SOLVE TOOLKIT: Identifying Opportunities
The Tool & Why It's Valuable
Identifying and selecting the right project can be as important as how well a given project is executed. There are several effective methods of identifying potential projects. Five of the most popular sources include: conducting value stream analyses (VSAs) to identify waste, responding to customer feedback, furthering a strategic or operational plan, analyzing performance metrics, and responding to employee suggestions.
As Lean maturity increases, a natural evolution will be to identify projects linked to the organization’s strategic or operational plan.
Once a list of potential projects has been created, they must be evaluated and prioritized.
How to Apply It
Develop a project suggestion list by considering the five sources for improvement opportunities.
Prioritize ideas (see Prioritization for more information).
Sequence these projects and execute in order.
Note: Smaller improvements can be done using Simple SOLVE while boundary-spanning and larger-scale projects will benefit from the rigor of the Structured SOLVE method.
Perils & Pitfalls
Mix top-down (strategic) with bottom-up (tactical) project selection to maximize impact.
Create a portfolio of opportunities that address issues like speed, quality, customer satisfaction, etc. Don’t expect each effort to impact all measures.
Not all suggestions will be worthwhile Lean projects. After opportunities are identified they must be prioritized.
5 Sources for Identifying Opportunities
Mining these five sources (and others) ensures a wide-ranging group of project suggestions that will improve both operational efficiency and customer service.
