To have a clearer understanding of how lean can be applied to service industry we need to understand that flow in service industry is mainly information and not physical product. To be lean, a service orientated company should seek to eliminate wastes that hamper flow of information. Here is a list to help you get started.
| Types of wastes | Examples |
|---|---|
| Waiting |
People waiting for information and work gets delayed. |
| Inventory |
High amount of information that could not be processed or understood. |
| Excessive Processing |
Too many approval and review processes. |
| Over production |
Unnecessary detail and accuracy. |
| Transportation | Information handled by multiple people before arriving at user. Looking for information. Data reformatting and re entry. |
| Unnecessary motion |
Walking to information. |
| Defects |
Errors in data entry and reporting. |
Identifying wastes is the beginning of the process. Once you identified them, how do you quantify wastes in the service industry? The answer to that is by comparing the process with customer demands. We have developed a program to assist organization in the service sector to learn to see wastes, quantify it and use the most common and effective tools to eliminate it.
For an illustration on how wastes elimination works, please visit our blog and our success stories.