February 2024 Volume 6

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

All Roads Lead to Sales & Marketing With Lean By Drew Locher

Lean is Waste Reduction There are eight categories of waste that are embodied by the acronym DOWNTIME: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized Talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, and Extra Processing. At first glance many would seem germane only to operations. However, with a modest expansion of their definitions they all can apply to non-manufacturing processes such as sales & marketing. Take ‘overproduction’ for example. It means “more than is needed or sooner than is needed by the next process.” ‘More’ can apply to information or even service. Can a marketing group collect too many leads that cannot be adequately qualified in a timely manner? It is certainly possible though it might not occur often. As with all the wastes that can be identified in various business processes, an organization must choose wisely which ones it will work to reduce. Limited time and resources necessitate a focused approach. But where to focus? Some data gathering to quantify a waste can really help. This is important because often an organization is unaware of the true frequency and impact of a particular waste. Therefore, it is accepted as a ‘normal’ part of the process and goes unaddressed. In the absence of numerical data, what does experience tell us, more specifically the collective experience of the conference attendees? The participants identified various forms of ‘defect’ waste in their examples. This includes missing, inaccurate, or inaccessible information. This should be no surprise. Gathering accurate information is a critical component to every sales and marketing process. In Lean there is a data element called ‘Percent Complete & Accurate’ that is applied to information quality. It is not uncommon for this percentage to be less than 50% through a series of interrelated process steps or what is called a ‘value stream’. Further, incomplete or inaccurate information can generate other waste such as extra processing (extra effort to correct or gather what was missing) and waiting (for someone to do the necessary correction or gathering). This compounding effect is why I often refer to defect waste as the ‘mother of all waste’ in information intensive value streams. Of course, complete, and accurate information must be made readily accessible to all who need it. Interestingly, attendees most often referred to the quoting process during their discussions on this topic. The Request for Quote (RFQ) process is the lifeblood of many manufacturers. Timely and accurate processing of quotes is critical to obtaining new business. A general lack of timeliness and responsiveness, symptoms of the waste of waiting, was a third common theme identified. What can be done to address such issues? The quoting process is a common early focus of a Lean initiative in

FIA held its annual Sales & Marketing Conference on October 24 25, 2023, in Rosemont, IL. Nearly 50 attendees gathered to learn, share and grow. The program included a presentation titled Lean Sales & Marketing for Manufacturers . Lean is a management system that seeks to create a culture of continuous improvement where an organization’s team members are engaged in solving problems and improving processes. “All Roads Lead to Sales & Marketing” was an often repeated refrain throughout the presentation. Most people believe Lean only applies to operations, yet problems and processes exist throughout all areas of an organization. True, manufacturers will focus early efforts in operations, reducing waste and improving flow. But what comes next? How will the organization leverage the freed-up capacity in operations? The answer to this important question is simple – sell more! Therefore, sales & marketing will at some point become the focus of an organization’s improvement efforts. The presentation included three breakout exercises where attendees had an opportunity to discuss specific topics: waste in sales and marketing processes, sales and marketing process standardization, and recent improvement efforts in sales and marketing. Participants shared information and experiences that were recorded and collected. Key themes from those discussions will be shared in this article, as well as suggestions relevant to each topic.

FIA Marketing Conference 2023

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