics for focus
- Trained core team members on Rapid Problem Solving
- Implemented Plan-Do-Check-Act process to drive teams to real root cause for performance gaps
Results / Outcomes
As a result:
- Customer service has recovered and been maintained for over 18 months
- Schedule ownership has been released to the shop floor
- Continuous improvement culture is growing
- Throughput time has been cut in half
- Firefighting has been significantly reduced
- Significant capacity increases have been realised
- Employee engagement has risen
- The Clients business has continued to enjoy phenomenal growth
Since introducing the tiered meetings, the company has maintained the growth trajectory outlined in the strategy deployment process. Outside of the performance increases that were easily measured, another powerful mesasure of Lean is the reduction in stress in the workplace. One example of how this has impacted the business stress levels was when the Operations Director was asked by one of the team, “when are we going to get busy?” the response was given with a smile “ we have just had two consecutive record shipment months”
Find Out More
To find out more about Problem Solving please click on the like below or contact clodagh.oriordan@crystalleansolutions.ie
To find out more about Daily Accountability and Tiered processes, email clodagh.oriordan@crystalleansolutions.ie
