Terms of Use | Privacy Policy © 2012 Simpler Consulting, L.P.

Lundbeck Receives Shingo Silver Medallion
Simpler congratulate's our client, Lundbeck, for being honored with a Shingo Silver Medallion.
Download the White Paper Now

Atrius Health and ThedaCare named Pioneer ACOs
Simpler Consulting would like to congratulate Atrius Health and ThedaCare, who were chosen amongst the 32 healthcare organizations that will be participating in the Pioneer ACO program.
Download the White Paper Now

Defining Leadership: Dr. Patricia Gabow, CEO of Denver Health
Modern Healthcare has reported that Dr. Patricia Gabow, CEO of Denver Health will retire September 1, 2012. The announcement of Dr. Gabow's retirement began a mental synthesis about the qualities of a leader and the impact an individual can have on an industry.
Download the White Paper Now

Denver Health Recognized as Top Academic Medical Center in U.S.
Simpler client Denver Health has been recognized by the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) as one of the highest-performing academic medical centers in the United States for its excellence in supply chain management.
Download the White Paper Now

Why I Wrote The Little Book of Lean
There are two reasons why I wrote The Little Book of Lean. The first comes directly through my client work at Simpler Consulting. I had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of good “back to basics” books to introduce people to the way of lean thinking. As my clients came to me for resources that taught the basics of lean management, they often found literature that focused too heavily on lean manufacturing. The second reason I wrote the book came out of a late night conversation a few years back with my friend, Steven J. Spear...
Download the White Paper Now

Denver Health Honored by City and County of Denver
We would like to congratulate Simpler client Denver Health for being recognized with a proclamation for operational excellence by the City and County of Denver. Denver Health CEO Dr. Patricia Gabow received the proclamation this week from the mayor and city council, honoring the organization for its lean achievements as a model safety net hospital for the City and County of Denver, the Rocky Mountain region and the entire nation. The proclamation highlights that Denver Health is “hailed as one of the first health care organizations in the world to apply Lean in a patient care setting” and that it “recently realized a cost benefit of over $100 million in financial benefits as a direct result of its Lean efforts.” Kudos to everyone at Denver Health for sustaining a lean culture while also providing quality healthcare to Denver’s citizens.

Denver Health Video Highlights Shingo Recognition
Simpler recently congratulated our client Denver Health for being honored with a Shingo Bronze Medallion for its commitment to adopting healthcare lean management practices across the enterprise. Since Denver Health received the award this past March, the hospital has created an innovative video that highlights the great results from its lean transformation journey which involved more than 1,300 Denver Health employees who were dedicated to achieving operational excellence. We invite you to see how Denver Health realized nearly $88 million in financial benefit over the past five years while also saving money, jobs and most importantly, the lives of those they serve.

Lean Management Helps Nurses get back to Nursing
May is National Nurses Month. In honor of the dedicated individuals who have devoted their lives to others, Steve Matteson, Vice President and General Manager, Client Services of Simpler HealthcareSM shares two case examples of how lean management is helping nurses get back to what they love, caring for the patient.
Download the White Paper Now

Simpler Point of View: A Lesson from the Royal Wedding
By Al Martyn, Public Sector, Business Development Leader at Simpler® Congratulations to the Royal couple who were married last week on Friday 29th April in London. After the excitement of Friday, I was listening to the news and a political commentator had highlighted that a member of the public had suggested that “we should get those who ran the wedding to run the public services in the UK” – why? – “because it all seemed to flow and run so well.”   To someone in Simpler, the natural use of the word "flow," to describe a process that runs well and without a "hitch," is always a delight. It reflects on a key Lean principle – to ensure each process flows.   One of the keys to make process “flow” is to have a great "standard work." What is standard work? It’s the best known way to do something, very importantly it's written down and it is continuously improved based on lessons learned by the people who do the work. The Royal wedding’s pageantry is so precise because it’s the product of decades of continuous improvement on the "standard work."   Just imagine if we had decades of standard work improvement for hospital A&Es, police custody suites, or collecting the bins, optimising to make the process flow!   One other thing about standard work is that it is not just the process but precise timing associated with process steps that should be considered – so when Ms. Middleton left the hotel at 9 minutes to 11 o'clock do you think someone had been developing some new standard work for that hotel? You bet!   Many congrats again to newlyweds!  

Modern Healthcare names St. Joseph Health System CEO to Top 25 Women in Healthcare List
Simpler congratulates Deborah Proctor, president and CEO of St. Joseph Health System in Orange, Calif., for being named one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare.
Download the White Paper Now

Simpler Consulting Brings Management Enterprise to Canada
Simpler Consulting, L.P., a leading global management consulting firm, today announced a new entity, Simpler Consulting Canada, ULC, to expand the Company's geographic footprint and continue its commitment of bringing lean management techniques to health systems and organizations in Canada.
Download the White Paper Now

NATO's Route to Transformation-A Lesson for All
During a recent discussion I had with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) in Brussels, a familiar challenge was highlighted - how an organisation can reduce costs and at the same time maximise its efficiency to deliver a service, and in this case, one that was better fitted to the 21st century rather than what the Cold War had demanded. This remains an area of focus for NATO, one that it is still working on. The NATO representative spoke about “outdated processes” and “wasteful processes” in the workplace and the need to replace them with more efficient ones. He highlighted the challenges in delivering change to 28 nations with different cultures and politics. This transformation work perhaps presents the acute “breaking down the boundary waste” that was discussed in a recent blog post.
Download the White Paper Now

Earth Month: Getting Lean and Green
In celebration of Earth Month, we'd like to highlight the synergy between green and lean initiatives. The two strategies often intersect as they share an overarching common goal - to eliminate as much waste as possible to help improve efficiency and reduce costs. Lean management helps organizations cut costs and improve customer satisfaction by reducing waste or anything that does not add value to the process. Although Lean doesn't focus soley on achieving environmental benefits, organizations can adopt the tools from a lean continuous improvement program to help reduce environmental waste. Take our client Denver Health, for example. To meet the needs of a growing patient population, its Park Hill clinic, originally a temporary modular space, was transformed into a state-of-the-art clinic. By getting Lean and going green, Denver Health kept building costs low while still providing the local community with high-quality healthcare services and an energy-efficient green building. Click here to read more about how Denver Health used lean management and green efforts to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Lean Transformation from the Voice of a Customer
I recently participated in a leadership session where Paul Boissier, CEO of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), briefed the Metropolitan Police executive team who are responsible for their Information Services Directorate on lean transformation.  RNLI and the Metropolitan Police are both Simpler clients and the purpose of the session was to offer Paul’s perspective and insights on leading a successful lean transformation. Simpler has worked with Paul on two successful transformations; previously with the Royal Navy and more recently with the RNLI. (Download the whitepaper to learn more)
Download the White Paper Now

Denver Health Leads the Way in Eliminating Medical Mistakes
Last week, a new study published in the Health Affairs journal revealed medical errors may be 10 times higher than previously estimated—meaning one in three Americans will fall victim to a medical mistake during a hospital stay. Yesterday, our client Dr. Patricia Gabow, chief executive officer of Denver Health was featured in a story on PBS News Hour, which highlighted the hospital as a leader in reducing medical mistakes and information. As noted in the article, “Denver Health has one of the lowest complication rates for blood clots in the leg of any hospital in the country and saves $15,000 a month by using a highly standardized process to identify people at risk for the condition.” We commend Dr. Gabow and Denver Health for their dedication to improve patient care. This March, Denver Health was recently recognized as the first health care facility to be awarded with a Shingo Bronze Medallion by the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.

The ACO Model of the Future?
Simpler client Atrius Health is featured in this article as an example of an accountable-care organization. Accountable Care Organizations are promoted in the health reform law as a way to improve care and reduce costs. Some of their results with Lean and quality improvement are described.
Wall Street Journal, Avery Johnson, 03/28/2011

Client Denver Health Receives Shingo Bronze Medallion
We would like to congratulate our client Denver Health for being honored with a Shingo Bronze Medallion for its commitment to adopting lean management practices across the enterprise. This marks the first time a healthcare facility has been recognized by the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence. Denver Health has achieved great results from its lean transformation journey – realizing nearly $89 million in financial benefit in the past five years. For more information, click here to read the press release.

Simpler's Fourth Annual Practitioners Conference
Last week we held our fourth annual Practitioners Conference in Dallas, Texas, where 23 Lean transformation practitioners of our clients gathered to share lessons learned, collaborate on new ideas and enhance their own improvement and leadership capabilities. Click on link below to learn more.
Download the White Paper Now

Scottish Policing
I recently attended the Policing Scotland Summit, which took place in February. The event was created to debate the future of policing in Scotland as it faces some of the most radical changes in its history. Tasked with reducing spending by 10 percent in real terms over the next four years following the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Scottish Government launched a consultation to reduce the number of Scotland’s police forces. Among the options of reform is a regional structure or a single nationwide force. Click on the link below to learn more.
Download the White Paper Now

What is the 'Big Society' Project and What will it Mean to the Public Sector?
Many of you may have heard by now of David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’  project. Cameron’s initiative is to create a ‘stronger, bigger society’ to build a more responsible Britain by opening government contracts. From a lean perspective Cameron seems to be trying to get the ‘customer or citizen’ involved in the process of change, but to me it is no different from JFK’s statement: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” Rather than a plea to citizens to get involved and help make a difference, which is leaving him open to the criticism that he actually wants to citizens to do the work post cuts, why not have a structured programme of improvement? For example, the Simpler Business System, where a natural part of the system is to get people (in this case the public sector workers and the public) involved, enables change that is actually created by the people for themselves. Cameron’s approach needs to change; he would gain a lot of volunteers if only there was an advertisement that said: “We want to improve refuse removal / police in your area / hospital in your area by up to 50% - do you want to help?” Success and real-life examples breed success – I think that’s what Cameron really wants. So my advice to achieve the change in society that Cameron wants is to use a proven change method to get people involved.  Method is crucial to a successful plan and whilst the vision is right, all we need is a proven method that involves both public sector staff and the public. Al Martyn is Public Sector, Business Development Leader at Simpler®. For more information, email him at martyna@simpler.com.

IndustryWeek Hall of Fame Winner George Koenigsaecker's New Book Gets a Thumbs Up from the Publication
In the February 9 edition of IndustryWeek, Writer Adrienne Selko reviews the second edition of Simpler Consulting Board Member and Senior Vice President George Koenigsaecker’s book “Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation.” The review highlights Koenigsaecker’s emphasis on the culture of Lean and the four metrics that need to be consistently tracked – quality improvement, delivery and lead time, cost and productivity improvement, and human development. To read the full review, click here.

Simpler Design SystemSM - Bringing More Profitable Products to Market Faster
Introducing a new, systematic approach to new product development that will reduce your time to by 50%. Learn how Elekta applies the Simpler Design System to pharma.
Download the White Paper Now
Simpler Design System

Lean Design in Healthcare at the IHI National Forum
Simpler HealthcareSM is proud to sponsor the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) National Forum. Join Simpler’s Steve Matteson for the "Lean Design" session on Sunday, December 5th at the Forum to learn how a community hospital used Lean to create the ideal practice clinic facility, bringing it from an idea on paper to reality. The creative use of space, people, equipment, and supplies is groundbreaking. See you at the Forum.
View Video Now!

Simpler® Celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week
According to a recent report released from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, despite the recession U.S. Entrepreneurship in 2009 rose to a 14 year high. As new entrepreneurs grow their business, they often get overwhelmed with the number of email correspondences, meetings and calls. As we celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, Tim Whitmore, vice president and general manager of Commercial Sector at Simpler North America, shares insight into how entrepreneurs can prioritize and keep their business running smoothly. 
Download the White Paper Now

Simpler Consulting®, L.P. George Koenigsaecker Inducted into IndustryWeek 2010 Manufacturing Hall of Fame
Simpler Consulting today announced Simpler Consulting Board Member and lean industry veteran George Koenigsaecker was inducted into IndustryWeek’s 2010 Manufacturing Hall of Fame for his years of experience leading successful lean management transformations across a multitude of organizations. Drawing from his many years of experience leading lean transformations, Koenigsaecker wrote Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation which was published in 2009 by Productivity Press and provides real-world examples of the powerful results lean transformation enables including faster productivity, improved quality, cost savings and increased employee satisfaction. George Koenigsaecker will also be delivering the keynote “Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation” at the Association for Manufacturing’s (AME) 2010 annual meeting taking place this week at the Baltimore Convention Center. Additionally, Steve Matteson, vice president and general manager of client services at Simpler HealthcareSM, will host the first-ever healthcare specific workshop, “Lean Design in Healthcare” at AME.
Download the White Paper Now

High Velocity Maintenance - The New Solution for MRO
Lee Alves and Brian Keeling of Simpler® explain the applications of Lean in support of MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) and Fleet Management in the new white paper "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Synchronizing the maintenance cycle for a faster fix." Learn about the savings generated from a completely new MRO approach at United States Air Force’s Warner Robins Air Logistics Center.

Institute of Medicine Looks to Simpler's® Marc Hafer for Ideas for Cost Savings in Healthcare
Dr. Pierre Young uses Simpler’s Marc Hafer as an expert in discussing inefficiency and waste in delivered services.
Learn More Now!

Lean Thinking in Lean Times for the NHS
Simpler’s Chris Lloyd encourages the NHS Trusts to review ways to cut waste, not people. Read more about this in the Clinical Services Journal.
Learn More Now!