In a rapidly changing business landscape, having a clear and detailed understanding of your operations is no longer optional—it’s essential. This is where Multi-Observational Studies (MOS) can revolutionise how businesses uncover inefficiencies, optimise processes,...
The financial landscape is shifting rapidly, and businesses can no longer afford to wait for change over the next decade. Immediate action is crucial. PwC’s Finance Evolution: Thriving in the Next Decade outlines the pressures facing finance teams today—from digital...
Ireland’s Food & Beverage sector faces the twin pressures of increasing competition and heightened regulatory scrutiny, making efficiency, responsiveness, and customer experience more critical than ever. At LBSPartners, our team of digital experts combines over 20...
With Ireland committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, businesses are under increasing pressure to rethink their energy consumption and carbon emissions strategies. While the sustainability landscape can be complex—filled with regulations, goals, and an array...
today’s data-driven world, making informed decisions is crucial for staying ahead of the competition. But with vast amounts of data spread across different systems, turning that data into actionable insights can be challenging. That’s why we’re excited to announce our...
In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape of the manufacturing industry—as in any other sector—the importance of team alignment within a company cannot be overstated. High staff turnover, financial instability, and strategic failures are just a few of the symptoms...
In today’s highly competitive manufacturing landscape, efficiency and sustainability are key drivers of success. Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED), a lean manufacturing technique, offers a tactical approach to reduce changeover times and enhance productivity....
LEAN & DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN AIRCRAFT LEASING? The aircraft leasing industry is a complicated business that demands highly efficient asset management and financing. However, traditional methods are often bogged down by manual processes,...
THE RISK OF KEY-PERSON RELIANCE IN AIRCRAFT LEASING In the intricate world of aircraft leasing, the smooth operation of transactions, maintenance, and client relationships often hinges on the expertise and action of a few key individuals. While this reliance on...
Digital Waste – The Key Areas For Improvement In the digital era, businesses are inundated with information, often leading to significant digital waste. This waste, spanning redundant processes, excessive data storage, and inefficient workflows, hinders operational...
Digitalisation The Printed Image share their insights on how A Digital Programme helped them. Streamline their operations Increase efficiency Enhance their overall customer experience. Tom Morriarty The Printed...
Lean Transformation Topform shares how our team helped them to achieve operational excellence. Streamline their processes (using Value Stream Mapping) Reduce waste (using root cause analysis) Increase efficiency. Learn how our tailored solutions helped them achieve...
Saving Energy and Costs Seery’s Bakery shares how our team helped them implement an Energy Management programme Reduce their energy usage and costs, Improve their overall sustainability practices. We discuss how our solutions and lean methodology helped them...
Lean Digital We spoke to Ian Bolger (Director) Bolgers Engineering in Shannon. We discussed their Lean Digital journey with LBS Partners. Watch his testimonial to see how working with us has improved their organisation Data Analysis for better decision making...
Lean Programme Discover how Farell Furniture transformed their operations with LBS Partners. Learn how our customised solutions helped them to: Cut waste Boosted efficiency Save money all while making customers happier. Cillian Farrell Farrell...
Green Belt Training Accelerating Performance shares their experience attending our lean six sigma green belt training course and how it has helped her transform her business operations. Streamline processes (using Kaizen) Reduce waste (using DMAIC) Increase...
We have all been there in school or work, when a team project is assigned. A meeting is held, and the work is divided up. In the meeting everyone is happy with their assigned work. You knuckle down and get your section done but when the team meets the day before the...
Navigating the Digital Transformation Journey can be a complex and challenging process for organisations. To help businesses succeed in their digital transformation journey, there are some key points a business should consider. Develop a clear Digital Strategy: Before...
Propel Your Business into the Digital Era! In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, digitalisation is no longer an option, but a necessity for survival. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin, fear not! Our comprehensive PDF guide,...
In the dynamic landscape of business, continuous improvement is an essential aspect that drives growth and success. However, it is crucial to recognise that this process extends beyond the realm of streamlined processes and efficient workflows. At its core, continuous...
Process improvement is essential for organisations that want to stay competitive and thrive in today’s market. Many organisations are struggling with misaligned workflows, fragmented processes, and inefficiencies that lead to increased costs and decreased...
5 Steps to Streamlining Success: Improving Processes with Lean Thinking Process improvement is essential to the success of any organisation. By continually optimising operations, a company can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the quality of its products...
In our rapidly developing digital world, businesses are continually looking for ways to improve their operations and stay ahead of the competition. One concept that has gained significant traction in recent years is the idea of a “digital lean” business....
So let’s cut to the chase here’s what you will learn from this article: What is Digital Transformation? Why do you need a digital transformation roadmap? How to build it in 4 easy steps? (All the above will be linked to each part for quick navigation) What is...
If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need a digital strategy for your business. At a high level, this should clearly outline the digital workstreams under the pillars of processes, capabilities, systems & technology, culture and purpose over a defined...
I am not sure if anyone anticipated the change that we are now living in and how quickly it would all happen, Brexit, COVID, and the war in Ukraine brought about change for all of us in our personal and work lives, we didn’t have time to plan we were just thrown in...
“A Value Stream is the sum of all the activities necessary to create, order and produce a product or service.” A Value Stream begins and ends with the Customer. The starting point of the Value Stream is when the customer makes a purchase or submits a...
You have heavily invested in your new ERP system but you are not seeing the results that you expected. People are not seeing the value, and in fact, some of them may express they preferred the old way of working. Have no fear, you’re not alone, and the silver lining...
Are you struggling within your organisation to scale your processes? Is your business overly reliant on excel spreadsheets that only certain people within your organisation know how to read and edit? Is your team heavily reliant on emails and phone calls to move...
To answer this question, we must first understand why it’s important. Human experience, learning and wisdom have provided us with an understanding of why it is essential. In reality, we can be slow to recognize problems, this can be due to a number of factors:...
“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.”Barack Obama, Former US President As I was walking into work the other day passing out all the cars that were stuck in traffic it got...
The workload is beginning to pile up, there’s no visible end in sight and the challenges facing you are starting to appear more and more daunting. Many of us face a similar situation at work every day. So how can the Lean Principles help you? It’s well...
How do we get there from here?There are many things Digital Leaders & Role Models can do to accelerate progress towards a real digital workplace, and they all help improve our current ways of working at the same time. Strategy:Create a digital leadership group to...
There are wastes in every organisation but what are they? There are 8 wastes in every business that lead to inefficiency. A core principle in lean thinking is the provision of value for the customer and the elimination of waste. Waste can come in the form...
You may have 5s or 6S being discussed and wonder, “What is 6S?”, take a minute to read our companion blog. We define 6S as a Lean process improvement technique that aims to optimise efficiency in the workplace. So now you know what 6S is, now you may be...
Have you ever been in the middle of a job and not been able to finish because you can’t find a particular tool? Have you ever run out of printer ink because nobody knew they needed to order replacements? Can’t find that file you were working on last week?...
When thinking about digital solutions it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. At LBSPartners we think about digitalization in four ways, digital capabilities, customer experiences, operational processes and the underlying business model. Digital Capabilities...
According to Carol Dweck, who coined the term, mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. A digital mindset therefore must be the understanding and beliefs about all things digital that shape how we live, work and play. So...
Your organization may well have a purpose and values well communicated with all stakeholders. A digital vision, however, is different. It’s also, forward-looking and defines “who we want to become” as an organization considering emerging...
The primary principles related to lean originate in manufacturing practices but nowadays are used to innovate in the world of knowledge management. Lean fosters continuous improvement while keeping respect for people at the centre of its ethos. The primary principles...
A new survey by the employer’s group IBEC has found that more than 3 quarters of businesses are planning a return to the workplace for employees in the next 3 months if Government guidelines allow. Respondents to this survey have also indicated that a hybrid...
Invariably Communication is cited as a major problem in organisations. In our experience communication is not the problem, it’s all the items that necessitate communication. Our response can be to “wallpaper” over the poor process or...
What is an Energy Policy? Your Energy Policy is a guiding document laying out your Objectives & Key Results for energy management. These can be anything to do with energy from reducing energy use or sourcing greener energy to going carbon neutral. Your Energy...
I was recently listening to a Podcast about rugby when one of the things that were being mentioned really struck a chord with me. They were talking about defence stats and how missed tackles aren’t necessarily a bad thing, it sounds counter-intuitive, but it...
How leaders can build an organisation with the agility to thrive through difficult times. In the face of a year that rattled or ravaged organisations across the world, The top 10 companies on FORTUNE’S World’s Most Admired Companies list for 2020...
LBS Partners, hosted by our CEO Gene Leonard, presents a webumentary that takes a thought-provoking look at how Ireland Inc. could benefit from the learnings, and lessons of Operational & Organizational Excellence. We explore how a Transformation Framework could...
The subject of this case study is a large US-owned pharmaceutical company based in the South that discovers, develops and commercialises innovative therapeutics to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide. The site plays a...
Certainly, Operational Excellence has its roots in Lean Thinking in the Automotive Industry, but its application spreads far and wide. In fact, a very rich body of knowledge has been developing in the management of large projects. While this thinking is spearheaded by...
As utility providers, you have a unique set of challenges. Your customers really don’t want to hear from you! And when you hear from them the conversation doesn’t start well. Whether you are providing water, energy, waste, transport networks, municipal...
Ireland punches far above its weight in the manufacture of medical devices, medical equipment, and medicines. A few are trailblazers both here and worldwide. They have co-created models of Operational Excellence through the Irish Medtech Association and some have...
Organisation in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industries didn’t receive a ‘Change Vaccine’ making them immune from the transformation challenges others face. In fact, in many cases their problems are more acute. The speed of change...
To remain competitive, companies should look across their value streams and value chains and identify where internal processes are being executed inefficiently – adding operating costs that the customer would be unwilling to pay for if they had a visual on the...
The Food & Beverage sector has been evolving. People have a little more income and a little less time. As a result, we have begun to have less time to prepare meals and have leaned more and more towards ready-cooked meals or eating out. We travelled to...
Fishbone diagrams are a very helpful tool in your problem-solving arsenal. It is used to figure out cause-and-effect and to breakdown the contributing factors of an issue. They are named for their shape which, when completed looks like a fish’s bones. A fishbone...
Enhancing value for the customer is the essence of “Lean”. This means delivering what the customer needs, when it is required and at the best possible price. Lean offers a structured methodology that maximises value for the customer through the elimination...
Lean is defined as a methodology which maximises value for the customer by eliminating waste from a company’s activities. Below, we will identify the five Lean principles to provide a path for the implementation of Lean Thinking and Continuous Improvement within...
Three Effective Methods to Reduce Rework and Defects “Poka-Yoke” a Japanese term coined by Shiego Shingo in the 1960’s meaning “mistake-proofing”. It is a highly effective quality control tool. It stems from recognising that making...
What exactly is “responsibility”? While many people have varying views of its meaning and indeed, its context in the workplace, the dictionary provides six distinct definitions of the word: The state of being the person who caused something to happen.A...
Success in Lean transformation is contingent on engagement at all levels within the organisation. Real change requires winning the hearts and minds of the workforce. Getting this right at the outset demands serious consideration. Workplaces won’t improve...
Meeting the Challenge of 6S Workplace Organisation Of the foundational tools and approaches associated with Lean implementation, 6S workplace organisation is probably the most widely known and, arguably, the most commonly misapplied. Oftentimes companies attempt to...
and why is he killing your business? TIMWOODS is a waste of time, resource and energy. Every company, department and role feel his impact. Often employees go about their daily tasks, doing things the way in which they “have always been done” and not...
…And How to Solve Them There are many mistakes made every day in businesses around the world. Mistakes are of course inevitable as a lot of these are made by human beings, but there are a number of mistakes that can be easily avoided with a small amount of...
DMAIC which stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control is a powerful problem solving tool. Given time DMAIC could solve all your company’s problems using data from the process. When used cyclically DMAIC in a key component...
Those of us who help companies implement Lean thinking know the methodology is often misunderstood at the onset of an engagement. It’s regularly the case that “Lean” is considered to be just another industry buzz word, associated with cost-cutting...
Going from Pain to Countermeasure Continuous improvement is a defining element of Lean. Every day, we seek ways to make things better, easier, less frustrating and more effective. Improvement is achieved through solving problems; and thus, continuous...
Review by Gene Leonard Our mindset shapes whether we believe we can learn, change and grow – or not. An individual’s abilities are set in stone in the fixed mindset. Growth and development are possible in the growth mindset. People with a fixed...
COVID-19 FAQ’s for Businesses Covid-19 has had an astounding impact on our lives & the viability of businesses across Ireland. While the impact of the pandemic has been devastating for some, It has also provided new opportunities for businesses to survive...
Gene Leonard, LBSPartnersHelen Blake, Futurecurve At the heart of a Lean programme is the daily meeting at the visualisation board. If the organisation is truly committed to Improvement, then these regular reviews are key to embedding Lean within the culture and...
Leaders of great organisations focus on three things: 1) Mastery of the Product, Process or Service2) The Development of people and3) Creating the passion to make things better 1) Mastery of the Product, Process or Service These great organisations exude mastery of...
Managing and reducing your organisation’s energy consumption can lead to improved resource efficiency and reduced costs. It also builds agility and resilience in mitigating climate change and enhances your corporate reputation. The implementation of changes in...
RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CORONAVIRUS & MORE Lean Principles can help in apprehending threats to your business and implementing systems of prevention and recovery You may have come across the recent eye-catching headline: Jaguar Land Rover ‘shipping parts in...
“You must be the change you wish to see.”Gandhi Change is our new normal. And whether we like it or not, Digitalisation has become synonymous with change. Digitalisation is not only the super glue but also an integrator to weave all-important change...
A CEO’s perspective on facing the ‘New Normal’ Keep Calm. It all seems to take more effort. On the face of it, it should be easier; no commute and working from home on your terms should have finally delivered the elusive work-life balance. Yet...
Disciples versus Discipline Of the foundational tools and approaches associated with Lean implementation, 6S workplace organisation is probably the most widely known and, arguably, the most commonly misapplied. Oftentimes companies attempt to implement 6S on their own...
