Texas City Saves $30 million by Using Lean Six Sigma
In these difficult financial times it's important that governments at all levels make the best use of the money they have. So news that a local government in Texas has saved $30 million by using lean six sigma should make public servants around the country sit up and take notice.
The city of Irving, Texas has applied lean six sigma since 2006. As a result of eliminating unnecessary steps in city operations, city manager Tommy Gonzales says the city is performing services more quickly, departments are working cooperatively, and morale is higher among city employees.
It is not just financial gains that have been witnessed. The City has also become much more efficient with their time. "The time it's given back to employees. We've eliminated 37,000 hours of wasted time for our employees, which really helps their morale as well as performance." Gonzales said.
Irving is not alone in their use of lean six sigma in making their processes more efficient. In 2007 the UK government released a package called Business Improvement Package (BIP). It urges local authorities to deliver leaner operational management to reduce inefficiencies, join up services and adopt a customer-led service culture.
A spokesman for BIP said: “Process improvement is critical to the goal of citizen-focused improvement. Through the review and reshaping of the way public services are provided and the reduction in the number of tasks which do not benefit a customer, front line and corporate support services can be enhanced. Public sector organisations who have undertaken business process improvement have already demonstrated how to eliminate low value activity, free up of front-line staff, improve information management and cut transaction costs. Local authorities have also secured quality and cost improvements of up to 20% through the adoption of service redesign process improvement methods.”
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