| Deploying LEAN in an Information technology company |
It will be difficult in the first phase, for anyone to believe, that, Lean can transform an
IT organization. But have you ever realized the enormous waste of money and effort that happens
- By transporting huge amount of data through redundant and convoluted systems...
- By the huge back logs and the service credits on account of failing SLAs that
you face from the customers and more over the incentive money that you could never
taste that was kept for early bird completion...
- Through the running around of people on the floor, mostly for fire fighting, and
secondly in search of documents...
- Through the time the data waits at hand–off points between various stages...
- Through the time lost in the mundane theory of alternate coding options and
multilevel redundant testing activities...
- Through the efforts and time that are lost by "utilizing the idle time of people"
on projects for there are no buyers... !!!
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| Yes, all these and more are happening in our line of sight, but we have been too busy
to attend to them. ImpTek provides you an exclusive suite of Lean techniques, which
are a combination of Shop-floor Kaizen and Transactional Kaizens to eliminate these
wastes. In nutshell these events are intended to create better flow of data and avoid
wastage of resources.
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We at ImpTek believe that, a client organization will benefit only if the principles we
preach are deployed practically and physically on the production floor or the areas of
operation. Extensive trainings are a waste of time and effort and the return on investment
is always ambiguous. According to the ImpTek Lean philosophy, a company to be called
"transformed" should have achieved a bare minimum of:
- End to End lead time between 50 to 60 percent of Industry average
- Inventory turns greater than 24 times a year
- Productivity up by minimum of 2% every quarter
- Profit growth rate of 2 to 4 times of industry average
- Excellent responsiveness to market requirement
- Time to market for new products less than half of Industrial average.
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| At this juncture, ImpTek rolls out its exclusive deployment philosophy based on the
time-tested, proven and well known Kaizen approach. Kaizen is a Japanese word that
stands for improvement and can also be understood as continuous improvement. In
other words it is 'bias for action' philosophy
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| The ImpTek kaizen strategy:
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| A typical Lean deployment assignment starts with a Value Stream mapping exercise, which is nothing but
a comprehensive on-site Business transformation assessment of the value chain under consideration. Normally,
it is a one week activity but can vary according to the size of the company and the complexity of the value
stream. The first stage of value stream mapping is establishing the Current state map, which is a depiction
of both material and information flow, through the value chain with all allied operational and systemic parameters.
Once this is done, a future state map is created considering the business goals of the organization and the interests
of various stake holders. At the last phase of this exercise, the gap between the current state and future state
are identified and the same are converted into Kaizen Projects.
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| ImpTek rolls out a structured five day charter for a Kaizen event, at the end of which
tangible physical results are assured.
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| We very well understand that the business complexities and needs vary from company
to company and industry to industry. Hence we have modeled specialized
Kaizen events to cater to various industrial segments like Manufacturing,
Process, Service, Retail, and IT/ITES. We also offer these as customized solutions
based on the needs of the individual organization and sensibilities.
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| Imptek Approach for an Information Technology Company |
| The transformation journey in an IT company will majorily include transactional Kaizens
with some amount of necessary production and operational Kaizen events. Transactional Kaizens
are week long events that will identify and reduce hand-offs and decision points in a
non-manufacturing process. These events will also help in setting a straight flow of data
through the entire value chain without stagnation. These events will also play a major role
in reducing unnecessary documentation, by helping you identify the necessary amount of
documentation and by doing away with the rest, which are mostly non value-adding.
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| In an IT company where technology and human skills lies very much interlinked, the role of
standard operations are so big that, only when we have the right standard operations are in
place you will come to know the huge difference that they can make.
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The way transactional Kaizen events can benefit the value chain by optimizing the support
functions may look un-believable till you experience it. Some of the examples are
- Reduction in employee on-boarding lead time, the activity that spans across identifying the right and capable resources, inducting them and making them productive to excel the expectations of the client
- Reduction in time taken between signing of LOI and starting of coding, which is mainly consumed by supporting functions for internal hand-offs, documentations and resource allocation
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| In addition to the above, production Kaizen events like Break through 5S kaizen events and
maintenance kaizens that will ensure better traceability and 100% on-time availability of machines
and equipments and can have a great impact on reducing the lead time and increasing the efficiency
of the process.
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| Needless to say that Energy Kaizens can save an enormous amount of money in any IT / ITES organization
which is totally dependent on power and technology.
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| Imptek also has a rare suite of spot kaizens that will improve the ergonomic aspects of your floor
lay out, there by reducing the fatigue and strain levels of people which will ultimately make
them more productive.
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| Once you have eliminated the waste in your existing system. Imptek team will help you with the
lean software design & development methodology, which will help you in designing process in such
a manner that will enable agile and flexible coding. We can also help you in establishing a skill
matrix for your work force and provide you with techniques to make them multi-skilled and competent
enough to cater to any requirement from your customers at even shorter lead time.
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| Lean Enterprise – The future where you would like to be.. |
| Once you set your own house in order, to reap more benefits, you need to expand the scope of your value chain.
Take the value chain out of the four walls of your premises, by including your customers and suppliers into it.
The ideal way is to demonstrate your achievements and capabilities to them and prompt them to become lean. You will
get the full benefits of you being Lean only when your suppliers and customers are also behaving in the same manner.
ImpTek has a proven and systematic set of Lean based supplier development tools |
The major characteristics of a responsible Lean enterprise can be laid sown as follows:
- Inventory turns of minimum 36 times or more a year
- Capable to deliver any product mix in every delivery pitch
- End to end lead time less than 50% of Industry average
- Productivity going up by a minimum of 2% every quarter
- Profits grow at the double the rate of turnover growth
- Time from concept to market for new products less than half of industry average
- 100% uptime for equipments
- Production totally freed up from the clutches of forecasting and made more realistic
based on real time customer demand
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| How to get there? |
| As is the case in any major improvement initiative, the success of Lean implementation depends
on the commitment of the Top management. The first and the foremost step is to identify a full time
value stream manager and a team to work with him/her. Lean implementation has to be taken as a Leading
from the front initiative, where by the top management will demonstrate the commitment through their
actions. The next important step is the value stream mapping. You need to identify the appropriate and
right product family for this exercise. During the VSM process care need to be taken to ensure that,
the data collected are real and all corners are covered. While taking up Kaizen projects, you need to
make sure that, you start with the core line function operation than a supporting function. Making the
right implementation plan and scheduling the events without affecting the production are also pivotal
for a successful lean deployment. Sustaining the gains are as important as achieving them and hence you
need to ensure that the people concerned are trained to the appropriate levels. |
| Above all we need to understand the sensibilities of the people around and take them into confidence.
The barriers of attitude are the toughest to overcome and this can be achieved only through a systematic
change management approach. A lean deployment will become fully successful and bear the real fruits only if
seen as a cultural initiative. Hence a structured culture change initiative need to be in place which goes
hand in hand with the Lean implementation.
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| A successful business model. |
| A successful business model is one that keeps all the major stake holders of your business namely your customers,
your employees, your business partners and your share holders smiling and making considerable healthy profits.
Hence ImpTek rolls out a consulting model that perfectly aligns the objectives of Lean to the expectations of your
stake holders, there by making you a profitable enterprise. |
| Stake-Holders' Expectation Matrix |
| CUSTOMER |
Quality |
Price |
Delivery |
| EMPLOYEE |
Safety |
Remuneration |
Pride |
| BUSINESS PARTNER |
Long term interest |
Payments |
Good will |
| SHARE HOLDER |
Profits |
R O I |
On time pay backs |
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| The ImpTek Business-Consulting Model. |
| From the expectation matrix, try improvising the green boxes and you will understand
that the rest of them will automatically fall in place. In the current market, where prices
are squeezed day by day, the only way to cope-up is by reducing your cost of operation.
Hence or we strongly recommend that, your operational parameters that you monitor should be |
| Quality |
Cost |
| Delivery |
Safety |
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| Hence we recommend that Lean (and for that reason, any break through initiative that you undertake)
should be monitored and the results be measured using the above or their direct derivatives as the yard
sticks. We call this as the ‘Q-C-D-S’ matrix and our Unique Business consulting model aligns the classical
lean deployment philosophy to this.
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This Sate of the art model will definitely take you to new heights in business with high profits,
which should be used for strategic growth.
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