BUSINESS SENSE BY MELISSA DITHOMAS, FORMER DATIA BOARD
MEMBER, FIRST ADVANTAGE
Trimming the Fat: Improve Drug Testing Processes With Lean
a company that did ISO certifications to when I obtained my Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Of all the process improvement methods, Lean is my favorite because it increases customer value and eliminates waste. In the late eighties, researchers in the
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automotive industry found that Toyota was leading the pack of companies that were accomplishing more with less. How did Toyota become a shining star? By keeping the customer top of mind and applying continuous learning and improvement. Lean has also been partnered with Six Sigma as another variety of a process improvement method.
’ve had a long journey with process improvement. It’s an evolution that started with one of my first jobs with
Applying Six Principles of Lean How can you eliminate unnecessary steps in your processes? By applying these six basic Lean principles: 1. Customer value—the customer defines what they value and what they don’t
2. Value-stream analysis—identify all the activities and events that occur to get the product or service to your customer
3. Everyday improvement—get to the perfect state of your value stream
4. Flow—no disruptions within your process
5. Pull—product produced based on customer demand
6. Perfection—continuous improvement
Achieving Results One of the great benefits to Lean is its versatility. Lean can be used in any type of business environment, and it can be applied at a very basic level for something as simple as how you process your emails up to a complex, major initiative. Te most important thing to remember is that you can apply Lean to your business in the way that makes the most sense to you. Case in point: Te Document Services
Group of a national TPA applied Lean to their department. Before Lean, documents were retrieved from a printer and placed in a bin at various times throughout the day. Six different processors would retrieve documents from the bin, again at various times throughout the day. Once Lean was applied, documents were delivered directly from the printer to processors continuously throughout the day. Te results were remarkable. Tey reduced the number of processors by three and the turnaround time of entry from one day to one hour. Further, applying Lean did
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not require any system development and wasn’t difficult to implement. Regardless of how you wish to use Lean,
you can achieve desired results by following a few simple steps: 1. Determine the product or service you want to improve.
2. Map the entire process involved to produce the product or service. Eliminate wasteful steps.
3. Arrange the steps to ensure continuous flow.
4. Let the customer initiate the demand for the product or service.
5. Continuously look for ways to improve.
Exploring More I’ve touched on some of the basics of Lean principles but there are good reference books, such as Lean for Dummies, that can further illustrate the principles of Lean. If you prefer a classroom environment, look for a local or online course. For a more substantial investment, there are consultants who will work hand-in-hand with you to fully understand your needs and drive real change in your organization. Whatever you choose, there is always opportunity to eliminate waste and improve processes.
References
Sayer, Natalie J., and Bruce Williams. Lean for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007. Print.
Lucas, Derek. First Advantage. Increasing Productivity in the Workplace through Lean Principles. Rockville, MD: 2006. Print.
Melissa DiThomas was formerly the Director of Operations for First Advantage where she has leveraged process improvement concepts during her 18 years of industry experience. A Six Sigma Green Belt, Melissa is a native of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Communications.
summer 2015
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