When things aren't getting done at the lowest possible cost, then we need to focus on improving the efficiency of the process

Improving Process Efficiency

One secret around improving process efficiency, is not to focus too much on efficiency.  Six Sigma has gotten a bad reputation in many organizations in large part because the extreme bias toward cost reduction that characterized the deployment of most programs.  Cutting costs in isolation is A) Usually an illusion that doesn't materialize in the end, B) Demoralizing for staff, and C) Often increases cost somewhere else.  In short, cost-cutting should ideally be the LAST alternative- not the first.

If you follow our address the first six of our Seven Pains and make a process reliable, improve its quality, utilize people properly, make it predictable, make it fast, and make it satisfying, you'll rarely need to worry much about decreasing cost.

When it is the right time to focus on reducing cost, we like to use a Six Sigma tool called the CT Flowdown for expense drivers, and Inventory modeling for expenses, assets, and liabilities.  In a supply chain, inventory in its simplest form is just "stuff" flowing into and out of a "system."  Extensive academic and analytical research has resulted in myriad tools and algorithms associated with Inventory optimization.

Businesses can be viewed as systems that process money, as can Government organizations.  Funding flows in through various channels and money flows out in terms of expenses, investment, and payables.  With minor adaptations, we identify opportunities to streamline the organizations finances with very similar concepts, tools, and techniques that manufacturers use to manage inventory.

"If you wait for people to come to you, you'll only get small problems. You must go and find them. The big problems are where people don't realize they have one in the first place." - W. Edwards Deming

We work with your team to gather and consume as much financial data as is possible and practical and then work with SMEs to build categories and buckets for the CT Flowdown excercise.  This sprint strikes a balance between the objective world of data and analytics and the subjective perspectives of SMEs to identify opportunities for cost reduction that make real-world sense.


Sprint Deliverables:

  • Quick win Implementation and Documentation
  • Prioritized list of targeted savings opportunities
  • Monitoring and control plan

Targeted Sprint

"I invented nothing new, I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom there was centuries of work." - Henry Ford

We work with the team to gather and ingest the relevant data and adapt our algorithms and logic to your software platform of choice.  The end result is a model that you can use on your own to identify ways to better manage your money.


Sprint Deliverables:

  • "Quick Win" Implementation and Documentation
  • Interactive model with "What if" modeling capability for scenario analysis

Analytical Sprint