Cost pressure demanded that LEAN process was boosted. Project led to that communication improved, efficiency increased, as well as customer satisfaction and service quality.
Background
The company is an independent public company that carries more than 195 million train passengers every year. The Group has an annual turnover of approximately DKK 10 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) and employs a staff of about 9,300.
The Technique and Maintenance (T&M) department has in recent years significantly improved, but increasing budget constraints make it necessary to move forward still further. The same constraints put pressure on the organisation to bring additional tasks in-house.
Years ago, the client started a LEAN process that brought many positive improvements. Now T&M wanted to boost this process, and Board decided to engage Mantec to manage and control the project.
Implementation
The client organisation was thoroughly analysed and potential improvement areas were found, including use of management systems, planning, and organisational structuring. The analysis also provided an overview of activities, staffing and non value-adding periods.
The client wanted to eliminate the long-standing culture where there was little or no logic concerning the distribution of tasks, and instead focus on customer needs and then organise its activities based on those needs. This required leadership behaviour to change, and first line managers needed to change from being very administrative to being operationally effective.
Each change was carried out with a high degree of employee involvement, which helped to give the entire organisation ownership of the implemented changes. In addition, employees were trained in Best Demonstrated Practices and 5S (an established Japanese manufacturing philosophy that focuses on effective work place organisation and standardised work procedures).
Results
The key results of following through the change programme were:
- several depots were closed as a number of simple tasks were consolidated;
- the organisation became more transparent, with better internal communication, and known target figures;
- the management team became more proactive, and began to develop and optimise their own areas;
- efficiency increased by about 40%; and
- customer experience and service quality improved by 5%.
Overall, the project ROI was 280%.
