Insights from The Lab

Lean Management

Category: Lean Management


Finance Group & Procurement: Retailing

Project Background This company operates a chain of more than 500 luxury department stores and off-price designer outlets, as well as a direct-to-consumer ecommerce division. The “new” CFO was a longtime employee recently promoted from within—after a brief stint in IT as part of a management rotational program. From this IT assignment, he learned that …

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Snack Food Manufacturer: Supply Chain Operations

End-to-end (E2E) standardization—from sourcing through production and distribution—to modernize supply chain ops Disruptions in the distribution landscape were threatening to overwhelm the company. Costs were skyrocketing for both direct (ingredients and packaging) and indirect (MRO or maintenance, repair, and operating supply) materials alike. Despite the company’s hefty ERP and CRM investments, they’d been set up—and …

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Industrial Products Services Operations: Process Discovery and Standardization to Enable Growth and Delivery Speed

Standardization and Automation Needed to Retain “One-Stop Shop” Advantage For two decades, the building products division of this company dominated its competitors by getting its premium quality products specified for new institutional construction projects. The initial sale was profitable; later replacement and maintenance service was even more lucrative. And the entire service offering was typically …

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Lean Six Sigma Projects for Finance and Accounting Transformation: Examples of Top Financial Services Operations

Our previous article in this series shone a spotlight on the lean six sigma finance transformation challenges in the fiercely competitive world of retail operations. This article zeroes in on an equally high-pressure environment: Retail investment management. The Lab has extensive experience in this realm, helping firms from regional players to top-five global powerhouses. The …

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Improvements from Start-to-Finish

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