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][page needed]
- Delay on the part of customers waiting for service, for delivery, in queues, for response, not arriving as promised.
- Duplication. Having to re-enter data, repeat details on forms, copy information across, answer queries from several sources within the same organisation.
- Unnecessary Movement. Queuing several times, lack of one-stop, poor ergonomics in the service encounter.
- 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.
- Incorrect inventory. Being out-of-stock, unable to get exactly what was required, substitute products or services.
- An opportunity lost to retain or win customers, a failure to establish rapport, ignoring customers, unfriendliness, and rudeness.
- Errors in the service transaction, product defects in the product-service bundle, lost or damaged goods.
- Service quality errors, lack of quality in service processes.
Shillingburg and Seddon separately provides an additional type of waste for the method:[5][page needed][6][title missing]
- 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]