Applying Lean in a Soup Kitchen? Of Course You Can!

A common argument from individuals who are new to Lean principles is ‘We’re different. This Lean stuff doesn’t apply to us. It only works in manufacturing.’ Experienced Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practitioners know Lean practices have been successfully implemented in a wide variety of non-manufacturing industries including health care, finance and banking, retail, insurance, supply chain, government, and the armed forces. At TMAC, we’ve even had individuals attend our Lean Six Sigma training from a casino and a pawn shop. But what about using LSS at a charitable organization? In a New York Times article from 2013 writer Mona Al-Naggar describes how The Food Bank for New York City applied Lean principles to improve different processes. One of those processes was at a soup kitchen in Harlem, where the wait time for dinner was reduced from up to 90 minutes to 18 minutes – an 80% improvement. They received help in this endeavor from the company credited with the development of Lean – Toyota.

Here is a link to that article: New York City Food Bank Article

In reading this article I counted a dozen different Lean tools or methods which were implemented across the three processes discussed. Which Lean methods do you see? What challenges did the Lean practitioners overcome? Finally: Does this story give you ideas about implementing Lean at your company? Or perhaps at a nonprofit in your hometown?

Let us know how you’ve implemented Lead practices within your organization. Want to learn more and see how Lean can impact your organization? Reach out to us: tmacevents@uta.edu.

TMAC’s Lean Six Sigma team is here to help!