Famed Lean Pioneer, Art Byrne, recommends Lean Horizons Consulting in his book “The Lean Turnaround.”
Is your organization, like many in the modern age, still struggling to streamline? If so, you might be sifting through the overwhelming amount of information online claiming to guide business owners through efficiency and waste elimination processes.
While bootstrapping your company’s transformation might be an accessible option, thanks to the digital clutter, most business owners want tangible, long-term results that drive revenue, enhance value, and boost morale.
To get the solutions that will set your organization up for continued, sustainable improvement, your company needs a dedicated consultant, versed in the Lean methodology.
Not every Lean consultancy is the same, however, and choosing the right one for your business can be a make-or-break factor for your success.
Keep reading to explore our top tips for finding the right team for your business, and see why famed Lean Pioneer, Art Byrne, recommends Lean Horizon Consulting in his seminal book “The Lean Turnaround.”
Learn More: What is Lean Transformation, and How Does it Help Your Business?
What is Lean Consulting?
Organizations across the globe have utilized the efficient, value-driving strategies of the Lean procedure to save money and eliminate waste for over 5 decades. A Lean consultant, thoroughly experienced in the successful execution of Lean methodologies, brings these results-backed strategies to life for businesses of any size.
Typically, a highly trained Lean consultant will commence the transformation process with an in-depth company assessment. After evaluating the capabilities of an organization through interviews, data analysis, and Gemba tours, your Lean consultant will present options for strategically developing Lean strategies.
Following this collaborative review, our Lean consultants would move into the engagement phase, where company-specific adaptations and training are deployed.
Listen: Lean 911 Ep. 1: Lean Mindset | Lean Horizons Consulting Podcast
Not every Lean consultancy has the same process — our team, founded by the creator of Lean accounting and principal architect of the Danaher Business System (DBS), has refined and perfected this particular order of operations over the years in a variety of industries and markets.
3 Reasons You Need a Lean Consulting Team
1. Enthusiasm for Change
One of the core principles of the methodology is respect for people — Lean is a human-driven practice.
An experienced Lean consultant can provide both management and frontline employees with a clear, comprehensive understanding of how Lean methods will support each department. This stirs company-wide passion for the strategies and garners enthusiasm for what is a major transformation.
2. Results Drive Commitment
Seeing really is believing. Working with a seasoned professional who can deliver fast, tangible results that increase efficiency, reduce waste, and improve team morale, will, in turn, inspire long-term dedication to the Lean processes.
Learn More: Does Your Company Have a Lean Culture?
3. Offer a Third-party Perspective
While management and team leaders often know their respective organizations inside and out, being too close to operations can cause blindspots or a resistance to change. A qualified Lean consultant will bring the fresh, growth-oriented perspective necessary to truly reinvigorate teams and rework processes.
Lean Consultant Teams: Essential Criteria to Look For
Custom-tailored solutions
No two organizations are exactly alike, and a templated technique rarely results in seamless, successful Lean transformations. Look for the Lean consultancies that take the time to understand your company’s goals, growth points, and Gemba processes to craft a custom-tailored solution.
Complement without complicating
Our team of industry pioneers believes that excellence in execution determines success. Therefore, custom solutions should come with specialized deployment plans that meet the needs of each individual company.
So, despite the occasional discomfort that beneficial change can spur, your consultant should facilitate your Lean transformation in a way that makes your work easier, not harder.
Wide range of experience
With a slowing global economy and near-constant “unprecedented times,” it’s now more vital than ever to work with a highly accomplished Lean team. Choose the consultancy with a demonstrated ability to deftly navigate the turbulence of transformation.
Lean Horizons Consulting: Our Lineage and Experience
Your Lean consultant, as both a leader and advisor, will serve as a catalyst for radical change throughout your company. With performance improvement, obstacle elimination, and personnel training being a few key features of the job, it’s important to know and trust your Lean consultant.
The criteria above serves as a baseline for choosing your Lean consulting team. However, for the optimal Lean transformation, we recommend working with a team that has a direct connection to the founders of Lean methodology.
At Lean Horizons Consulting, we’ve built a field force of internationally seasoned industry professionals, and we’re proud of our team. Our executives were mentored via the Autonomous Study Group run by Taiichi Ohno, of Toyota Motor Corporation. Direct experience with planning and integrating enterprise-wide Lean business systems means our team knows what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.
Read on to meet a few of the Lean specialists driving the LHC commitment to exceptional execution of the Lean methodology.
Mark DeLuzio, the aforementioned Founder and CEO of Lean Horizons Consulting, who spearheaded the first-ever Lean accounting method for Danaher’s Jake Brake Division, among many other accomplishments.
Listen: Lean 911 Ep. 5: DBS vs. Toyota Production System | Lean Horizons Consulting Podcast
Joe Rutz, the Managing Director of LHC, is a Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Lean Business Executive who crafted the DBS technique in Administrative Lean. This work included the integration of Information Technology, as well as Danaher’s process for merger and acquisition strategy.
Kevin Mathis, LHC’s Director of Operations, was an early adopter of DBS. Learning through his hands-on experience, Kevin developed Danaher’s first mixed-model manufacturing cells, and perfected the company’s approach to Kaizen.
Scott DeLuzio brings his diverse background into action in his work as LHC’s Senior Consultant. His expertise is informed by his experience working on the shop floor at Jake Brake, the birthplace of DBS and where the modern Lean movement in the USA first emerged.
Want a deeper look at the Lean Horizons Consulting technique? Tune in to the LHC podcast, explore the results of our recent projects, or connect with a Lean expert to get to know our team even better.
