Management Services

Effi ciency

Management Services Spring 2012

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To be sure, applying 5S yields time savings from not having to search for information, but the more signifi cant benefi t comes from surfacing abnormalities and waste in processes so they can be fi xed

wrench before the piece moves past them or people in an assembly area stand around waiting for a part to arrive.

But the cost is no less

signifi cant in an offi ce. If you have to put on a pith helmet, like Howard Carter searching for King Tut, every time you need a document, you’re not likely to get a lot done. In Allison’s case, the chaos of her offi ce prevents her from focusing on her academic work, allocating time to it and working effi ciently on it. In Chevron’s case, the overwhelming bulk of electronic data reduces productivity by as much as 15%, as measured by the number of days each month lost to searching.

Probably the last thing you wanted or expected when you started reading this article was to be hectored about keeping your offi ce neat and tidy, like your mother yelling at you to pick your socks up off the fl oor. You’ve got enough going on without some clown doing a white glove test on your desk. However, just as

organisation and cleanliness on the plant fl oor are essential elements of a true lean transformation, it’s also an essential element of a

lean transformation in the offi ce. As Ohno once said: “Eliminating waste is not the problem. Identifying it is.”

Your work is invisible Knowledge workers face a daunting task identifying their value-added work. People working on an assembly line or in an operating room can easily see the work: it’s that piece of metal right there on the conveyer belt or the patient lying there on the table. But for knowledge

workers, the job inputs arrive in a variety of formats – emails, electronic document attachments, pieces of paper, voicemail, conversations in an offi ce, a hallway or the breakroom – and much of it is intangible.

Also, the incoming fl ow of work is ‘lumpy’. There’s often no clear rhythm or cadence to the work as it comes in, so you can’t even predict when it will arrive.

Even worse, sometimes it becomes obsolete even before you’ve had a chance to address it. Just think of the last time 14 budget revisions crossed your desk in the space of three days.

For all these reasons, knowledge workers struggle to keep value visible. It gets buried in waste. Take a tour of

your colleagues’ offi agues’ offi ces – look

at the piles of paper on the desk, the hundreds of emails stacked up in their email inboxes, the Post-it notes stuck to any clear horizontal or vertical surface – and you’ve got a clear image of the waste I’m talking about.

es of paper on the hundreds of emails p in their email he Post-it notes ny clear horizontal surface – and

t a clear image of I’m talking about.

This is where 5S comes in In some respects, 5S is the foundation of lean. It’s not just about ‘cleaning your room’ or being faster at

fi nding your stapler, with all ty that implies.

the triviality that implies.

In reality, the decisions thaty, the decisions that 5S forces you to make – and the discipline it imposes – is the basis for spotting waste, for creating systems that enable work to fl ow more effi ciently and for helping to ndard work’ in the

clarify ‘standard work’

you to make – and ine it imposes – is for spotting waste, ng systems that ork to fl ow more and for helping to 4 in the

complex, highly variable offi ce environment.

highly variable offi ce ent.

yields time savings from g to search for

To be sure, applying 5S e savings from

ure, applying 5S

not having to search for on, but the more

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signifi cant benefi t comes from abnormalities and

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5S isn’t really important for e workers unless

knowledge workers unless they’re sharing an offi

shadow boards for tools,

Drawing a parallel to oards for too s,

Some people will claim that ally important for

eople will claim that

or a desk with someone else. g a parallel to ol

aring an offi ce space with someone else.

waste in processes so they can be fi xed.

where 5S comes in espects, 5S is the n of lean. It’s not t ‘cleaning your being faster at our stapler

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