Although Lean Manufacturing got its start on the factory floor, its fundamental principles of reducing waste and its tools easily translate to the office. In addition, putting office administration through the Lean experience not only contributes to the company's lean initiative but helps accounting, engineering, and sales better appreciate and understand the issues on the factory floor.

Management at Parker Hannifin realized if the manufacturer of hydraulic filters and other parts for the commercial refrigeration industry was to be completely lean, it also had to unearth waste in the front office. The Metamora, Ohio-based company had a specific goal: reduce the three to five day time period it took for an order to reach the plant's shop floor.

After two days of training and another three targeting small quick improvements for immediate implementation, CMC's sister center in Ohio did a Value Stream Map. The VSM indicated office personnel could so some order entry on-line. They also reduced paperwork by moving some printers directly to shop floor. This simple relocation not only reduced the amount of paper people used but also let other departments print directly to the shop. This change eliminated the need to hand carry paperwork or make duplicates. After the lean office implementation, Parker Hannifin's shop floor now receives orders within one to one and one-half work days for an improvement greater than 50 percent.

Lean Office - Before


Lean Office - After


For SamTech Corporation in Ft. Worth, Texas the new parts implementation process for the automotive air conditioning products they manufacture was bogging down the factory. Their process called for a folder that contained all part information be transported by hand from office to office in order for work to be completed. In the beginning red folders indicated rush orders but over time all new parts folders were red, which resulted in chaos, significant delays and disgruntled customers.

The Value Stream Map CMC's sister center in Texas did indicated the company could combine and rearrange functions to eliminate excess transportation, waiting and motion. The experts created an electronic document exchange system that helped track red folders and let many users work on the same red folder simultaneously.

The results were nothing short of miraculous:

• Cycle time dropped from days or weeks to hours
• The average travel distance for a folder went from 371.5 feet to 131.3 feet
• Direct labor cost went down more than $3,400 annually
• The number of red folders in circulation dropped from 540 to an average of 10.

"We've experienced a three-fold return on our investment," says CEO Michael Deese.