Why Isn’t the Government Held to Quality Measures?

To Chris Collins, lean and Six Sigma, just like government and business management, go hand in hand.

In Erie County, where he fiercely advocates that a lean government can and will save taxpayers millions of dollars, Chris Collins became the first county executive in the nation to implement lean Six Sigma in a government setting.

A businessman with 35 years of private sector experience, Collins runs Erie County like a business, with what he calls “The 3 Rs”—reforming Erie County government—rebuilding the local economy—and ultimately, reducing taxes. Needless to say, the road to getting there is paved by lean Six Sigma all the way. To date, 19 Erie County employees are trained and certified Six Sigma Green Belts. Forty employees earned Yellow Belts and more than 250 employees are trained in lean Six Sigma. Bill Carey, a lean Six Sigma Black Belt, is the program director of the county.

The lean and Six Sigma methodologies have helped the county accrue savings of nearly $144,000 by streamlining social services application workflow. The county reduced the cost of repairing of park equipment by $95,000 annually. It has reduced the backlog of child support enforcement cases from 7,281 to 103 cases in less than one year.

Despite critics, Collins stands firm in his belief that lean Six Sigma will improve the county government’s efficiency and eliminate waste. His latest pitch: a recently released 2010 budget plan saving millions of dollars and no property tax rate increase, thanks to lean Six Sigma and space utilization initiatives.

Quality Digest Daily: What was your first contact with lean Six Sigma?

Chris Collins: I began working with total quality management practices, a precursor to lean Six Sigma, approximately 30 years ago in the private sector. I began using lean Six Sigma specifically about four years ago at a company I started called Audubon Machinery. We hired advisors from the University at Buffalo to implement lean Six Sigma at that company.

QDD: How much do you think a methodology like this can help the county save?

Collins: Lean Six Sigma has already saved Erie County millions of dollars. The first set of lean Six Sigma projects completed in 2008 will have saved taxpayers approximately $4 million by the end of this year. Additional county employees are being trained each year with new project opportunities being realized. We expect the savings to grow by the millions per year as additional projects are completed.

QDD: Do you have practical examples of how the federal government could make good use of lean Six Sigma?

Collins: Lean Six Sigma can be applied virtually everywhere. We’ve used lean Six Sigma to reduce overtime in our public works department, we’ve reduced a backlog of child support enforcement cases, reduced the number of children placed in residential treatment centers, and increased reservations at our county parks shelters, just to name a few projects. Each lean Six Sigma project team looks at a process in county government and outlines ways to increase efficiency and eliminate waste. The same process could work at any level of government. As one example, I think lean Six Sigma could work wonders when it comes to processes like investigating Medicaid fraud at the state and federal level. The U.S. Army is already using lean Six Sigma. The town of Clarence in Erie County is also implementing a lean Six Sigma program based on the county model.

QDD: How do you promote buy in among the county officials?

Collins: We’ve held lean Six Sigma training sessions for more than 300 county employees. Seeing positive results so quickly helps them buy into the process. We’re also implementing a culture change initiative to enhance how we manage county operations as a business and empower employees. My administration is looking to enable employees to provide better service through enhanced training, improved information circulation, and more opportunities like lean Six Sigma reform to ensure our taxpayers receive value from our county services. Our deployment model ensures that all county departments are included in training and project opportunities. In fact, our commissioners and department heads are instrumental in identifying and selecting both training candidates and project opportunities. The energy and passion of Al Hammonds, deputy county executive, and Bill Carey, director of Six Sigma, ensure that our overall deployment is well executed and sustainable as we continue this journey.

QDD: Are there any obstacles, either bureaucratic or financial, that you have to overcome?

Collins: Change never comes easy, but we’ve been fortunate that our county employees have embraced lean Six Sigma. We have included commissioners, department heads, and representation from the unions, legislature, and Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority (ECFSA) on our Six Sigma steering committee, which meets monthly. This allows for their input from the beginning of our efforts and full transparency as we move forward together. The ECFSA (via New York State efficiency grants) has been instrumental in funding our director of Six Sigma position as well as our lean Six Sigma training supported by The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (University of Buffalo), and culture change through Canisius College. We also get support from an external advisory group, which consists of lean Six Sigma experts from academia and private business.

QDD: You have 35 years of business experience in the private sector. Is the application of lean Six Sigma the same in a governmental environment? What are some of the adjustments you had to make to successfully apply lean Six Sigma?

Collins: Lean Six Sigma is a defined process improvement method for reducing inefficiency and eliminating waste. The process itself does not vary whether in a business or government setting. I believe the savings achieved by lean Six Sigma at the government level are extraordinary. In both the public and private sector, lean Six Sigma is a continuous quality improvement program.

QDD: How much does the county spend on Six Sigma regarding training, consulting, salaries and wages of county employees trained in lean Six Sigma and certified with Six Sigma belts, etc.?

Collins: For the first two years, 2008 and 2009, we will have expended approximately $700,000 for the director of Six Sigma position, training, software, and project support. With accumulated savings of more than $5 million for the same period, this represents a tremendous return only two years into our program. The entire $700,000 lean Six Sigma program has been funded through a New York State Efficiency Grant secured by the ECFSA.

About The Author

Raissa Carey

Raissa Carey is Quality Digest Daily’s online editor.