Lean Office
SITUATION
Finance and Customer Service organizations for a CD and DVD manufacturer needed to improve efficiency and reduce cost.
DRIVER GOAL
- Reduce North American Finance and Customer Service costs by $2.7 million.
RESULT
- Achieved $2.6 million in savings, with a clear plan to achieve an additional $500k.
Case Study
Implemented Lean Office in Finance & Customer Service
Issue
Finance and Customer Service processes had never been systematically reviewed, standardized and improved at this manufacturer of audio cds, cd-rom, and pre-recorded audio and video cassette tapes. To meet increased customer expectations, these critical support processes had to operate more effectively.
Highland Approach
A detailed analysis identified ample opportunities to improve performance by reducing non-value-adding work and more proactively managing process performance. Rapid and measurable financial results were realized by:
- Applying Lean Office principles:
- Consolidating functional work groups where possible; and,
- Implementing structured Lean management systems—process metrics, daily meetings, visual displays, etc.—to focus work group performance and increase management effectiveness.
Actions Taken
The Highland Group partnered with client teams to:
- Define and implement new processes to increase organizational capacity.
- Formally share site best practices across the organization.
- Consolidate functional work groups to improve flexibility through scale and standardization.
