State Agencies ‘Leaning’ Toward Results

A program to help state government work more efficiently reports process improvement techniques such as lean are achieving results in several state agencies.

LeanCT is a program within the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) that’s responsible for the daily management and coordination of Connecticut’s statewide process improvement initiative.

It’s designed to help agencies in using lean and other practices to help create a sustainable, customer-focused, and more efficient state government.

That’s a welcome and urgently needed development as the state faces yet more budget deficits and the need to find ever greater efficiencies in state government.

Employers applaud the use of lean in state agencies because many businesses have firsthand experience in the value of process improvement techniques.

And they believe state could become easier to do business with in many areas, because too much red tape and slow responses can dampen much-needed economic activities.

LeanCT’s fall 2014 report highlights inter-agency collaborations, examples of greater efficiency and productivity, shorter response times to customers, and reductions in processing time. 

For example:

• DEEP reduced the average number of days to complete a Wastewater Discharge inspection report from 60 days to 4.3 days–a 93% reduction
• DOT reduced the average number of days to approve a CLA‐12 subcontractor (45 days to 10 days – 78% reduction)
• DRS reduced the average processing time for paper registrations from 12.5 days to 1.5 days 80%), and online registrations (11.5 days to 3.5 days–60%) and eliminate two-thirds of backlog.

What’s more, inter-agency collaborations are also proving productive:

• DEEP and DOT combined to increase the number of state electric vehicle charging stations–71 additional stations in operation within the first four months
• The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and Office of Policy and Management (OPM) together reduced the amount of time required to complete IT contractual purchases from 30 to 10 days–a 67% reduction

CBIA vice president and economist Pete Gioia says, “These are all good first steps but the focus has to shift to much larger operations that the state undertakes, such as finding ways to significantly reduce the time it takes to complete major transportation projects.”

The business community continues to encourage the state to apply lean and other process improvement techniques throughout state government to make it work better and to reduce pressure on state taxpayers.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart at 860.244.1925 | bonnie.stewart@cbia.com | @CBIAbonnie