Lean for Service Organizations and Offices: A Holistic Approach for Achieving Operational Excellence and Improvements

Service organizations and offices worldwide are beginning to realize that only those companies that are efficient and able to meet the changing needs of customers will survive the fierce competition of the marketplace. Adopting lean puts anyone in a position more likely to build an intimate relationship with customers and build a foundation of operational excellence. Lean as a philosophy is new to the service companies, and many of them struggle to find the correct approach for its adoption. Many declare early victory after a few successful projects only to realize that the benefits do not sustain over a period of time. This happens because they do not really know what it takes for a holistic lean implementation in a service organization. Lean has the ability to address a wide range of problems faced by service companies, such as: complexity reduction, sales force productivity enhancement, operations risk control, cost leadership, combining scale with flexibility, service excellence and improving employee morale and involvement. Many of the principles discussed in the book are based on the author s first-hand experience in lean implementation. Being from a practitioner s viewpoint, Lean for Service Organizations and Offices is light on theory and heavy on application, exactly what s needed for a holistic and comprehensive lean transformation.

Debashis Sarkar is a thought leader on service lean and conceptualized the DEB LOREX model for holistic lean transformation. He has catalyzed large number of operational excellence transformations and currently holds a business improvement leadership role in ICICI Bank. He was instrumental in scripting the quality roadmap for the bank and has designed its 5S, lean, process management, and other organizational excellence programs. Sarkar previously authored 5S for Service Organizations and Offices: A Lean Look at Improvements (ASQ Quality Press, 2006) and Lessons in Six Sigma: 72 Must Know Truths for Managers (Sage, 2004). He is the Chair of the ASQ Automotive Division Team India.