Lean Process with Lorilei Christner

In this episode of Up and Adam, Adam talks with Lorilei Christner, Director of Process Improvement at BerganKDV. In their discussion, Lorilei shares with Adam a brief history of LEAN and how she’s leading the LEAN implementation journey at BerganKDV.

Lorilei explains the “why” behind embarking on the journey; wanting to improve processes to help increase the bottom line, employee engagement and client satisfaction.

Lorilei shares that BerganKDV has experienced early success with the process including cost and time savings. The firm’s mid-term goal is to ensure the LEAN culture is invigorated so it becomes a natural way of thinking. Instead of focusing on metrics, asking how can we look at the process differently and rally the team to focus on how to get to the desired outcome. The long-term magic of LEAN is that it’s ongoing improvement, it’s never really complete as you strive to constantly strengthen all areas.

Lorilei concludes with a piece of advice for companies that are looking to implement LEAN; the most important factors are strategy and approach. The first step is to build a framework which consists of three pillars: people, process and technology. Ensure that people are involved and have a voice, construct solid processes that are integrated into the LEAN framework and utilize technology to facilitate communication, idea sharing and efficient management of process.

Want to learn more about BerganKDV’s LEAN journey? Connect with Lorilei Christner on LinkedIn!