After three successful experiences as the co-author and author of books about lean-related concepts, Drew Locher presents how to implement this approach step-by-step in dealing with office and service environments in the book Lean Office and Service Simplified, which won the 2012 Shingo Research Prize.
On joining the Lean Enterprise Institute in 2001, Locher, who had worked on business improvement programs since 1986, concentrated specifically on lean issues. Now as Managing Director for Change Management Associates (formed by him in 1995) along with quality management and employee involvement, his main efforts are focused on lean enterprise and conducting related training for interested practitioners in this field.
Therefore, Locher's book is the result of years of invaluable practical experiences in a wide range of business environments. It is probably the most comprehensive book in the field. This book addresses all aspects of lean concepts and their applications in administrative and supportive processes, presenting many practical examples.
In the first five chapters of the book, the author elaborates on the basic concepts of lean thinking such as value streams, standard work, flow, pull and visual management. Throughout these chapters, the author articulates the nature of these concepts and the philosophy behind their applications while providing reasonable answers to the objections and resistances that exist regarding the applicability of these concepts. The author provides various practical methods for lean approaches, which enable the readers to choose among them according to the positions they are in and based on workplace conditions that they are faced with. In order to picture the organization of chapters in this book, chapter 4 is explained here in more detail.
Chapter 4, titled “Creating Level Pull in the Office”, introduces different forms of pull systems and compares them in terms of their functionality in office and service environments. Similar to the other chapters, the usefulness of every method is supported by real-world examples. The author discusses common characteristics and elements of pull systems that can be used as a guide for their implementation. He provides a comprehensive description of visual management techniques, giving real examples of their supplementary role with pull systems in organizing office and service environments. Locher explains the basic steps to implement the pull system in six cases, followed by an outline for how to implement the steps in a case study. Finally, he discusses the benefits of pull systems and presents a summary of the chapter. This chapter provides simple and articulated descriptions of the concept and application of pull systems through the use of examples and figures, which make it very easy to grasp and very achievable for every workplace.
Although each antecedent chapter touches upon the implications of visual management techniques in the work environment, chapter 5 is fully devoted to explaining what visual management is and why and how it must be established as a component of any lean enterprise. This chapter goes beyond a mere introduction to the tools and techniques of visual management. It details the features of this approach, how to tailor it to fit different workplaces, and how to involve employees in its implementation.
After describing the main concepts of lean thinking in chapters 1-5, chapter 6 addresses tools that can support these key concepts for further performance improvement and achievement maintenance. Chapter 6, entitled “Lean Tools for Office and Services”, emphasizes the optimal coordination of lean tools such as 5S, mistake proofing, setup reduction or quick changeover, and their subsets. Although some of these tools are well known and prevalent, considering the common misuse of them, the author details each of these tools practically.
Whether one works in sales and marketing, is a manager in an accounting department or customer service, or is a head of human resources, Chapter 7 provides a comprehensive and useful guide on how to implement the four fundamental steps in the lean thinking approach:
stabilizing;
standardizing;
visualizing; and
continual improving.
While the author emphasizes that it is more effective to apply the main lean concepts within the context of the overall value stream, readers need to have sufficient detailed information about their specific area of action or department in order for the present chapter to meet their needs.
Administering a lean organization is distinctly different from traditional management. Since in the lean enterprise many processes are worker-managed, managers should be prepared to redefine their roles from being managers to being leaders. This is an issue that the author highlights in the final chapter, “Leading the Lean Organization”, which describes managers' new responsibilities for successfully leading a continuously improving organization.
At the end of the book, the author provides a set of practical tools and forms approved for the use in the implementation of lean thinking, which provides a very useful template and guidance for the reader.
As the author acknowledges, lean thinking is a common-sense approach. However, the successful application of it requires fundamental behavioral change in many individuals. In order to implement lean thinking in the workplace, one needs sufficient time and organizational support to create new behavioral habits in employees. This book not only provides the necessary tools to make this change happen, but also helps with creating and maintaining a lean philosophy and culture in the workplace to make it more enriching and rewarding for the manager as well as employees and customers.
Corrigendum
The co-author of this book review was erroneously omitted from the orginal publication. This has now been amended.
