American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) member firms are adopting Lean, the organizational concept focused on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste. The Lean philosophy and the array of tools for applying it originated in manufacturing decades ago and has since spread to other industries.
Haley & Aldrich started what Larry Smith, president and CEO, calls its “Lean journey” in 2006. At the time, he was the firm’s COO and believed Lean aligned perfectly with the sustainability principles Smith wanted the firm to embrace.
“It gets down to what is important to our customers,” says Smith. “If your goal is to make your service offerings as efficient as possible-better, faster, cheaper than anyone else’s-that will help in terms of standardization. But if you are not delivering what the customer wants and needs, all that work is for naught.”
Read more in Bob Woods’ Engineering, Inc. article about how Haley & Aldrich and other companies, like DiPrete Engineering and Buehler Engineering, are using Lean to maximize customer value and minimize waste.
