How project-oriented organisations are creating more value with fewer resources

Overview

If there’s one thing the recession has taught us it’s that every business must run as lean as possible. In manufacturing, engineering and production environments with complex supply chains, lean practices are now accepted as a way to maximise customer value while minimising waste

Consultancies and professional services organisations, too, have been keen to adopt lean principles. In these cash-struck times, the basic premise of lean - creating more value in delivering client projects using fewer resources - has never been a more attractive prospect. Companies in sectors where raw materials, capital equipment and utilities make up the bulk of their costs, at least have the advantage that their overheads are visible, measurable and usually available from competing suppliers. In contrast, project-oriented businesses can find identifying and removing waste more of a challenge.