Lean Thinking

• About this group
• Forums

• Home
• Groups
• Lean Thinking
• Forums
• Lean Accounting
• Accounting - essential for effective lean efforts

• 
  Ralf Lippold    Premium Member   Group moderator

  The company name is only visible to registered members.

  Accounting - essential for effective lean efforts

  Is the current accounting setting actually helping to bring lean efforts to a positive end?
  
  Isn't LEAN not even counterintuitive to accounting in the general point of view? Shouldn't we introduce process accounting that can help process owners and employees to focus on the essential fields of improvement?
  
  What are your thoughts?
  
  Regards
  
  Ralf
  
  • 18 Aug 2007, 12:10 pm
  Ralf Lippold wrote: > Is the current accounting setting actually helping to bring lean > efforts to a positive end? > > Isn't LEAN not even counterintuitive to accounting in the general > point of view? Shouldn't we introduce process accounting that can > help process owners and employees to focus on the essential fields of > improvement? > > What are your thoughts? > > Regards > > Ralf
• 
  Arnold Denes

  The company name is only visible to registered members.

  Re: Accounting - essential for effective lean efforts

  Hi Ralf,
  
  Thanks for bringing up this crucial question, which allows me to emphasize that Lean Thinking is to be adopted by the whole organization, not only production or logistics! Lean Office, Lean IT, Lean Administration and Accounting, Lean HR, the concepts can dramatically help boost performance everywhere!
  
  Just walk around any accounting department and you will notice Muda on every desk. Draft a flowchart of accounting processes and waste will appear at every step, with documents waiting in typical batch-and-queue for the next responsible clerk to stamp them, or being countlessly checked and counter-checked.
  
  I am implementing Lean in SMEs in Thailand, and when addressing administrative performance in general I follow the same processes as with manufacturing: single-piece flow, Just-In-Time, kanbans! I consider vouchers for example as "pieces" that need to flow throughout the organization without pausing, double handling or rework. This speeds up billing, recruitment, purchasing, expediting, communication and marketing, and any other topic it is applied to.
  
  The overall consequence is a greatly improved reaction time and pro-activeness that allows the organization to plan and forecast in a more efficient way, therefore becoming able to anticipate and mitigate risks such as cash-flow or employee turnover.
  
  Regards
  Arnold Denes, DIrector at Mobile Human Zone (Thailand) Ltd.
  
  • 22 May 2008, 5:47 pm
  Arnold Denes wrote: > Hi Ralf, > > Thanks for bringing up this crucial question, which allows me to > emphasize that Lean Thinking is to be adopted by the whole > organization, not only production or logistics! Lean Office, Lean IT, > Lean Administration and Accounting, Lean HR, the concepts can > dramatically help boost performance everywhere! > > Just walk around any accounting department and you will notice Muda > on every desk. Draft a flowchart of accounting processes and waste > will appear at every step, with documents waiting in typical > batch-and-queue for the next responsible clerk to stamp them, or > being countlessly checked and counter-checked. > > I am implementing Lean in SMEs in Thailand, and when addressing > administrative performance in general I follow the same processes as > with manufacturing: single-piece flow, Just-In-Time, kanbans! I > consider vouchers for example as "pieces" that need to flow > throughout the organization without pausing, double handling or > rework. This speeds up billing, recruitment, purchasing, expediting, > communication and marketing, and any other topic it is applied to. > > The overall consequence is a greatly improved reaction time and > pro-activeness that allows the organization to plan and forecast in a > more efficient way, therefore becoming able to anticipate and > mitigate risks such as cash-flow or employee turnover. > > Regards > Arnold Denes, DIrector at Mobile Human Zone (Thailand) Ltd.