Creating The Ultimate Lean Office

by Louis; Raymond S.

• ISBN13: 9781563273711
• ISBN10: 1563273713
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-19
• Publisher: Productivity Pr

Summary

Manufacturing and service related businesses are heavily dependent on office and administrative processes, which can add up to 60 percent to all the costs associated with meeting customer demand. Applying lean techniques to the office must begin with a new definition of waste, backed by a set of techniques designed to eliminate waste and streamline nonvalue-adding activities. In Creating the Ultimate Lean Office, the definition of waste in the office goes one step further than the lean manufacturing definition, because any office activity that adds value or is necessary to perpetuate the business is considered waste, if it is still manually performed when it can be cost-effectively automated. The technique employed to eliminate this waste of manually performing required activities is referred to as administration automation. It permits users to design processes to meet the needs of their environments, which are then automated without, in the majority of cases, changing source code. This book, in the hands of a business process improvement team applying due diligence, can create a lean office that can compete vigorously against the best organizations in the world.

Table of Contents

Achieving a Lean Office through Administration Automation	p. 1
The Lean Office	p. 3
Administration Automation	p. 9
Automating Administration Processes	p. 21
System Enhancement Options	p. 31
The Bolt-On System Enhancement Option	p. 33
The Extension System Enhancement Option	p. 39
The Supplier Modification Enhancement Option	p. 47
The Custom Routine System Enhancement Option	p. 49
The System Enhancement Selection Process	p. 57
Seven Steps of Administration Automation	p. 61
Step 1: Improvement Driven by Strategic Objectives	p. 63
Step 2: Selecting the Team and Putting Primary Measurements in Place	p. 67
Step 3: Determining Root Cause Issue(s) and Understanding Affected Process(es)	p. 73
Eight Key Questions	p. 81
Step 4: Developing the Solution	p. 89
Step 5: Preparing for Implementation	p. 117
Step 6: Approval and Secondary Measurements	p. 129
Step 7: Implementation	p. 133
Conclusion	p. 135
Index	p. 137
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.