Lean Office Assessment Tool

A diagnostic tool developed from industry standards to compare ISI clients against World Class metrics

Please use this assessment tool to appraise your facility against the best practices found in LEAN facilities
around the world.

The Lean Assessment Tool contains 12 categories describing attributes of a

LEAN ENTERPRISE.

1. Communication Within The Organization

2. Employee Flexibility
3. Visual Systems and Workplace Organization
4. Continuous Improvement
5. Mistake Proofing (Poka-Yoke)
6. Quality
7. Standard Work
8. Supply Chain
9. Lean Accounting Systems
10. Performance Measurement / Internal
11. Systems Engineering
12. Customer Communication

Each worksheet must be completed with an objective effort to appraise the actual situation in your facility.
Please comply with the following instructions to complete this assessment.

1. Read carefully the best practice descriptions on each LEAN category worksheet. There are up to 7
best practices described for each LEAN category.
2. For each Lean best practice described, assess the level to which the practice is observed in the
organization.
3. Select a ranking on the scale below between 0 and 5 that best reflects the observations:
0 The practice is not found anywhere
1 The practice is only seen in a few areas, with inconsistencies
2 The practice is commonly found but with inconsistencies
3 The practice is found in majority of areas with no inconsistencies
4 The practice is found everywhere with consistent execution
5 The practice is everywhere, with improvement over last 12 months

4. Enter the scores on the spreadsheet for automatic tabulation.

Protocol for Administration of the Assessment

1. Notify the key people in the organization ahead of time that the assessment will be conducted.
2. Obtain an organizational chart and identify key functional leaders who will be the point of
contact for each category
3. Send the assessment to the leaders if they need some time to prepare or think about the
questions and evaluation criteria.
4. Explain the purpose of the assessment to every person contacted.

Tips for Collecting Valid Data

It may be necessary to ask the same questions of several different people from different
areas in order to get an average assessment score.
If the question simply does not apply, put n/a in the score sheet and adjust the calculation of
the score for that category.
 communication Points Score

1 Management communicates with all levels of the organization on topics regarding organization
0-5
goals and objectives at least twice per year.

2 Employees are able to accurately describe the organizations goals and how their job contributes
0-5
to the achievement of those goals.

3 Employees receive feedback through a formal process concerning problems found in downstream
0-5
processes or from the customer.

4 Management encourages employees to work in groups to address performance, quality, safety

0-5
and customer service issues.

5 Employees at the operations level understand and use common performance metrics to monitor
0-5
and improve the value added processes.

6 Problems in the service delivery process are detected and investigated within thirty (30) minutes of
0-5
the first occurrence.

7 The concept of Value Stream Mapping is understood and all service families have been mapped
0-5
and are grouped into the like process streams.

Total Score

Communication Category Score = Total/35

employee flexibility Points Score

1 Employees are given formal training before doing a job on their own. 0-5

2 No customer service problems are attributable to new employees 0-5

3 Office processes have been simplified to allow rearrangement of process sequence as required 0-5

Employees are cross trained to perform other job functions and are capable of working in 2 differ-
4 0-5
ent jobs each day.

5 Office equipment is arranged to facilitate continuous flow of work. 0-5

6 Employee work procedures are visible and accessible. 0-5

Total Score

Employee Flexibility Category Score = Total/30

 visual systems and workplace organization Points Score

1 The office areas are generally clear of unnecessary materials, items or clutter. Bulletin boards are
0-5
maintained and up to date.

2 The office has markings that distinguish work areas, staging areas and common usage areas. 0-5

3 All employees are aware of good housekeeping practices and employees consider daily clean up
0-5
and put away activities as part of their job.

4 There is a place for everything and is everything in its place. Every needed item, supply, office tool
0-5
and equipment are labeled and clearly staged.

5 Display boards containing job training, job instructions, measurables, performance data, quality
measures and countermeasure information are readily visible at each workstation and are updated 0-5
regularly.

6 Check sheets describing and tracking the top customer service defects are posted and are up to
0-5
date at each work station.

Total Score

Visual Systems and Workplace Organization Category Score = Total/30

continuous improvement Points Score

1 There is a designated champion and a clearly communicated strategy for continuous improvement
in the company with the necessary resources, organization and infrastructure in place to support 0-5
the process.

2 There is a formal suggestion process in place to solicit ideas for improvements from all employees
0-5
and to recognize their participation.

3 Employees have been trained in continuous improvement methods and have been affected by or
0-5
participated in continuous improvement events.

4 Employees know the eight wastes, are actively involved in identifying wastes in their
0-5
processes/areas and are empowered to work to reduce and eliminate the waste.

5 Continuous improvement, Kaizen projects/events are structured, planned and implemented. Suc-
0-5
cesses are recognized and expanded throughout the facility.

6 Most improvements made throughout the office are made daily and involve little or no expense to
0-5
implement.

7 Product/Process Value streams undergo examination for continuous improvement on a regularly

0-5
scheduled basis.

Total Score

Continuous Improvement Category Score = Total/35

 mistake proofing (poka yoke) Points Score

1 Employees have been trained in the basis of mistake proofing and there is a team responsible for
0-5
analyzing defects and identifying mistake proofing opportunities.

2 Mistake proofing methods have been implemented or are being developed to eliminate the top
0-5
process defects for each work step in the process.

3 Forms and processes have been analyzed to identify design opportunities to eliminate waste and
0-5
improve productivity.

4 Employees are empowered to stop the process when an error is found or when they cannot
0-5
complete their process according to the SOP.

5 Manual processes or tasks have been coupled with clear visual checks to aid human judgement
0-5
whenever possible.

6 Employees are provided with call(andon) lights or signals that bring attention to situations requiring
0-5
assistance with a problem.

Total Score

Mistake Proofing Category Score = Total/30

quality Points Score

1 Zero defects from suppliers is a policy. 0-5

2 The company quality system is effectively implemented and compliant with a national standard
0-5
such as ISO-9000.

3 FMEA is in place for the design and implementation of new processes or services. 0-5

4 A procedure is in place to investigate customer service problems and perform a root cause
0-5
analysis with corrective action.

5 Supplier quality systems are in place. 0-5

6 Internal scrap loss is less than 1% of cost of goods sold. 0-5

7 First Pass Yield is at 99% or better for each process step. 0-5

Total Score

Quality Category Score = Total/35

 standard work Points Score

1 Standard operating procedures have been developed for each process or workstation and are
0-5
used to train employees.

2 Every process has its SOP posted within view of the employee performing the process. 0-5

3 The TAKT time for each vallue stream was used as the basis for the service process times for each
0-5
operation and the process manning requirements.

4 The process of job design and standardization involves employees as well as management. 0-5

5 Frequently repeated, non-value adding work in the office, such as stocking supply cabinets, col-
0-5
lecting time sheets, clean up, etc. are visually standardized and updated.

6 Employees individually perform their work according to the process sheets or SOPS and make
0-5
few method or technique errors. Any errors are recorded and tracked.

Total Score

Standard Work Category Score = Total/30

supply chain Points Score

1 Suppliers are involved in continuous improvement efforts with the company. 0-5

2 Performance to delivery policy (on-time) is better than 98%. 0-5

3 Quality performance of the suppliers exceeds 98%. 0-5

4 Electronic communications with suppliers is used to trigger release of supplies under a kanban
0-5
system.

5 The company has regular input to the suppliers to improve design and performance characteris-
0-5
tics of the supplied services.

6 Cost reduction goals with suppliers are documented and tracked. 0-5

7 Service complaints with suppliers are resolved within 24 hours. 0-5

Total Score

Supply Chain Category Score = Total/35

 accounting systems Points Score

1 Accounting personnel are fully aware and trained in lean principles. 0-5

2 Accounting personnel are actively involved in waste elimination efforts throughout the company and
0-5
participate in process improvement activities at least 50% of the time.

3 Accounting is organized along value streams and reports results along value streams. 0-5

4 Accounting processes are organized visually and the workplace shows evidence of visual indica-
0-5
tors to control the status of work flow.

5 Accounting delivers information and performance reports that support the lean conversion and do
0-5
not cause managers to make the wrong decisions.
6 Performance measures such as order to cash lead time, first pass yield, on-time service
delivery and productivity are used to measure the department and establish goals for continuous 0-5
improvement.

Total Score

Accounting Systems Category Score = Total/30

performance measurements / internal Points Score

1 Numerous and detailed financial reports have been replaced by a few key measures of enterprise
0-5
performance.
2 Traditional cost accounting measures and individual/department efficiency measures have been
0-5
replaced by value stream performance measures.
3 Performance results are communicated openly to all employees and are visually posted to show status and
0-5
progress.

4 Employees understand how their individual efforts contribute to the overall results of the
0-5
enterprise.

5 Individuals are rewarded for team-based performance rather than individual performance 0-5

Total Score

Performance Measurements Category Score = Total/25

 systems engineering Points Score

1 Engineering personnel are aware, involved and trained in lean principles. 0-5

2 Systematic efforts are in place to reduce variation and the number of process steps in the system. 0-5

3 Engineering has organized its activities along value streams. 0-5

4 Engineering processes are organized visually and the workplace shows evidence of visual indica-
0-5
tors to show status of work.

5 Engineering processes have been balanced to create flow and reduce lead time within the Engi-
0-5
neering department.

6 Engineers routinely go to the location of a problem in the process to assess the actual situation
0-5
and communicate with the production operators to obtain their input..

7 Performance measures such as lead time and velocity are used to measure the department and
0-5
establish goals for continuous improvement.

Total Score

Systems Engineering Score = Total/35

customer communication Points Score

1 There is a standard system in place for collecting customer satisfaction information and data. 0-5

2 Customer requirements are identified and communicated throughout the supply chain. 0-5

3 Customer complaints are handled the same day they are received in under two hours. 0-5

4 Customers have regular and systematic input into the design and functionality of the products and
0-5
services they buy.

5 Customer requirements are included in the strategic planning process which is conducted annually. 0-5

Total Score

Customer Communication Category Score = Total/25

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