Lean Government Success Story

Time Wise Saves Maine State Government Millions of Dollars

In 2004 Time Wise launched a project with the Maine Department of Labor to implement an extensive, agency-wide lean training program. The Department faced dual challenges – funding cuts as well as an aging workforce with more than 50 percent of its employees eligible to retire within five years. Time Wise succeeded in helping the Department accomplish more with less.

Beginning by introducing the concepts and tools of lean to more than 600 employees, the Time Wise team of specialists has gone on to hold more than 35 value stream mapping sessions to date. We also established a Continuous Improvement Parishioner (CIP) training program in order to ensure that the initial momentum for the initiative was carried forward. Approximately 30 department employees were trained in advanced lean concepts and facilitation skills. Some of these employees subsequently have been sought by other state agencies outside the Department of Labor, thereby introducing lean concepts to a wider audience of state employees.

In fact the CIP advanced lean training proved so successful that the largest state agency, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, sent some of its employees to DOL to co-train on lean concepts.

Bottom-line impacts

Within the first 18 months of the project, the Maine Department of Labor realized savings in excess of $1.1 million and identified additional potential savings of more than $3.6 million.

	•		The Bureau of Unemployment Compensation reduced non-value added work enough to be able to perform all of its original amount of work, and more, with one-third fewer employees.

	•		The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services substantially reduced its waiting list due to efficiency gains.

	•		The 26 Career Centers throughout the state instituted a standard procedure for greeting customers. They also are implementing a system that will allow identification of a client based on an ID number, no matter which center they visit.

	•		Employers are now able to enter information for recruiting new employees into a new online form, so that the information does not have to be re-entered into the system.

	•		Eliminating stapling of all documents involved in appeals requests at the Unemployment Compensation Commission saved more than $45,000 in time and materials.

Today, the success of lean transformation at the Department of Labor has convinced other state agencies to undertake similar initiatives. The Maine Department of Transportation is the most recent state agency to contract for our lean training and implementation services through January 2008.