Articles

Animal rescues could all benefit from subscribing to Lean Six Sigma tools, but only a few actually use Lean Six Sigma as part of their philosophy. Well, one such success story in the animal rescue industry is that of William Brown III, who is the CEO of the Humane Society for Greater Savannah. 

William Brown III acquired his Lean Six Sigma knowledge and strategies from his past experience of being in the U.S. Air Force, then working at the Department of Defense in Washington, as well as his experience at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. Brown had seen success from implementing Lean Six Sigma, so he decided to use Lean strategies to help with various issues at the Humane Society of Savannah.

The first priority was to get a baseline measurement and all data that would lead to what needs improvement. Lean Six Sigma is a combination of Lean tools and Six Sigma methodologies to improve processes by eliminating waste and variation.

The more efficient the team performs the daily processes, the less time it takes to complete these processes and the more time and effort can be put into the actual animals. The more time taken with the animals in socializing, training and exercising them, the less time they are going to spend at the shelter because they will get adopted. Their success was astounding: the length of time spent went from 45 days down to 6.6 days.

One way that Brown made a brilliant change using Lean Six Sigma was to coordinate the right people to do said job. He did this by re-interviewing his staff and assigned their tasks based on their strengths. Now, the job of one person wouldn’t take more than just that one person. This reduced operating costs and freed up time to be better used.

Brown made sure he followed important guidelines by using Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters as well as Lean Six Sigma tools and methodologies to make important changes, which led to success. 

We just gave one example of how and what changes he made at the organization; there were many which we didn’t mention. One true testament is that there were many dogs living happily in their forever homes who are grateful to Brown and his use of Lean Six Sigma.

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