Iowa undergoes Lean transformation

State and federal organizations are known for tedious and slow processes that are bogged down by red tape and other administrative nightmares. The state of Iowa was no different, but administrators weren't content with the current system and launched an improvement effort.

Iowa underwent a Lean transformation, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. The strategy powering the change was to map out every inefficiency – redundant steps, needless stops or breaks in activity, extra time spent on specific tasks and the productivity of personnel.

The changes were immense. For example, the Iowa Department of Transportation was able to reduce the number of steps it took to issue a temporary restricted license by 46 percent.

“Iowa doesn't keep a tally of total hours or dollars saved as a result of these efforts because many tweaks result in 'soft' savings such as speedier service,” the news source notes. “One key fix: switching from a paper to an electronic claims process.”

Any organization can undergo a Kaizen transformation – it's a simple matter of being to identify wasteful processes and replace them with more efficient ones.