Kaizen of the Month at Gemba, December 2006

By Marcie MacRae

Going into the holidays and having the majority of the staff out of the office can be a good time to implement a big kaizen in the office. This year while the staff was on winter holidays, the admin team and two consultants set out to improve our office. I should note that this transformation occurs roughly every six months, and this is neither our first nor our last change.

Goals for the Office Re-layout: Enhancing Space and Accessibility through Kaizen

The kaizen team that was working on this office re-layout event was given some goals:

1. Create more room for a visual management area
2. Get rid of clutter and un-used office furniture
3. Make the office more open to create a feeling of space
4. Remove obstacles to mobility (bookshelves on wheels)
5. Make common items more centralized

Office Space Transformation: The Before Snapshot

Here’s a glimpse of what our office looked like before the Christmas of 2006:

BEFORE:

Following our last office modifications, we found ourselves with numerous desks built from pipe and joint materials. These were scattered throughout the office in clusters of two or three, or placed against walls. While these desks were on wheels for easy relocation, many were connected to power and communication lines, restricting daily movement. As our consultants began to spend more time on the road and less time in the office, many of these desks remained unutilized.

We had visual boards set up on the available wall spaces. However, due to limited wall space, these boards were dispersed and lacked organization.

Our bookshelves were old, immobile, unstable, disordered, and quite tall. They occupied valuable wall space that we aimed to use for visual management and to establish a Hoshin Kanri control center.

Moreover, the office had numerous centralized areas for office supplies:

• A window sill in the admin area.
• A file cabinet in the middle of the room.
• Bookshelves located between the two.
• A printer cart.

AFTER:

These were some hefty goals for four people and two days, but the event was successful in reaching the goals and/or making way for the goals to be completed.

To achieve goals #1  and #2 we got rid of two of our seven stand-up desks. We pulled four of them into a pod in the center of the room and put one of them in the admin area for an extra to use as a workbench and/or desk when needed. We also moved the bookshelves to a different wall.
This freed up a significant portion of our largest wall, creating space for movable whiteboard easels to serve as our visual boards.

To increase mobility, each desk was equipped with a power strip that can be plugged into anywhere. An increased antenna was installed on our wireless router so that the computers did not need a wired connection.

We made a shelf to contain the centralized office supplies and placed them in the consultant’s area, accomplishing goal #5. We also protected the internet routers.

Transformed Office Space: Achievements and Remaining Tasks

Here’s the new look of our office:

Remaining tasks:

• Complete the construction of bookshelves using pipe and joint materials.
• Add wheels to the packing/shipping station.

We’ve successfully cleared up space, enhanced visibility, and increased flexibility. The best part is, the absence of a “control center” for visual boards no longer hinders us from conducting Hoshin Kanri review sessions.

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