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Change & Transformation - Strategic Change Design - Customer Experience
Challenge:
Unlocking departmental capacity by >20% through the reduction of 'waste' and improved process efficiency
There was an increasing pressure on the operational department to meet the changing demands of the business, within strict financial constraints
The introduction of new I.T. systems, underpinned by sometimes inconsistent, replicated and disconnected pre-existing processes, revealed several areas not currently optimised for efficiency or effectiveness. This resulted in slowed work streams due to multiple work checks, rectification of preventable errors, delays caused by multiple hand-offs and individual work-arounds. The situation was further exacerbated by continued staff churn which eroded high levels of operational experience, previously applied to negate the effects of weak processes.
What would happen if the business did nothing?
If changes were not affected to reduce process waste, the operation would be less able to respond to the future changing needs of the business and meet customer demand without incurring significant, disproportionately high costs.
Identifying the Opportunity:
Leveraging Lean Sigma methodology
Detailed end to end analysis of the product life-cycle workflow, which incorporated a range of stand-alone and linked processes, demonstrated there was strong evidence to unlock time savings, delivered through improved efficiency.
Change Objective
Deliver and embed, a staged programme of improvements for the department, focusing on waste reduction, process / workflow efficiencies and supply chain effectiveness.
The programme would address those issues identified resulting in:
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Efficiencies of =/>20%, (49,209 hours annualised), and realised as increased capacity.
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Additionally, =/>8% of management time, (1,219 hours annualised), saved as a result of those efficiencies described above, and realised as increased management capacity.
Methodology & Approach
A structured approach to delivery of the success
Understanding the challenge...
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What was wrong and what our stakeholders wanted to achieve
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How the problem linked to the customer
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Which processes linked to the challenge
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How the project was to be managed
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How best to achieve the ‘buy in’ required to succeed
Setting a stake in the ground...
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How we measure the problem
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Where the data comes from and who owns it
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Whether the data is truly representative
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How do the processes / value streams behave
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How the processes perform from the customer’s perspective
Identifying what ‘good’ may look like and the ‘root causes’...
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Discovering how the processes ACTUALLY work
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Developing ideas and theories of root causes based on existing knowledge
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Looking at what the data / information was telling us
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Observing how the root causes are affecting output
Develop, select and implemented the best solutions with controlled risks...
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Looking at all the different possible solutions
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Determining which solutions are most likely to work
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Looking at risks of implementing various solutions
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Piloting and implementing the potential solutions
Embedding sustainable solutions...
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Agree how the processes would continue to be measured following project closure
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Determining whether the changes had converted to ‘business as usual’
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Measuring the improvement
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Working up a clear closure / handover process with stakeholders (including controls)
Managing the Change
Underpinning the activity by adopting a 'fail fast' structured approach to change...
Change management underpinned all improvement activity. The adoption of a structured approach, involving various layers of the organisation helped improve levels of 'buy-in' across the department and wider business enabling a smoother transition from existing to new ways of working.
Utilising Capacity Creation
The programme delivered >20% capacity across the departments, this equated to >50,000 hours per annum of usable capacity.
Capacity realisation...
The capacity was realised through a mix of increased activity and cost reduction
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Increased current 'added value' activity by volume
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Introduction of new 'value adding' activity in-line with organisational strategic direction
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Realising cashable savings by non-replacement of staff from capacity creation
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