If you have been anywhere near business methodology conversations, you have heard of Lean/Continuous Improvement. Chances are, you have heard of sustainability as well. But have you thought about how the two combine? Today, we are going to explore just that with a special feature combining the expertise of Spearpoint Strategies and The Process Reinvention, an Operations Coaching business by Adriana Torres.

Let’s start with some definitions. Lean/Continuous Improvement is a methodology centered on waste reduction and process improvement while delivering quality and value to the customer with the minimum use of resources. When a company uses Lean/Continuous Improvement they are designing out the waste of time, energy, talent, materials and more to create as efficient a system as possible. The Lean/Continuous Improvement Methodology has evolved and expanded from a focus on optimizing the utilization of resources and cost reduction to creating safer environmental and human practices, and the transformation of the mindset to create problem solvers.

Sustainability is a societal development method that balances economic, social, and environmental needs for both the present and future. On a business level, sustainability offers the challenge of building a business that not only does not do harm to people and planet, but actually works with social and environmental forces to build a better society.

There is a lot of overlap between Lean/Continuous Improvement and sustainable business operations, primarily as it relates to waste. The more efficient a company can be in its use of resources, the better, as increased efficiency will reduce impact. Specific sustainability concepts, like circularity, can bring even more benefits by keeping materials in use.

Take, for example, a restaurant. Let’s say that this restaurant has high levels of food waste. Because they are serving this food to people, they have to throw out anything that might be even slightly going bad or risk harming a customer. The challenge from the business perspective is that tossed food is expensive. From the environmental and social perspective, the resources to create that food are then wasted, or, in Lean terms, are overproduced.

This restaurant has hired Adriana of Process Reinvention and Colleen of Spearpoint Strategies to try and improve things. Following Adriana’s Lean guidance, our first step is to see what is happening right now – observe the present conditions. In this restaurant, there is a lack of planning, leading to said food waste. Not managing food properly is a food safety risk, as kitchen staff don’t know when something was purchased or will go bad. Furthermore, there is a lack of data on inventory and customer rate to even inform planning. Adriana and Colleen use Lean tools to identify points of waste creation in the restaurant activity. For pre-consumer food waste, this can include overproduction, trim waste, expiration, spoilage, overcooking, contaminating, or dropping items. Once you know where the problems are, you can start on solutions.

Since this problem is being approached from a sustainability lens, stakeholder engagement is also crucial. The consultants form respectful and mindful relationships with staff to better understand problem areas and the working environment. Often, employees know how to improve things or what the most pressing issues are, because they are the ones creating the Value for the customer. If the culture can be transformed to support employees, then that wealth of knowledge is available to the restaurant to improve things. Lean methodology empowers workers so that they have shared responsibility in restaurant processes and thus also shared pride and knowledge. The consultants share their discovery of problem points, establish data collection and use, implement inventory planning, and get the whole staff on board to support them in their action of reducing waste.

Colleen and Adriana end the project with a reminder that improvement is continuous. Neither Lean nor sustainability work are one-time tasks. The consultants return to check on the restaurant a year later and are pleased with the results. Employees feel happier and more joyful in what they do because they know they have autonomy and the support of leadership. The environment is better off because of the resources saved due to less overproduction. Money is saved through less over-purchasing and less disposal of already purchased goods. Leadership is more confident in their decision making because it is informed by data and stakeholder feedback. In fact, the owner had so many savings with Lean methodology, each restaurant worker was able to share in the profits of the previous year, giving the whole staff even more investment in the success of Lean/Continuous Improvement and sustainability!

To end this story, we ask: What is your ‘food waste’? In your business, how can people, planet, and profit all be improved by using Lean/Continuous Improvement and sustainability in tandem?

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This is the first of three Lean/Sustainability articles written by Adriana Torres of Process Reinventions and Colleen Spear of Spearpoint Strategies. The second can be viewed here.