Reducing the Waste of Inventory in the Information Age

Nice post. I have dedicated a lot of time to tackling the second part of your idea -- what you call soft files. My new book "Far From the Factory: Lean in the Information Age" (http://www.amazon.com/Far-Factory-Lean-Information-Age/dp/1420094564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282749831&sr=8-1) focuses on this very point. Our conclusions are that factory style lean has been largely mis-applied on a superficial basis. In paper driven office there is a parallel to the factory (e.g.: the A/P process is the assembly of three physical components: the invoice, the PO, and the receiving ticket -- this is analogous to three parts coming together in a final assembly/processing operation). But in the computer era such a simplistic approach does not work. Web workers can routinely replace document information out-of-sequence (they get cc'd on an upstream email, they pull data off the vendor's website, they find previously used data stored electronically, etc.) The key point is that design documents are comprised of dozens or hundreds of information elements -- most workers need only a few and are adept at getting them out of sequence. The end result is redundant work, orphaned information, and errors all leading to re-work. In order to SEE these invisible information inventories and works in progress we need new techniques to map and redesign information flow. We use the Design Structure Matrix along with Lean/Kaizen techniques to achieve this goal. I would be very interested to hear your reactions to our approach. And I would appreciate the opportunity to guest-post your blog. Thank you and keep up the good work. George
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Soft files stacking up on servers are a huge nightmare for IT. Not only is there an impact to productivity, but endless hours can be spent haggling over policies to constrain the growth of files - with IT held responsible for policy decisions which they didn't make. Failure to agree on a policy is often followed by cycles of additional cost to install more disk drives or file servers. Many times, a significant percent of the data stored is due to redundant information and duplicate files. The more information is exchanged between departments, the higher the likelihood that this is the case. As Alana implies above, maintaining a standing process for dealing with this issue is also an inventory artifact which provides no value to the customer or the business. It is inventory that piles up as the real cost of indecision grows. And it is a clear violation of 5S (especially Shine) and perhaps one of the best examples of the consequences of ignoring Lean concepts. Software vendors have provided help in limiting the volume of data on a per-user basis, and including usage reporting tools in their products. But these are methods that can be abused (arbitrarily imposed) when the voice of the business isn't heard in the movement to employ them. The best and most effective way to deal with this situation is to train all staff in Lean concepts, and the consequences of waste - with wastes identified in the context of the business. Each associate then becomes responsible, and accountable for the avoidance of waste. Pertinent information is maintained; redundancy is reduced; and Lean thinking is reinforced. Paul Dobson LeanSoftwarePractices.com
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