- Push information quality processes towards perfection. Lean companies are not driven to beat competitors, they strive for perfection by proactively engineering the removal of process mistakes (pokayoke) through the reduction of production time, errors, and inventories. Data governance and MDM efforts should focus on streamlining how data is acquired, cleansed and optimized for usage among stakeholders. This level of quality will deliver the real-time decision making that will improve an enterprise's operations.
- Flow data through the system pulled by the stakeholder. Lean manufacturers do not wait to push inventory into the plant; they let demand signals from customer orders pull each unit through every step in the value chain. One car company streamlines the flow of test drive requests from the website to be delivered instantaneously to the closest sales person. Customer experience a 60 minute or less response. Any process step that hinders a smooth flow is eliminated as waste (muda).
- Eliminate redundant data via continuous improvement. Like overproduction and excess inventory, routine data quality efforts such as cleansing is similar to eliminating waste (muda). Instead of waiting for problems before making major changes (kaikaku), leading companies have call center agents who casually verify customer information at every interaction and supplier portals that validate shipping and billing information throughout each transaction. These small improvements everyday area the heart of kaizen.
Copyrighted 2007 by R Wang. All rights reserved
