By Ron Hiraki
Recently, I was working with a committee of leaders, support staff, and line personnel interested in encouraging and soliciting suggestions from their firefighters in an effort to improve their operations and service. The agency already had an Employee Suggestion Program that worked well. The committee wanted to do more than just update this program and give it a fancy name like “Innovation.” The committee wanted to empower people to try changes or make small changes in their operations and service.
During the discussions, the concept of “lean manufacturing” came up. Because of its title and origin, we, as members of the fire service, might not initially think of learning about or using the concepts of lean manufacturing. After all, we don’t manufacture a product. Fire service members can work toward making their fire department a “lean enterprise.” A lean enterprise strives to reduce waste and improve the work flow. A lean enterprise attempts to make the work simple enough to understand, do, and manage.
A fire department working toward becoming a lean enterprise will attempt to employ the following principles:
- Improve Quality: The fire department does not directly compete with other agencies in terms of service delivery. However, the fire department and its members must understand its customers’ needs and wants. It must then develop a process and work to meet customers’ requirements and expectations.
- Eliminate Waste: Waste is defined as any activity that consumes time, resources, or space and does not add value to the service provided by the fire department.
- Reduce Time: Reducing the time it takes to complete a task, an activity, or a process from start to finish is a good way for the fire department to eliminate waste and lower costs.
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Reduce Total Costs: To minimize costs, fire departments must use their funding to improve quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. Protecting resources, including human resources, is important to reducing total costs.
Obviously, these are good goals, but they may sound like things too big for the average firefighter or fire officer to achieve. It is a relief to know that some of the best lean enterprise methods are small changes made at little cost, effort, and time.
Here are some examples of changes suggested and made by firefighters and company officers at the company or station level.
- A place for everything and everything in its place: Firefighters needed and used several three-ring notebooks near the “Watch Desk.” One firefighter found some plastic wall-mounted file pockets that would hold each notebook. After installation, everyone knew where to find the notebook and where to put it back! Firefighters no longer wasted time looking for the notebooks.
- Organized files: A fire officer spent a little time organizing and labeling the station file folders. The labels had a number so the file could be returned to the right place in the file drawer. The labels were made with big print, so they could be easily and quickly read. One firefighter complimented the lieutenant on how nice the files looked. He went on to say, “For the first time, I could find the file I needed on the first glance. I was able to get the chart, make my entry, and put it back; most importantly, I wasn’t frustrated or mad. My new disposition makes record keeping easier.”
- The organized tool box: We often refer to ladder trucks as rolling tool boxes. One group of firefighters organized tools in the compartments for maximum efficiency and easy access. They made custom cut-outs and slots in plywood to store the tools. This not only saved time at an emergency but also prevented the tools from sliding around. This reduced damage to and extended the life of the tools.
- Sometimes it’s good to be different: Frequently used files or tools could be a different color or perhaps just a different colored tab or stripe. A red folder stands out in a drawer full of olive green folders, as does a tool with a yellow handle.
- Grab and go: In taking the soft suction hose to the hydrant, one firefighter put a leather strap behind the bowl of the coupling. The strap made it easier to grab the end of the hose and reduced the chance of dropping and damaging the coupling. Another group of firefighters put all of their hydrant tools and couplings in a sturdy bucket so that they could grab the bucket with one hand and the hose with the other. The sturdy bucket was purchased at a local feed store and was meant to feed hogs and other livestock. ”Grab the hog bucket” became a common saying.
That committee realized that it was not promoting anything new for firefighters. We have been doing things like this for years. Fire Engineering magazine and its Web site are full of innovative changes or products that came from firefighters.
Firefighters and fire officers are encouraged to “step up” and continue to look for and implement changes that follow the lean enterprise principles. Be sure to get some input or permission from the appropriate people (I don’t want to get a bunch of e-mails for your chiefs). If it works, be sure to share your change or idea with others. If you’re a chief officer, make sure you “step up” and at least say “yes” to trying the change or idea. Be sure to thank the members for trying, and recognize those members who develop a successful change or idea.
Ron Hiraki began his career as a firefighter in the Seattle (WA) Fire Department, working in a variety of operational and administrative positions leading to his final assignment as assistant chief of employee development. Completing his career as an assistant chief for a small combination fire department, Hiraki has nearly 30 years of fire service experience in urban and suburban settings. He has a Master of Science degree in human resources development, and is a consultant to a number of public safety agencies for their selection and performance evaluation programs.