The number and value of process improvements that do not require new technology routinely exceeds that of technology dependent improvements by a factor of 3 to 1* - sometimes more. Meanwhile, non-technology improvements require much less time to implement and yield greater returns in shorter time frames. That’s why The Lab focuses exclusively on non-technology, or technology neutral, improvements.

Non-technology does not mean “anti-technology.” Streamlining your business processes almost always helps your technology projects run smoother. Frequently, the non-technology improvements generate such a large savings that these can fund, either partially or totally, your company’s technology-based initiatives.

*Based on The Lab’s survey of over 200 internal improvement initiatives at Fortune 500 companies.

Improvements by Technology Dependency

Our proven template-based approach drastically reduces the time required to identify and implement the most valuable improvements, whether it is for a single business process or enterprise-wide operations.

More Templates = Less Time

The Lab's template-based approach makes rapid, large-scale, activity-level improvement feasible by capitalizing on similar, recurring opportunities. These templates also reduce the time required from clients to develop findings and documentation. In short, our templates apply the power of the learning curve to your business improvement efforts.

Template Definitions

The Lab's Six Categories of Improvement Templates

We define “templates” broadly, ranging from business process maps through implementation work plans.

	Business Process Map Templates The Lab maintains activity level business process definitions for more than 200 standard, organization-based processes and over 1,000 for industry-specific processes.
	Improvement Opportunities The Lab documents and catalogs thousands of commonly recurring, activity-level improvements.
	Best Practices Use The Lab’s Best Practices to evaluate your operational capabilities. Go “out-of-industry” for valuable, leading edge practices.
	Benchmarking & Metrics The Lab has over 4,000 quantitative measures [metrics] covering processes, operations and organizations.
	Capacity Models & Forecasting Tools These quantitatively link work activities to volumes, input and other key performance indicators to forecast resource needs and track productivity.
	Implementation Work Plans Standard work plan “modules” define implementation tasks, time frames, and milestones. Plans are “configured to order” to meet individual client needs.

“Self-Funding” means that the value of the improvements is greater than the cost of implementation. In fact, it is typically many times greater. Each step of the Lab’s standardized project plan is designed to pay for itself – often in six months or less.

The Lab analyzes operations and develops a self-funding implementation plan in eight weeks or less. Once implementation begins, financial break-even is typically achieved in six months.

The Lab’s “templatized” approach is so predictably effective that we provide money-back guarantees ensuring that all of our work is self-funded and that our clients are completely satisfied. Since The Lab opened its doors in 1993, we have never failed to achieve self-funding on any of our projects. Our work always pays for itself several times over.

The Lab's Projects Typically Self-Fund in 6 Months

virtuous waste: /ˈvər-chə-wəs wāst/ noun

1. Intangible waste disguised as good, honest, work effort

Virtuous Waste consumes 25-40% of organizational capacity in rework, distorts perceptions of customers and markets and impedes sales and service performance. If your company's improvement teams have not yet found all of these improvements, don't be discouraged; even the best internal teams typically find only 20%, or fewer, of these opportunities. That's because Virtuous Waste improvement poses major challenges to conventional improvement tactics. The Lab's tactics avoid these pitfalls to help improvement teams uncover 4 to 5 times more non-technology [Class I™] improvements.

The Lab works with existing internal improvement teams and project sponsors to prioritize improvement opportunities and project objectives based on senior management’s areas of concern, or “red issues.” Once these red issues have been defined, we work side-by side with the client to determine the most frugal, cost effective analytical "foot print" and design a self-funding project proposal document. Once this proposal is approved, The Lab can typically begin Phase I within two weeks.

The Lab's deceptively simple strategy enhances the ability of existing internal teams and creates confidence and cooperation within all levels of the organization.