Lean Office

The lean office is referred to an office space, administration or back office operation which makes use of the lean principles or lean manufacturing ideology. The lean office usually avoids non value adding processes, unnecessary paperwork, work in process and the waste of resources.
The lean office concept has been embraced by many service and financial organizations such as insurance companies and banks, but is not limited to these industries. They have used the lean office concept to improve customer service,improve lead times , and provide a better range of products to customers. Many tools and process improvement techniques that are used in a manufacturing environment can also be applied to an office environment. These can be used to eliminate waste and service customers better, some of these are:

-Process mapping and value stream mapping
-Kanban system for supplies and resources
-Quality at the source and at each process step
-Implement a pull system across the supply chain
-Efficient and lean office layout
-Standardization
-5s


These techniques and improvement tools have helped reduce claims processing times at insurance companies and banks, reduce clutter and confusion, streamline sale processes , provide customers an efficient service and the right products at the right time.

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