Lean case studies delivered by Joe Connaughton, Appadvisor Ltd

Main issues: Management wanted the lean programme to stress test the organisation to show areas for improvement to allow it to continue to out-perform its peers.

Key area’s for improvement were outlined as debt collection, invoicing efficiency, reducing paperwork where possible and unnecessary work process reduction.  Improving the efficiency of the scheduling and administration team by reducing paperwork and unnecessary tasks. Staff interviews and brainstorming lead to an increase in administration efficiency which freed up 2.5 days per week for one admin person. Maximising bottom line profitability by introducing a range of cost and waste reduction strategies- €30,000 of savings was identified in the invoicing and associated process.  The lean programme outlined ways to make sure that good processes are in place for getting invoices out and getting payments in on time. A new key resource was hired after key findings were identified. The project delivered smarter home-care services, on time and more cost effectively.

Main Issues: Use lean marketing to expand territory.

The Lean project aimed to structure a very Lean way of delivering expansion of their very niche business using smart online techniques. Their plan was to set up a virtual office in the UK with a local VOIP phone number and uk web address that allows the company to establish a presence for much less cost. A full flow analysis of the business’ online presence was undertaken to highlight the opportunity to minimize planned spend. Lean thinking was used to define new ways to reduce Google ad-word cost per click advertising from potential minimum spend of minimum €2,000 per month to €500 per month. Similar targets were also achieved using clever organic SEO methods and processes as outlined in their online strategy report.

Main issues: Using lean methodology to get CEO more effective with his time.

Due to the highly complex nature of some project requirements and the high growth experienced by the company, the CEO struggled to allocate sufficient time and focus to grow the business further. We used Lean thinking and methodology to design a proper lead generation process, creating a structure to set up and implement a process to achieve an average of two key new client presentations per month. Typical projects are over €100k. The process identified current state and key metrics and marketing initiatives that had worked to date and implemented a control mechanism to ensure continual improvement.