After carefully reading all comments and experiences it becomes clear that is possible and would be beneficial to pursue Lean Thinking within government agencies despite the difficulties that we may encounter.

All the best as always

Edison Reis
http://www.QualityAssuranceManagement.com

The UK MOD have employed lean type processes to focus their efforts on the key activities for each unit.

To be fair, the whole process has been a thinly veiled attempt to reduce manpower and costs. In principle this should be a good thing to aim for.

However, I consider Armed Forces to be an insurance policy, called on when the Government requires certain tasks to be completed.

By ‘leaning’ the MOD, much of the excess capacity is being removed. Outsourcing means that non-value added tasks are being done by external agencies rather than service men and women. This is clearly cheaper, but with 3 impacts:

1. There are less UK billets that service people can fill. UK billets allow staff to work ‘normal’ hours and spend time with their families in the evening and weekends.
2. Outsourcing requires the contract to be written, agreed, funded and managed with an impact on contract management staff.
3. Outsourcing staff only do their contracted role. A service person can be used anywhere for any task and without the usual work-life constraints.

Reduction of military staff to a minimum makes it difficult to spare people for training, illness, recreation and personal development. It also signficantly reduces the possibility of surging or giving managers the level of contingency that may be required in the event of an unforeseen need.

Lean focuses people and processes on value streams considered. If the manpower and processes are tailored to those streams then there is a signficant impact on the flexiility to fulfil other additional value streams.

If Government adopt Lean then only those value streams assessed will be resourced and no contingency catered for. This I think is a signficant short fall.

Lean needs to be applied carefully in the Government context.

As I stated above, Armed Forces are an insurance policy. I think Lean is allowing us to pay fo a 3rd party only policy when we actually want fully comprehensive cover.

Hope this is a useful perspective.

Regards

Martin