SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CONSULTANTS' heritage in helping organizations become lean originates from our decades of experience and in-depth knowledge of time-based strategies and the Toyota Production System. The hallmark of our work is rapid implementation and generating sustainable results. We use Lean Sigma, our revolutionary fusion of today’s most powerful improvement tools, to implement lean and Six Sigma in a single, coordinated effort. We can help you break down your barriers to attain new levels of efficiency and productivity, exploit new competitive advantages and achieve sustainable profit and revenue growth.

Clients generally approach SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CONSULTANTS in pursuit of operational efficiency, but they soon discover that a lean business system provides an effective foundation for creating a flexible and singular, customer-focused culture. Lean thereby resolves the number one reason that business improvement initiatives fail to take hold or lose momentum: lack of culture change.

A traditional long-term lean transformation occurs over a three-to five-year period and the level of engagement with SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CONSULTANTS varies based on the complexity, pace and client focus. We begin by establishing a foundation for lean leadership and culture change, and quickly introduce Lean Sigma process improvement tools to build understanding of time-based management strategies and the Kaizen Breakthrough Methodology. As companies become more lean inside their four walls, they branch out into the extended Value Chain to work with customers, suppliers, and business planning and scheduling. Ultimately, they leverage their operational advantage and utilize Lean Sigma as a strategy to differentiate, innovate, acquire and grow.

The Kaizen Breakthrough Methodology is a cornerstone of SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CONSULTANTS' improvement approach. A kaizen breakthrough event is a five-day improvement project—conducted on your shop floor or office—to help you identify waste and reconfigure operations to achieve more streamlined, value-added processes. Kaizen teams are empowered to make immediate business process changes. At the end of a week, these teams typically achieve double-digit reductions in lead time, inventory, defects, and floor space and 25 to 50 percent increases in productivity.

Each step taken to deliver products to your customers is a link in a chain. The chain stretches from the consumer through your company to suppliers. Each link represents steps that either add or subtract value from the products that follow the chain.

The purpose of a value chain is to get the required product or services to the consumer in the most efficient way, on time and with minimum inventory. The links of the chain are in flux due to changes in consumer demand and supply performance. A Lean Value Chain synchronizes all the links to maintain consistent high quality, cost and delivery performance.

Lean leaders pursue a fully synchronized and optimized value chain because it gives them a competitive advantage. This task is not easy as it requires companies to move "outside their four walls" and address many different functions. The chart below depicts the key focus points and the detailed elements for each that must be addressed as you move towards synchronizing and optimizing your value chain ... creating a Lean Chain.

Companies who engage in lean value chain improvement change the game for themselves and for their competitors. Customer service is the result of total value chain performance.