Plug The Leaks In Your Cash Flow

Lean Restrooms

I rarely think about the role that architecture plays in Lean's principles about economy of movement until I find a radical departure.

As a man, when I go into a public restroom, I have two choices: urinal or toilet. Because urinals get higher traffic than toilets, the urinals are usually closer to the entrance than toilets.

Not so a Reagan International Airport in Washington D.C. I walked into one of the men's restrooms on the main concourse and was surprised to find first a half dozen toilets and then urinals all of the way at the back. Admittedly, I only had to walk an extra 20 feet or so to get past the toilets, but if you multiply that times hundreds of travelers per day times 365 days a year, it's the equivalent of walking from Washington DC to Ontario, Canada.

I've heard people say: "It's good exercise."
I say: If you want your employees to exercise, put in a gym.

Lean Principle: Unnecessary Walking is Waste.

I recently worked with an architectural firm that was bidding on the design and construction of two new rural hospitals. We spent a lot of time with Post-it notes trying many different configurations to minimize patient and clinician travel. We had to rethink many of the long held beliefs about hospital design and patient care. (P.S. They won the contract.)

Here's my point:
Redesign your workspaces to eliminate unnecessary movement.
It will save you time, money, mistakes and injuries.

Jay Arthur, the KnowWareâ Man, works with companies that want to fire up their profits using Lean Six Sigma. He is the author of Lean Six Sigma DeMYSTiFieD (McGraw Hill 2007) and the QI Macros SPC Software for Excel. Instead of training Black Belts and Green Belts, Jay wants you to develop Money Belts--people who can find and plug the leaks in your cash flow.

posted by Jay Arthur @ 6:41 AM