State lean initiative good idea ?to make government better

Last week’s creation of a “Lean Government Initiative” by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo may not get as much attention as other, more high-profile actions, such as, say, the settlement of the state’s pension lawsuits. But it has the potential to be every bit as important to the state’s fiscal health.

As a tool employed most often in manufacturing, lean focuses on continuous improvement, removing barriers to efficiency, working in a continuous feedback loop to re-imagine process. In each of its two years, PBN’s Manufacturing Awards program has given out an award for lean-manufacturing excellence, recognizing companies that have improved their operations by embracing lean techniques.

The setting for the governor signing her lean initiative, Vibco Inc. in Richmond, has made lean its motto. President Karl Wadensten is a lean evangelist, and the company’s success in a very competitive marketplace is proof that the concept is not just hot air. It empowers employees to make changes to fix what they see wrong in their jobs.

Mr. Wadensten once told PBN that, “When you see the power of our people [at VIBCO], they do things beyond what graduate school-level people do in cost-benefit analysis on a daily basis.” It is a demanding approach, one that requires full buy-in by a workforce. But bringing that approach to government would surely make it much more efficient and responsive to its customers, the citizens of Rhode Island.

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And if Gov. Raimondo could accomplish only that in her time in office, Rhode Island would be much better off. •

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