Enterprise Lean

Minnesota's Enterprise Lean

Purpose+People+Process Improvement = Organizational Excellence

Enterprise Lean is a coordinated state government initiative for improving the organizational performance and results in Minnesota's state government agencies. Using time-tested process Lean approach, while also embracing Six Sigma tools and total quality management philosophies, Enterprise Lean has a simple goal of helping state government work better for its customers and employees.

February E-Lean update

The February issue of the E-Lean newsletter is now available. Read about: Trials for Toyota, a Department of Transportation improvement event, and Lean 101 and Kaizen facilitator training opportunities in May.

Recent Events

Minnesota Department of Transportation
Platting Process Kaizen

The Minnesota Department of Transportation held a Kaizen event on February 22-26, 2010 to reduce the amount of time spent developing plats. The team reduced the total platting process time by 36% and reduced wait times by 4 weeks.

Picture of six members of MnDOT Kaizen team
MnDOT Platting Process Kaizen Team
Keith Crocker, Julie Groetsch, Kurt Haugen, Rick Morey, Tom Harper, Kevin Metz.
(Not pictured: John Griffith.)

The Kaizen team used the swim lane mapping technique to map the time, people, and tasks involved in the current and future platting process.

Current State Swim Lane Map Picture of bright colored post-it notes on white paper, a map of the current process

Future State Swim Lane Map Picture of bright colored post-it notes on white paper, a map of the future process

Update on Lean activities

Lean is all about change - change for the better. Each week, state agencies are improving their operations by tapping into the knowledge of the employees who work in the process. Much of the success of Lean Kaizen events can be attributed to the teams of employees that are energized and motivated by the realization that they are in control of improving their work. The results below show the increasing involvement from Minnesota state employees.

The improvements made with the Lean tools have streamlined government processes by reducing waste and enhancing the value-laden activities. An increase in the efficiency and quality of services is complemented by a significant reduction in the process time.