Lean Digitalization: Improve the Process Before You Digitize It

Technology Does Not Make a Process Lean

We live in a time when technology, AI, automation, and digital tools are advancing at an incredible pace. Because of this, it can be tempting for organizations to believe that implementing the latest technology will automatically improve performance and make their operations more Lean.

Some organizations and their leaders hire consultants to digitize processes, expecting technology to solve their problems. Unfortunately, when this is done without first understanding the process, customer demand, and the problem we are trying to solve, it can create significant disruption.

Digitizing a process does not automatically make it Lean or efficient.

People who practice Lean understand that Lean is not about chasing shiny objects or jumping to solutions. Instead, it is about understanding customer value, developing people, improving flow, solving problems, and continuously removing waste.

Technology can certainly help us accomplish these things. However, technology should support the process. It should not define the process.

Do We Really Need to Digitize?

We should never digitize a process simply because the technology is available.

Before investing time and money, there should be a real need, a clear path forward, a thorough understanding of the current situation, and a defined outcome or goal.

One of the most important questions we can ask is:

“Are we using technology to eliminate waste, or are we using technology to automate waste?”

There is a significant difference between the two.

If a process contains unnecessary steps, duplication, delays, poor handoffs, excessive approvals, unclear responsibilities, or other forms of waste, putting that process into a digital system does not necessarily eliminate those problems. Instead, we may simply create digital waste.

Lean Starts With People

Sometimes we work with leaders who do not fully understand Lean methodology and want to follow the latest technology trend. Our responsibility should not be to criticize them. Lean is based on respect for people, so we need to find effective ways to educate leaders and help them understand the proper steps to take before investing in digitalization.

Leadership development is an important part of Lean Digitalization.

If we ignore it, organizations can spend significant amounts of money implementing systems that do not address the real problems. As a result, these decisions can disrupt operations, frustrate employees, and, in some cases, even contribute to job losses.

The people doing the work should never be an afterthought in digitalization. Instead, they should be part of the improvement process from the beginning.

Digitalization Should Support Lean, Not Replace It

Long before AI and today’s digital tools became available, organizations were practicing Lean and operating highly efficient processes.

The fundamental principles have not changed.

Our focus is still on creating value for the customer, developing people, improving flow, eliminating waste, solving problems, and reducing total lead time.

Technology gives us new opportunities to accomplish these things. However, it does not replace Lean thinking.

In a Lean environment, digitalization should come after we understand and improve the process. Therefore, we should digitize only when technology makes work easier for our team members and, most importantly, delivers a better outcome for our customers.

So, before we decide to digitize a form, template, process, Standard Work, or other activity, there are several steps we should take.

Step 1: Understand the Purpose

First, understand why you are considering digitalization.

Start by asking what problem you are trying to solve. Next, consider why this process, form, or template needs to be digitized. Finally, define the outcome you expect to achieve.

Do not begin with the technology. Begin with the problem.

If you cannot clearly explain the problem you are trying to solve, you are probably not ready to select a digital solution.

Step 2: Go to the Gemba

Go to the actual workplace, the Gemba, and observe how the process works today.

Do not rely solely on reports, presentations, or what someone tells you happens. Instead, observe the actual work with the people who perform it every day.

By doing this, you can better understand the current process and identify opportunities for improvement.

Step 3: Understand Customer Demand

Next, understand your customer.

Who receives the product, service, or information produced by this process? How do they use it? What do they actually need? When do they need it?

We cannot determine what is waste until we understand what creates value for the customer.

Step 4: Identify the Waste

Once we understand the customer’s needs, we can begin identifying waste in the current process.

Look for unnecessary steps, duplication, searching, corrections, waiting, handoffs, overprocessing, unnecessary movement, and other non-value-added activities.

At this point, do not ask how technology can speed up these activities. First, ask why these activities exist at all.

Step 5: Question Every Step

Work with the people who perform the process and question every step.

Start by asking whether each step needs to exist.

Next, determine whether the work is being performed at the right time and in the right place.

Also, consider whether the right person is performing the task.

Finally, ask whether the task can be eliminated, simplified, rearranged, or combined with another activity.

Most importantly, involve the people doing the work. After all, they often understand the problems and opportunities better than anyone else.

Step 6: Simplify the Process

Once the team understands what is truly necessary to deliver the product, service, or information the customer needs, begin simplifying the process.

Eliminate unnecessary activities. Simplify complicated tasks. Rearrange work where appropriate. In addition, combine activities when doing so improves flow.

The objective should be to create what the customer needs with the least amount of waste and the shortest practical lead time.

Therefore, do not automate complexity when you have the opportunity to eliminate it.

Step 7: Improve the Flow

Now stand back with your team and look at the entire process again.

After eliminating unnecessary steps, reorganizing work, and combining tasks, ask how the remaining work can flow more smoothly.

Start by identifying where the work stops or information waits. Next, look for bottlenecks that interrupt flow. Also, identify unnecessary handoffs that add time without creating value.

Improving individual tasks is important. However, Lean requires us to think about the flow of the entire process from the customer’s perspective.

Step 8: Standardize and Test the Improved Process

After team discussions, experiments, and trials, standardize the improved process and test it over time to make sure it is sustainable.

After all, there is no improvement without a standard.

Standard Work gives us a baseline from which we can identify abnormalities and make further improvements. However, Standard Work is not written in stone.

Instead, today’s best method should become tomorrow’s starting point for improvement.

Step 9: Now Consider Digitalization

Only after developing an efficient, standardized process that has demonstrated its ability to deliver what the customer needs should you consider digitizing it.

At this point, bring together the people who perform the work every day and people who understand today’s technology.

Together, you can now ask a much better question:

“What technology, if any, could make this improved process easier, faster, safer, more visible, or more effective?”

Notice that we are not asking what technology we can implement.

Instead, we are asking what technology can help us improve.

There is a big difference.

Step 10: Continue With PDCA

After digitizing a process, form, template, or Standard Work, never assume the improvement is finished.

After all, technology does not change the fundamental Lean principle of continuous improvement.

Therefore, continue to apply PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

First, observe how the digitalized process performs and listen to the people using it. Next, measure whether it is producing the expected results. In addition, continue listening to your customers and identifying new problems and opportunities.

Then improve it again.

Before You Digitize, Ask One More Question

Technology is changing rapidly, and AI will create opportunities that many of us could not have imagined only a few years ago. Therefore, we should take advantage of these opportunities when they help us create value.

However, we should never allow excitement about technology to replace Lean thinking.

Before we digitize a process, we should ask whether that process deserves to be digitized.

Not everything does.

After all, digitalization costs money, time, effort, and organizational energy. If we digitize a process filled with waste, we may simply make that waste faster, more expensive, and more difficult to see.

So, go to the Gemba. Talk to the people doing the work. Understand the customer. Identify the waste. Simplify the process. Improve the flow. Establish the standard. Only then should you determine whether technology can improve the process further.

The goal is not to become more digital.

Instead, the goal is to become better at creating value for our customers.

Technology is a tool. Lean thinking must determine how we use it.

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