Lean Consultant Responsibilities

A lean consultant is a professional who is responsible for handling the lean consultant responsibilities effectively and efficiently by assisting in empowering the clients by cutting down on the wastes and ensuring that the existing processes are made more efficient. This further helps the business organization in increasing their profit margins, thereby helping in broadening its horizons. Lean consulting is basically a team work and each member is assigned a specific duty to meet the project requirements. So, if this really interests you, then here are a few guidelines that will help in you in becoming a better lean consultant and provide you with educational details and other skills necessary to make this career a huge success.

Key Responsibilities of a Lean Consultant

The lean consultant needs to have considerable years of experience in this industry so that he/she is able to bring in the best practices without wasting much time on learning. He/she understands the clients' requirements and promptly interprets it in a way that the clients actually mean. The basic motive of the lean consultant is to eliminate the activities and personnel which add absolutely no value to the product and help in implementing a methodology that will streamline the existing process by reducing the wasted money and time. This will further ensure that the processes are time and cost efficient as well as help in enhancing the quality standards as well. To better understand the role of this professional, mentioned below are a few details on the various kind of duties that need to be handled:

1. He/she implements the lean principles and manages the lean office and is responsible for developing standards of performance that are based on process innovation.
2. He/she provides his/her knowledge and expertise on the process and assists in continuous improvement of the process in various projects.
3. He/she provides guidance and applies his/her technical knowledge to provide support on more complex Lean Six Sigma Projects.
4. He/she is involved in performing the pre-work, completing the event planning and supporting it and leading continuous improvement activities that will ultimately lead in accomplishing the cost saving goals and objectives.
5. He/she coaches, guides, and trains the subordinate members on quality assurance and lean principles, and assists in designing, implementing, monitoring, and maintaining the quality management system. In addition, he/she maintains and updates all the related records based on the internal and external regulations.
6. He/she assists in implementing and maintaining high levels of client satisfaction.

The lean consultant is thus accountable to achieve organizational targets related to variability reduction, lead time reduction and waste elimination. He/she defines tactics that will help in fostering employee engagement and ensure successful change acceptance and management. He/she is engaged in developing processes and methods to assess the Lean readiness as well as the relevant progress. He/she manages the lean projects and is involved in elaborating the plans, making schedules, facilitates the deployment of Lean tools and processes, controlling the quality, managing the cost versus budget, controlling the execution of deliverables, etc., thereby helping in managing the client relationships.

Essential Skills and Abilities

The individual aspiring to make a career in this field should be willing to face challenges and deliver better solutions. He/she should possess a contagious positive energy that will help in delivering better results. He/she should be able to demonstrate business intuition skills and should be able to contribute to the development of vision and business strategies. Good problem solving and analytical skills combined with the ability to communicate effectively with individuals or groups are some of the other required skills. He/she should be a self starter with the ability to work independently and unsupervised. Proficiency in computers is essential to help in creating macros, templates, importing and exporting of data, creating various reports, tracking projects and ensuring budget compliance, etc. Excellent project management and facilitation skills demonstrated by good organization and time management skills would definitely prove to be a plus.

Educational Qualification

The individual applying for this position should possess a bachelor's degree in business, engineering, logistics or any other relevant field. A master's degree with working knowledge of Lean thinking, systems, and tools would definitely prove to be an added advantage. Any other advanced level skills or certification would prove to be an edge.

Work Schedule

The work of this professional may vary according to the project requirements. Sometimes, he/she may need to work overtime on the weekends, public holidays, or may work overtime beyond the standard business hours to meet the client and organizational demands. Thus, he/she needs to be flexible and should be ready to work under pressure situations.

Salary Details

The individuals who have just completed their education can get a starting salary in the range of $65,000. The average median annual salary is close to $80,000, and with experience, an individual can expect it to go up to $93,000. It may differ depending on the candidate's caliber and may vary depending on the location, size, and type of the organization he/she is employed in.

Career Prospects

The demand for lean consultants is definitely going to grow with more organizations interested in cutting down on the costs that do not add any significant value to the organization. Those who demonstrate their skills and abilities can surely climb up the ladder of success more easily.

Thus, if you are able to shoulder the lean consultant responsibilities efficiently, effectively, and professionally, there is no stopping you, and you can be assured of a promising and lucrative career ahead.