Vasil Petrov, « Lean Institute Bulgaria »: Optimization is no longer just for the big ones. The Bulgarian MSP sector turns a look at the Line Methodology

Increasingly, we hear about optimizing business processes. What are the companies in Bulgaria that most often strive for this?

One of the things focuses on the lin practices is the processes and all the weaknesses in them – such as waiting, accumulation of unfinished work, mistakes, variation in the result or production, etc. Any job can be described through a process, whether it is insurance, software application, or product production. The challenge is how to adapt the methodology.

Many large companies in Bulgaria are largely aware of Line and have had the opportunity to put it into practice. There are companies in the country that are really very good at this and are constantly upgrading over their excellent results. There are, of course, companies that have not had access to sufficient knowledge to apply the principles of optimizing their activities and seek external support and expert opinion so that they can carry it out successfully.

Looking at small and medium -sized enterprises, we are seeing a tendency that more and more companies of Bulgarian origin are turning to license practices to improve their processes and ways of thinking among their employees. Depending on the resources that are willing to separate (not only financial but also time), the desired transformation can happen very quickly and within one to two years they have been able to make a real change that will make them much more successful in the market.

Tell us more about Lin and what is his role in raising the competitiveness of businesses today?

A company is in a strong position when it manages to produce the product of quality that the customer expects to deliver it faster than competitors and to work at prices that meet the requirements of the market. In this way, organizations begin to distinguish themselves.

Line works to improve the work, and in the three listed directions. First of all, we create the conditions for providing the quality that the client is looking for. This happens by establishing quality standards so that there are no variations in the product or service produced. The second important element is that production always happens on time, ie. Then when the customer needs, not earlier or later. And of course, the third important element is to work in a way that reduces energy and resources costs to create the product or service at a competitive price. In this way, not only have a positive effect on business goals, but also on reducing the resources used – electricity, water and others, which has its positive impact on nature and goals for sustainable development of companies.

You are representative At Lean Global Network (LGN), which allows you to exchange experience with your colleagues from different markets. What is the distribution of searching for optimization of the processes in the field of services, production and IT? Is there a difference in demand in Bulgaria to the world trends?

In Bulgaria, the demand for LIN among manufacturing companies is higher than in the field of IT or services, but we notice an increase in interest from more and more companies in industries other than manufacturing. They have often heard about good examples, but they do not realize that the methodology could also help them because they think that LIN can only be applied in production. And in fact, there are no businesses where Line cannot be applied. There are many successful examples in the field of health, logistics, services, IT and many other sectors, which, thanks to the adaptation and proper application of the relevant tools for them, achieve truly impressive results.

Of course, there are industries that are more specific, like creative. The more creativity is needed for an activity, the more difficult it is to limit it to a process. However, this does not mean that all other activities that accompany the creative process cannot be systematized and improved.

As a member of the Lean Global Network (LGN), which covers lin practitioners from over 30 countries, we have access to world experts, materials and knowledge accumulated in any existing industry. In -depth knowledge of matter allows us to quickly and successfully apply methods working in both production and other industries. The management environment, the processes and the way we look at them, in other words, remain in the focus. No one wants to carry out activities daily in which there is no added value, but for a lot, however, it remains an invisible problem or something that we still have no time to talk about and act.

When does a company understand that it is time to optimize its processes?

I would say that there are several scenarios. One is a rapid growth in which many of the activities in the companies have no processes and they begin to happen chaotic. In this case, it is necessary to work with a focus on the construction of such processes and subsequently on their improvement.

The second scenario is when there is an increase in costs in the company. In this case, it is necessary to investigate what leads to inefficiency in the organization and to build standards that prevent unnecessary spending of resources – for example, activities should be done qualitatively for the first time, to have a good planning of stocks so that the warehouses are not overflowing, etc.

Another example where companies are aware that they need to optimize their processes is when they start losing a market position and when they see that there are other companies in the same industry that obviously do better and are more profitable. In such cases, the management is willing to improve so that the company becomes more competitive in the market.

Are there any cases where introduction The LINS principles may be unsuccessful?

Success depends on the people of the company to continue to work the new way after all the instruments have been introduced. This means that if the company has worked with consultants to optimize its processes when they are no longer there, employees must continue to work in the already established LIN.

Another important factor is the turnover of employees. Consultants must be provided – either consultants to support the onboarding process, which must cover both LIN, or senior management to regularly make introductory Line training for new employees. A great example of this is the entrepreneur and founder of the software giant Ci & T Cesar Gon, who, every quarter, personally does onboard on the license of his company’s new employees. In addition to being extremely motivating for employees, it also shows the importance that Lin has for the company.

What is the recipe for success at introduction On the LIN the principles in a company?

When we want to successfully introduce Line into a company, we have to choose a « pilot zone » – a process or department in the organization in which we quickly apply practices and tools through which people can immediately see the results achieved. In this way, we set an example to other teams to believe that change is possible. Very often, once we achieve this change, we have many willing departments to be the next.

You are currently preparing the Tomorrow Redefined conference, which has become the largest event dedicated to the topic in Southeastern Europe. What have you provided for visitors?

We strive to improve the quality every year and to offer increasingly relevant information served by leading experts in managing and improving business processes that have extremely interesting experience in different industries and in different, specific scenarios. This year, we will affect the topic of artificial intelligence even deeper and how it works with LIN. In addition, we will also pay attention to the important topic – how to prepare our teams for work in the future.

The program of the event will also look at various innovations and improvements in healthcare, the path to operational perfection in banking, etc., and guest lectures will be the executive directors and managers of UniCredit Bulbank, Telus Digital, Melexis, Festo, Ethermind, Michelin, The Health (DHI) as well as other experts in the field.