The Leaning of State Government

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Corinne Dupuy

 Compliments of the Center for a Better Louisiana (CABL)

The CABLWire for Thursday, September 30, 2010 from CABL
   The “Leaning” of State Government
Can private sector models to eliminate waste and improve the delivery of services work in the public sector as well? Some may be skeptical, but the answer is a resounding yes. In this time of increased demand for many governmental services in the face of shrinking budgets, there really are things state and local governments can do to improve their efficiency and productivity. It’s called “Lean” and it’s something leaders in the public sector ought to take a look at. Click to read more.
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Hospitals & Lean: A great read on the wins and challenges of transformation

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Dave Thomas

The New York Times published a great piece last week about the use of lean methodologies in a hospital setting.  I was stuck by the complete picture the reporter painted of the successes the Seattle Children’s Hospital experienced as well as realities they faced in winning over doubters.

I wanted to see how the journey described in the Times compared with area hospitals, so I asked Sheri Eschete of Thibodaux Regional Medical Center to relate the article to her own experiences.

It was a great article. It paints a VERY true picture of the benefits and challenges faced when trying to implement Lean in healthcare. With every project, we are faced with the mindset of  “each patient is different, so we can’t have a standardized process, because it depends………..”.   My answer to that is Continue reading →

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Fabricator improves collaboration and communication

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Dave Thomas

BEGNEAUD  Manufacturing, a long-time client of MEPOL, improved its internal communications and collaboration by providing Lean training to their employees through the Center for Lean Excellence, a program funded in part by Louisiana Economic Development, the Association of Manufacturing Excellence, and MEPOL. 

The company held three principles of lean courses and a value stream mapping course to address lowering costs and eliminating non-value added activity. “There was a lack of alignment in our infrastructure,” said Donald Begneaud, founder of BEGNEAUD Manufacturing. “This training was needed to get all our employees communicating and collaborating.” The training addressed lowering costs and eliminating non-value-added activities.  Read the entire success story here.
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Unemployment process improvements expected to speed claims handling

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Dave Thomas

Employees in the Baton Rouge office of the Louisiana Workforce Commission were recently provided training and hands-on guidance to improve their operations. “In an effort to increase efficiency and improve customer service, we recently re-examined our unemployment insurance processes with the help of the Center for Lean Excellence,” said Tim Barfield, then the Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

LWC logoTwo Principles of Lean classes were held, as well as current- and future-state Value Stream Mapping sessions.  A 5S Workforce organization session was brought to the work floor.  In addition, management and supervisory personnel were coached on their roles in ensuring the success of the outcome.

“Using Lean Solutions, we identified steps that maximize efficiencies within the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s claims operations,” Barfield added.  “These improvements should roll out in the next few weeks and we expect them to result in faster payment of claims.”  Barfield was recently appointed as Executive Counsel for Governor Bobby Jindal.

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Municipalities: How do we maintain or even improve services with a shrinking tax base?

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Dave Thomas

Municipal and parish government officials are constantly juggling the need to improve the quality of services with a flat or shrinking tax base.  Just as many corporations and private businesses have adopted management methods to increase capacity by eliminating waste, governmental organizations can improve the level of services to their constituents by applying the same tools.

Forward-thinking leaders are realizing that not only can they manage their government expenses with Lean thinking, they can actually improve the level of service!  Lean focuses on identifying and eliminating Continue reading →

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