Lean for Business: how LEO-funded Lean consultancy works

What Lean actually means

Lean looks at a piece of work from the customer's point of view and asks which steps add value and which do not. The usual culprits are waiting, double handling, looking for things, mistakes that get fixed later, and work done before it is needed.

• Map how a job really flows today, from enquiry to payment.
• Find the steps that add nothing for the customer.
• Fix the cause, not the symptom, and make the better way the standard.
• Measure it, so you know it worked, and keep improving.

How the LEO programme works

A Lean service provider visits the business, looks at your processes with you, and agrees where to start. Over several weeks they apply Lean tools on real work, and train and mentor the managers and staff so the changes stick.

• One-to-many: the LEO picks one Lean provider by tender, who works with a group of companies. Typically a one to two day introduction to Lean, then up to five half-day visits to your business.
• One-to-one: you choose the Lean provider you want to work with on your own project.
• At the end, a short report and the measures of what changed go to the LEO.

How it is funded

Lean for Business is funded by your Local Enterprise Office. Your LEO confirms the terms for your business when you apply.

The support counts as de minimis state aid, which is capped at €300,000 over any three fiscal years from all state bodies combined.

Who qualifies

• Micro businesses with up to 10 employees. Businesses with 10 to 50 employees that are not Enterprise Ireland or IDA clients may be considered, in consultation with the LEO.
• Start-ups do not generally qualify, unless they have traded for at least six months with revenue over €30,000.
• Excluded sectors include primary agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, coal and steel, gambling, adult entertainment and tobacco.
• A group of linked companies can make only one application.

Is Lean right for your business?

• Jobs regularly run late, or the same problems keep coming back.
• People spend time searching for information, chasing each other, or re-keying.
• You are busy but margins are thin.
• Growth is limited by how much the owner can personally hold together.

If two or more of these sound familiar, a Lean review is usually worth a conversation with your LEO.

How AppAdvisor helps

AppAdvisor delivers Lean for Business, Digital for Business and Green for Business for twelve Local Enterprise Offices: Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly, Donegal, Tipperary, Limerick, Clare, Longford, Laois, Galway, Leitrim and Cavan. Lean and digital work well together: Lean takes the waste out of a process first, so any software you add later supports a better way of working rather than speeding up a bad one.

Questions