The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations by Jeffrey K. Liker & Karyn Ross

Author:Jeffrey K. Liker & Karyn Ross [Liker, Jeffrey K. & Ross, Karyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2016-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 6.7 Standard work sheet for picking orders at Zingerman’s Mail Order

It might appear rather obvious how to pick items off a shelf and put them in a bin. As you read down through the standard work it is surprising how much is involved in this apparently simple job. This is in part because of the lean systems. There are clear standards for where every item is located with distinct addresses and visual management identification. Consider the “Special Instructions” for non-recurring tasks. There is a kanban system for replenishing items and that needs to be understood. There is a standard for what to do with empty totes and one for dealing with empty dry good totes. In many warehouses all we would know is to look up the item on the pick list and find it, perhaps using some bar code technology. As ZMO developed visual standards, errors in picking were dramatically reduced, and at the same time there was more to teach in the “recipes.” As you transform to lean there will be more detailed standard work and a greater need to do a good job of team member training. Some people say that lean does not work with temporary workers, but in fact, it becomes even more critical.

Standard Sales Processes in a Retail Chain

Inversiones La Paz owns two of the largest retail chains in Honduras: motorcycle sales and repair and Jetstereo consumer electronics stores. The executive board asked for help to bring lean to all its processes from warehousing, to motorcycle assembly, to motorcycle and consumer electronics repair, and even to back offices such as bill collection. One of the most critical steps in the value chain is sales, and the executives on the board were confused about how lean could apply to a process of individuals selling to a varied set of customers.

The executives had found a consulting company that coached salespeople in how to sell, including role playing, and store managers were quite rigorous about ensuring all salespeople were trained. But on a typical day salespeople were roaming around the store on the hunt for customers to help. Since salespeople are paid on commission, they can be a bit territorial about wanting their fair share of customers and then staying with those customers to the point of sale. They also tended to cherry-pick customers they perceived were more likely to buy something, leaving other customers just standing around waiting

One of my associates, Florencio Munoz, began working with the vice president of sales, and of course, he began by going with him to the gemba to grasp the current condition. As usual, it was eye-opening for the sales VP even though he had worked in the company for over a decade. The current condition was:

A high number of walk-ins (customers) were not being engaged by salespeople, which led to unsatisfied customers and lost sales.

Unbalanced workloads (average number of customers engaged per salesperson per hour) led to varying sales results among employees that were not directly attributed to skill level or effort.

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