We all have learned the value of continuous improvement and appreciate the discipline of applying lean principles to map out existing processes and remove waste. But in some cases, companies stop too soon and fail to explore more innovative opportunities.
Example: The Hotel Lobby
A major hotel chain in Europe set up one of its hotels in a smart spot, near the headquarters of three large corporations within walking distance. The expectation was that the demanding and well-paying business partners and consultants of these companies would love the convenience and hospitality of the hotel.
But check-in and checkout times were slow. Consultants were lining up for so long in the morning that complaints about the hassle led one of the "Big Four" consultancies to take the hotel off their preferred list -- and the others followed.
The consequence was that this premium hotel failed in the midst of a premium location. What could they have done differently?
First, let's approach the issue from a lean perspective.
Taking a closer look at this process at a hotel, we would notice that customers typically check in and check out with a varying takt rate, defined as the pace at which the task needs to be completed in order to meet customer demand. During peak hours there might be several people checking in or checking out every minute or so. Other times there would be very few.
Unlike in a production environment, there's no way to create a "safety stock," so the dilemma is that we need more resources to service varying demand.
Next, we look at which steps in a check-in process are value-creating and which are non-value-added.
Queuing until it's the guest's turn? That's inventory or waiting, depending how you see it, which both are forms of waste.
Do guests really need to give their name? No, they have done that online already. So that's another form of waste-rework.
In essence, we are left with the value-creating steps, from a guest's perspective, of "identify myself" and "receive my room key."
In traditional lean, a team might stop here with the value-stream map and work on improving the future state of the process. But by taking this a step further and applying process innovation thinking, we can use the "lean glasses" and be radical.
