Patrick Adams  00:00

So, welcome to the Lean solutions podcast. This is the podcast that adds value to leaders by helping you improve performance using process improvement solutions with bottom line results. My name is Patrick Adams. And this season, I’ll be joined by three other amazing hosts, including Katherine MacDonald from Ireland, Andy Oelrich from Australia, and Shane Dawson, in the United States. Join us as we bring you guests and experiences of Lean practitioners from all over the world. Hello, and welcome to this episode of the lean solutions Podcast. Today is a special day, it is going to be just Shane and I having a conversation about Shane’s upcoming visit to the state of Michigan, he’s going to be coming to the lake shore for the Lean Solutions Summit coming up September 24 25th, and 26th. And I’m interested to hear what he’s going to speak on and kind of talk through that a little bit. I know we’re super early in the process. So maybe today, our listeners can listen into us kind of, you know, putting things together and have some discussions about what that might look like. But specifically, Shane is going to be talking about lean on the administrative side of things with a little bit of a spin, or maybe it’s case studies examples from his time with the state of Nebraska. So it’s going to be lean on the administrative side, specifically in the government in the state government. So I’m excited to dive into this and talk a little bit more about what that might look like, Shane, how you feeling.

Shayne Daughenbaugh  01:36

I am also very excited about this, the more that I’m putting this together, I’m finding that I have way more information than I have time. So trying to hone this down to just some great nuggets. For those that attend. We’re very excited to be a part of this. So yeah, I mean, I what I want to do today is just kind of whet your whistle just a little bit on at least my topic. I know there’s a truck ton of other topics, other speakers and presenters that I’m very honored to be a part of and be with. But you know, if you have some interest, and that’s what that’s what I really appreciate about this one, Patrick, or you’re giving the opportunity to kind of the other side, not the not not the non manufacturing side, you know, we have we have a lot of lean in the manufacturing industry. But also there’s other other industries, right, there’s other places for lean, lean six sigma, just continuous improvement. So I’m going to be I’m going to be sharing some of my stuff. So let me give you a statistic to start with and kind of whet your whistle in this one. Okay. So there is According to McKinsey and Kinsey study in 2023. So just last year, there is 450 billion with a B billion dollars in potential savings at the state and local level, when it comes to government, and that’s across the United States, of course, but $450 billion in potential there are literally 1000s and 1000s of potential hours to be saved. Just that in itself right there just as Oh, man, what that tells me is not man, our states are doing a crummy job, because hey, I still got roads out there. You know, I still got a police department and Fire Department. I’m not bagging on the state and local entities, I think they’re doing a great job. But what it says to me is, there’s so much potential that lead can help kind of evolve and grow into it and really take our have the administration and and the services that are provided take them to the next level. So true. So yeah, I mean, you know, obviously all of us know that that lean, you know, is very,

Patrick Adams  03:51

it’s been talked about, it’s been applied in the manufacturing space, you know, for a long time. Many people know, when they hear lean, they immediately think of, you know, the Toyota Production System, automotive industry manufacturing, but not not too many people know that there are state and local governments that are that are working on process improvement initiatives continuously and having some really, really good results that are then transferred to taxpayer savings, right, taxes are reduced then because some of those wasted dollars are taken care of. So there’s a lot of opportunity that where Lean principles, tools, techniques can be applied on the administrative side, specifically in the government. But I want to speak to today, I want I want everyone to hear that. You don’t have to be in the government for the things that Shane’s gonna talk about on this episode and at the Lean Solution Summit to attend his breakout session because in the administrative space, there the tools and the techniques work very effectively whether you are Working in a, you know, a accounting firm, or whether you’re working in a on a car lot in an office setting, the tools and the techniques are applicable. So that’s what I love about this, I love the fact that you’re going to share some experiences, maybe some case studies or things because that’s, that’s how I learn. And that’s where I get to resonate. So I’m excited. Your breakout in I would also say, you know, and you started talking about, you know, all the different places that, that this, that lean fits and works. I was just at my local brewery just down the street, and talking with the head brewmaster about some of the things that, you know, he took me for a tour, you know, behind the curtain, and I got to see all the really cool, you know, all the stainless steel and all the flashy stuff, where the magic happens now is tight. And in his as he was describing some of his processes. It’s like, man, that really sounds like continuous improvement sounds like leave, and then he just starts enabling, he just starts labeling. Yeah, this is what we do here, you know, to reduce efficient inefficiencies here. And then we bring it over here. And it was just and I was blown away that I mean, the lingo has changed just a little bit. But, man, it’s even even in the can of beer that you may be pulling out of the fridge or the can of soda, whatever it might be, you know, there are some some great efficiencies that can happen just in how we do processes. That’s awesome. That’s some of the challenges. Let’s let’s continue to wet the whistle here. Some of the challenges that that I, that I faced that working with state of Nebraska.

Shayne Daughenbaugh  06:30

In the particular case study that I’m thinking about, you know, that’s that it’s across the board, these challenges go all over the place, and maybe you can even think of examples of resistance to change, you know, we have entrenched processes. There’s, there’s ways that we have done things for years and years and years. And some people that I mean, I know, at the state of Nebraska, we had people that were there 2030 41 person that was there that retired while I was still at the state of Nebraska had been there for over 70 years. Oh, my God, he started when he was five, I have no idea how, how in the world did that long, but up to the point of, you know, this resistance to change. I mean, in I don’t know, Patrick, if you’ve had much experience I’m sure you have with other, you know, administrative work, where there is just an entrenched process that, hey, this is what we’ve done it. So why would we change it? Oh, yeah. Okay. Have you? I’m sure you have, you know, any, any specific examples that, that were like, oh, yeah, I mean, that the one big one that always comes to mind for me, when I think about administrative space was a company that I worked with, where and I think I’ve talked about this before in the podcast. So some of you may have heard this story, but that there was a an office area with a bunch of cubicles, and they had a centralized copier, and printer area that every use. And these, these, the individuals that were in this particular area, they were printing for whatever I remember all the details out of this was quite a many years, quite many, quite a many, it was many years ago.

Patrick Adams  08:19

But they were printing, you know, multiple times in an hour, and getting up out of their chairs and walking over to the printers, and then grabbing their stuff and coming back and sitting down and, and I remember having conversation with them. And they were like, Oh my gosh, you know, my body and you get up, sit down, get up, sit down all day long. And, you know, as as I’m watching this happen, and I’m seeing the amount of time that they’re spending, walking between the areas, obviously, that’s, you know, they’re not doing value add work when they’re up walking, right. So we started to we did a time study and put pedometers on everybody. And, again, I don’t remember all the details of it. But you know, what we came out of that with was, there were I don’t remember the number but like two, you know, two individuals fully burdened that could have been paid for their salaries could have been paid for in place of all the walking that was happening. And so what we ended up doing was buying desktop printers at that time for every individual so they could just print right there at their desk and and it was much better on their bodies, obviously they they still were able to get up on breaks and stretch and do the things that they need to do. But it wasn’t like a mandatory like four or five times an hour. I’m having to get up and walk over to get stuff. So that’s just one that comes to mind. I don’t know there are tons of other examples, I’m sure out there. But yeah, people.

Shayne Daughenbaugh  09:44

Sometimes when we have these entrenched processes just we don’t even think about it just it’s the process we were given again, there’s not it’s not bad people. There’s just a bad process. Right. And that’s that’s one of the things that I had to make sure I instilled in my team You know, in the case study I’m gonna be talking about was, but it’s something about that, you know not they’re not don’t blame the people blame the process let’s attack the process these intention trench processes. So there’s resistance resource constraints, I think we can find that just about anywhere where you just don’t have enough time, money or people to do all the tasks that you have, and a business, which government is a business, you’re always looking for? How can we better meet the needs of our customers? So we’ll grab more things to do, oh, maybe we can, you know, we’re serving this, let’s also give them this to go with it. Who’s going to do that? Because we’re already kind of maxed out. Right. And that’s where the 1000s and 1000s of hours that can be saved. This isn’t taking work away. This is making it so that you can do better work, and faster work. Oh, true, you know, faster, or what? Is it easier? Better, faster? Cheaper? Got it. So have having all of those Yeah, yeah, it also made me think of another example that I heard in the past at with state government, around the Department of Motor Vehicles. And in this example, was one that so I, if you know me, you know that I love Universal Studios in Florida, it’s my favorite, most favorite place to go in the world. If I could live next door and go there every day, I would love it there. And also, I love their processes. Because you don’t have to wait in line there, you you check in on your app, you know, then or you, you know, if you’re at the waterpark, you get the wristwatch that basically you can scan yourself into line, and they’re all virtual lines. And so you can go hang out, have fun, and then you get buzzed, when it’s time for you, when you’re in line when you’re up in the front of the line. Just just crazy, amazing processes to thinking about the customer. And what’s important to the customer, the customer wants to stand in line when they’re at Universal Studios, they want to go enjoy the experience and do things. Well, you know, going so now flip back to the Department of Motor Vehicles here in Michigan, I know I’m sure many other states have done this. But they’ve adopted a similar process with a an app and you know, webpage where you basically schedule yourself into into a virtual line, you schedule an appointment for yourself. And, and now, I’m not going to stand at the DMV for 6070 90 minutes waiting for my Nate for my number to be called, which is the way it has always been. Right, I’m going to show up at the time, you know, on my phone that tells me I’m up in line, I’m gonna show up when I need to. And now my time is valued, versus, you know, being wasted sitting in in, you know, in line. So, anyways, that was another example of mine. I love I love that. I love that, because wasted hours doesn’t just have to be the Pete, the employees or the staff that are doing it wasted hours could also be, you know, the customers or in this case, the citizens. Definitely. So some of the other challenges that we had to go through, you know, just real quick, undocumented processes. We all have our ways of doing it, especially when people have been there a long time, hey, I have a way of doing things. This is how I do it. But if it’s not documented, then you know, if I’m out that day, and Patrick has to pick it up, has to pick up my work. Maybe he watched me enough to be able to do it, you know, but do we have something that’s going to help him immediately or let’s say I win the lottery, and I decide, You know what, I don’t want to work anymore, who’s gonna do my work with all the people that are retiring it in this, this large wave of retirements that are going to be coming that have already actually started? That’s a huge drain loss, you know, just so much knowledge lost? Yeah, so much learning.

Patrick Adams  13:38

And learning curve for new people coming in, if there are not established standards, is just, it’s crazy. Yeah, it’s huge. So the other, the other ones, just to highlight real quick here, and then we can, we can end You know, my section just again, just trying to whet your whistle on what you’re able to tackle

Shayne Daughenbaugh  13:58

is the silo and the fragmentation of people that are doing they’re working on the same team. But they’re so fragmented, and all they have blinders on is just their own stuff. But being able to, as you know, making it visual, getting the right people the right table, making a visual goes, Oh, so you do this? Well, shoot, I do that over here, too. Why are we both doing this? Right? Right Stuff like that was it was just, it was mind blowing for the people that work. And it was so much fun to do. Or another one here? i We certainly don’t lack data. We lack the right data. Yeah. Like there’s so much data out there. And there’s so many dashboards and whatnot, just pulling mounds and mounds of information, but we have no way to make sense of it. And it might not even be the right data. So So lack of the right data and performance metrics. Like I will just figure it out. We’re just going to do it anyways. But we don’t have those performance metrics to know what are we going to be able to accomplish what the goal is Do we even have goals that are set? of you know, some sometimes it’s easy just to just to keep moving forward with what you’re doing without thinking about, okay, what are our goals for this? What’s the point of this is it just, you know, we’re ad nauseam just forever and ever, you know, infinity and beyond, they will just do this, or there are some specific goals. So those are just some of the challenges that we’re able to, to overcome and get some fantastic results that I’m very excited to share with at the breakout session to share with

Patrick Adams  15:37

everyone, I am sorry to interrupt this episode of the lean solutions podcast. But I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our company lean solutions, we exist to empower and equip people for positive change. We do this through our three pillars, which include training and development, coaching, and consulting and talent solutions. Whether you have specific areas for improvement, or you’re not really sure where to start, we can build tailored solutions and provide resources to meet your needs, send us an email at office at finding solutions.com To begin your journey towards transformation. Now, back to the show, what uh, there’s a ton of value there. And it’s going to be there’s a ton of value that you’re bringing, along with real life examples of what you’ve been able to do and in the administrative space for the state of Nebraska. And we’ve also adjusted things a little bit in this part part of this came from your wife and a few other volunteers and different people that at the summit LIS last year, who gave some suggestions because again, we’re always looking to to improve, right even at the summit, we had our obey up, we were collecting information live, you know, real time information on how we can improve the summit for the following year. Well, one of those things that came out of that was that people were looking for shorter, almost like TED Talk style breakouts. And so we’re gonna be we’re gonna be experimenting, in continuous improvement, lean style, we’re going to be experimenting with the shorter TED Talk style breakouts. And so this is the one of one that you’re going to be doing. And I’m excited to see how you, you know what, basically, what we’re suggesting to the speakers is, you know, have a big idea, have a couple points that you want to bring to the the learners. And it’s going to be like, identify the problem, what was the solution? And then how can it actually be applied to those people that are sitting in the room because we want everyone at the summit to walk away? Knowing how they can apply what they learned, you know, right away directly to the words?

Shayne Daughenbaugh  17:41

Yes, yeah. This this is not theoretical. I am not about the theory, as much as I am more about the application. Let’s just say that. Yes. And the theory. So I’m, I’m excited. It’s gonna be great for sure. The other thing chain that you’re doing as part of the summit, is, you’re going to be teaching a Lean Six Sigma yellow belt class, right?

Patrick Adams  18:06

So, yes, we have a couple tours. But then also people can choose to do the Lean Six Sigma, yellow belt class. This was another suggestion that came out of the obeya, we had individuals that had come to the summit, and were very early on their Lean journey. Some of them even we’re hearing about Lean for the very first time while they’re at the summit this past year. So the suggestion was, can we offer some kind of a almost like a lean bootcamp a lean Basics class, that where people can learn the principles, learn the tools, the techniques, a little bit of background, a little bit of history, and kind of level themselves with with everyone else coming into the summit, so that as the speakers are using terms like gamba, five s or whatever it might be, they understand the context behind that stuff. Right? So tell us what do you have planned for us. So for that, I’m just really, really excited because I think the just the fundamentals, and the principles behind it are just going to be huge, you know, in regard to understanding how all the rest of the stuff that we talked about, like that’s some of the assumptions that are made when we when we have the breakout sessions and, and some of the other you know, the really technical side of things that we have out there, there are assumptions made the you understand what what the basic Lean principles are, what some of the foundational stuff, you know, for Lean and Lean Six Sigma. So I’m very excited about about doing that. And, and also making this this is going to be the first yellow belt class that I’ve been teaching that I’ll be able to teach in person for Lean solutions. Most of the yellow belt classes I teach all of them and the green belts that I’ve been teaching have been virtual, so very excited to be able to use so you know, some hands on activities that get people involved so that if that we’re we’re learning

Shayne Daughenbaugh  20:00

It’s not just a theory, but again, how to apply it, what does it look like? Maybe there’s going to be playdough involved, I don’t know, there might be some marshmallows, we’ll see. You know, there’s all kinds of stuff,

Patrick Adams  20:12

making this very high energy. With that, go ahead, I was just saying the ball toss for PDCA. I mean, we have the great activities that are embedded in the training. And in our our Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification is very heavy, lean, there’s a little bit of history and principles that are kind of identified on the Six Sigma side of things. But it’s very much a lien basics. You know, where you’re getting, you know, history, we talk about the the eight wastes, right, we add on that eighth waste, but we do use the toast video from Bruce Hamilton, my favorite. And, you know, we’ll talk about value, add non value, add work, we’ll talk about process mapping, and even touch on value stream mapping just a little bit. But PDCA, Kaizen get into voice of the customer, and all kinds of stuff. So it’s a great class, there’ll be a lot of hands on activities, like you mentioned, and it’s just a great way for for those that are coming to the summit that want to bring along some people that they’re like, Well, you know, they don’t know, lean, this is the beginning of our journey, should they come? Should they not come? Yes, bring them, sign them up for the yellow belt class. And then while the yellow belt class is going on, we also have two other tours that are going on. So you know, those that are intermediate or advanced level can go to the tours, while the beginners stay back and hit the yellow belt class on the September 24. Right? Yes, yeah. And for each person will come out of that with a, a industry accepted, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification from lean solutions. So so that’ll be that’ll be great. But let me tell you about the tour’s shape. So unfortunately, I’m not gonna be able to make, say, unfortunately, you’re not going to be able to attend the tours. But we have two different tours that are going on one of them that participants will be getting onto a charter bus and there’ll be heading to the other side of the state, actually, a couple hour drive, but there’s some really great activities and some reflection time that’s built into that. But we’re going to be heading to Menlo innovations, which is one of my favorite places to tour I’ve posted videos and pictures about Menlo in the past with rich shared and he does an amazing job. He’s just the whole company in general was just really amazing to see and you’ll be able to meet the men Leoneans they call themselves and it’s a ton of really great visual management, lots of really good, just culture wise, it’s some really good things to see there. And then lunch and then Zingerman’s is the other place that that particular tour will visit so they both get both Menlo innovations and Zingerman’s mail order which Zingerman’s mail order is crazy awesome. It’s a working warehouse of Lean principles and action. They you’ll you’ll walk the entire mail order E commerce order fulfillment warehouse from receiving all the way to shipping. And you’re going to spend time with either Dr. Jeffrey Laker or Mike rather, who will both be on site in person to answer questions and have some discussions with people. So that’s going to be a really cool tour. I’m sure that will fill up really fast. The second tour will be staying in on the lake shore. And then those individuals will be going to two places on the Lakeshore here in West Michigan. One of them is dematic corporation. So dematic is in downtown Grand Rapids. So it’s not too far away. But basically, it’s a it’s a cutting edge, automation warehouse organization. And they have their their state of the art automation room, I forget what they call it, but it’s like just all of it’s a display of all their crazy awesome automation that they use in warehouse applications. And then they also have an automated guided vehicles AGV facility that’s fairly new within the last few years. So they add some really great visual management, nice obey a set up and they’re doing some really good stuff there. So that’s, that’s part of the tour. And then the other places coastal automotive, also an amazing place to go see, they’re using high performing work teams. They also have some good visual management in place, and they put in a really, really nice Kanban system. And the way that their the Kanban system has transformed their businesses is pretty cool to see and hear about as they tell the story of how it used to be versus what it’s like today. So some pretty cool stuff. You know, the tours are a lot of cloud ration a lot of learning that’s going to happen on those. So I’m excited for that as well. And that’s all on September 24, which is the first day of the three day Summit. So looking forward to awesome. Yeah, it’s good. It’s just getting better and better. Like this this summit. I’m very, very excited. Yeah, we’re excited about it. We got lots of lots of stuff to talk about, for sure. But I’m excited for you to come back and visit with us and be able to do a little bit more than last, you know, last year you came and helped out with this summit, but this year, you’re actually going to be speaking and teaching. So I mean, you can’t get better than that. When went out, man. It’s great opportunity. Great opportunity. So well, I’m looking forward to it. Shane, I’m looking forward to seeing you again in person and catching up. And looking forward. So tell me for tell our audience for those that may not know, like, Where Where can they sign up for the summit? Where can they find more information? Are we gonna have them in the show notes? Or what are we what do we got? Yeah, good question. So you can go to our website, it’s it well, you can go to the the actual Summit website is lean solutions, summit.com. And that will put that in the show notes. Also, you can go right to our company page, finally in solutions.com. And you can click top right corner, it says the summit, you can click on that to get to the page, but lean solution summit.com will bring you to the page where you can get all the information and register, but we’ll put that in the show notes as well. And, yeah, I mean, that’s probably the best best place to go. But obviously, you can reach out to us if anybody has any questions or anything like that. We got lots of good rates. Right now there’s a super low student rate for for any higher ed organizations. There is early bird I think goes through. I don’t know if by the time this episode drops, it might already be done and over with but but there is an early bird price out there right now. So but we’ll have lots of specials going on between now and September. So yeah. Looking forward to it. Awesome. Well, Shane, it’s been great to catch up. I’m looking forward to your your TED Talk style. Presentation, it’s going to be pretty amazing. Looking forward to hearing hearing about that and hearing some of those examples and just appreciate your willingness to come and share some of your amazing insights with us.

Shayne Daughenbaugh  27:28

I’m also gonna be I’m gonna be honest, I’m pretty geeked just about being able to see Andy like, Oh, yeah.

Patrick Adams  27:35

Andy. All right. We’ll be in from from Australia. So he’s flying all the way from the other side of the world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m excited for Andy to be here too. So some great keynotes as well. So it’s, it’s gonna be pretty amazing. Yeah. Well, let’s close up here. Again. It’s great to see and just appreciate you and looking forward to seeing in September. Indeed. Thank you, sir. All right, take care. Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the lien solutions podcast. If you haven’t done so already, please be sure to subscribe. This way you’ll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined. Please give us a review. Thank you so much.