Saving Money While Making Money
Not long ago I accompanied my wife on a business trip to Washington, D.C. While she was attending her conference, I took in some of the sites in our nation’s capital. One tour I’ve always wanted to take was through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). As I visited the bureau, the guide mentioned that the BEP was utilizing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) techniques in a variety of ways. It was interesting to hear how they are saving while making (i.e., printing) money. In fact, their LSS project portfolio is growing by leaps and bounds. BEP has more than 20 active LSS and 5S projects in progress, the most BEP has ever had at one time; and more than 100 are planned for future completion. BEP continues to aggressively implement 5S methodology as part of the overall LSS program initiatives deployment. 5S is a LSS tool that stands for Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. 5S efforts improve workplace efficiency and throughput by standardizing working practices and by removing variability from operational processes to provide improved product quality and customer service. One of the most fascinating uses of LSS, though, was in BEP’s Mutilated Currency Division (MCD). From burned bills torched in a devastating wildfire to soggy savings water damaged after being found in a box in the backyard, a team of trained professionals is dedicated to helping people redeem their mangled money. They process more than 20,000 claims each year totaling more than 40 million worth of damaged U.S. currency as a free public service. How is it possible? All the examiners have to do is verify that the scraps really were cold hard cash at one time. If they identify at least 51 percent of a bill, the Treasury will replace it. The examination process is rigorous and time consuming, and although the MCD works very hard to complete claims as quickly as possible, the processing times can vary from six months to more than two years. In order to address this, the MCD applied LSS methodologies to remove waste, redundant process steps, and systemic variation. The MCD completed a renovation of the examiner rooms, lab room, hallways, new examiner tables complete with air extraction units and new lighting, increased camera coverage, and refurbished two vaults. In addition, process mapping was used to document and display the entire process to identify and eliminate non-value added process steps. The project resulted in process times improving up to 75% faster for completion. The Bureau has figured out how to save money while saving money – literally! So when your life savings gets torched in a house fire or your dog eats your wallet, there’s a roomful of really smart, efficient people in Washington, D.C. who may be able to help you. Check out these tips on how to reclaim your cold, hard cash! How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
Read MoreForensic Labs Use Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Backlogs, Bring Justice
Across the U.S., police department forensic lab teams painstakingly perform tests in hundreds of thousands of cases each year in an effort to bring about justice. When evidence is brought into the lab, it must be screened, sampled, extracted, measured and quantified to create a profile. Unlike the TV crime shows (where everything is solved in 20 minutes plus commercials), the time from collecting evidence to having a completed scientific report to continue the legal process can takes weeks and sometimes months or even years. As a result, it’s really easy for the process to get backed up. Particularly with city budgets and staffing getting tighter and tighter, forensic lab leaders can be at a loss for how to make a dent in the backlog of cases. But the Tulsa Police Department’s Forensic Lab in Tulsa, OK has done just that. In two years, they successfully whittled down the number of backlogged cases (cases more than 30 days old) by over 60%, from 800 to less than 500! It’s all a matter of learning to do more with less, noted Operations Manager Jon Wilson. They did it by implementing Lean Six Sigma training (LSS) and techniques. The team improved performance by removing extra steps from the process while still maintaining accuracy. The Louisiana State Police Crime Lab implemented a similar LSS initiative a few years ago. The team successfully shrunk the lab’s backlog from nearly 2,000 cases to less than 340. But the departments weren’t satisfied. Both teams set the lofty goal of eventually eliminating their backlogs entirely. Why? Because of the impact it can have on victims and their families. “A rape kit sitting on a shelf for more than a day, one day is too many,” shared Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmondson. Although numerous police departments have made headway in reducing backlogs with Lean Six Sigma, others are challenged to find funding for the initial staff training in LSS techniques. That’s why it’s encouraging that last month Congress introduced legislation to continue the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, which provides funding to support public crime laboratories’ work to build capacity and process DNA evidence, including evidence collected in rape kits. Since its enactment in 2004, the Debbie Smith Act has been renewed twice with overwhelming bipartisan support. The Act’s namesake, Debbie Smith, has a courageous story to share that should keep us all working toward helping crime labs have the tools they need to do their jobs more efficiently. If you’d like to follow the bill’s progress, check out this bill tracker. How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
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