Lean services is the application of lean manufacturing production methods in the service industry (and related method adaptations). Lean services have among others been applied to US health care providers[1] and the UK HMRC.[2]

History

Definition of "Service": see Service, Business Service and/or Service Economics. Lean Services history, see Lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing and Services, contrasted by Levitt; "Manufacturing looks for solutions inside the very tasks to be done... Service looks for solutions in the performer of the task." (T.Levitt, Production-Line Approach to Service, Harvard Business Review, September 1972).[3]

Method

Underlying method; Lean manufacturing.

Bicheno & Holweg provides an adapted view on waste for the method ("waste", see Lean manufacturing, waste and The Toyota Way, principle 2):[4]

  1. Delay on the part of customers waiting for service, for delivery, in queues, for response, not arriving as promised.
  2. Duplication. Having to re-enter data, repeat details on forms, copy information across, answer queries from several sources within the same organisation.
  3. Unnecessary Movement. Queuing several times, lack of one-stop, poor ergonomics in the service encounter.
  4. Unclear communication, and the wastes of seeking clarification, confusion over product or service use, wasting time finding a location that may result in misuse or duplication.
  5. Incorrect inventory. Being out-of-stock, unable to get exactly what was required, substitute products or services.
  6. An opportunity lost to retain or win customers, a failure to establish rapport, ignoring customers, unfriendliness, and rudeness.
  7. Errors in the service transaction, product defects in the product-service bundle, lost or damaged goods.
  8. Service quality errors, lack of quality in service processes.

Shillingburg and Seddon separately provides an additional type of waste for the method:[5][6]

  1. Value Demand, services demanded by the customer. Failure Demand, production of services as a result of defects in the upstream system.

Criticism

John Seddon outlines challenges with Lean Services in his paper "Rethinking Lean Service" (Seddon 2009) using examples from the UK tax-authorities HMRC.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ker, Jun-Ing; Wang, Yichuan; Hajli, M. Nick; Song, Jiahe; Ker, Cappi W. (2014). "Deploying lean in healthcare: Evaluating information technology effectiveness in U.S. hospital pharmacies" (PDF). International Journal of Information Management. Elsevier BV. 34 (4): 556–560. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.03.003. ISSN 0268-4012.
  2. 1 2 Seddon, John; O'Donovan, Brendan; Zokaei, Keivan (2011). "Rethinking Lean Service". Service Design and Delivery (PDF). Boston, MA: Springer US. pp. 41–60. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8321-3_4. ISBN 978-1-4419-8320-6. ISSN 1865-4924.
  3. ↑ Levitt, Theodore (September 1972). "Production-Line Approach to Service". Harvard Business Review.
  4. ↑ Bicheno, John; Holweg, Matthias (2009). The Lean Toolbox. PICSIE. ISBN 978-0-9541244-5-8.
  5. ↑ Seddon, John (2003) Freedom from Command and Control: A Better Way to Make the Work Work, Vanguard Press.
  6. ↑ Shillingburg, 2011
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