Hitachi Vantara Case study

CASE STUDY: Hitachi Vantara solves 40% of the problems reported by its employees using the Sherlock Waste app!

CUSTOMER

Just after the New Year we began cooperation with Hitachi Data Systems (now Hitachi Vantara). The Polish branch of this global organization is a center operating in Cracow since 2007 and closely cooperating with the branch in Kuala Lumpur, providing financial and accounting services for all Hitachi units in Europe and the Americas. In addition, the Krakow branch supports operations in areas such as: HR, Business Intelligence, IT and after-sales customer support.
PROBLEM
A team keeping a watchful eye on the spirit of continuous improvement approached us looking for an innovative solution to elevate employee involvement in the existing system for submitting ideas and improvements.

SOLUTION

This initiative led to the implementation of the Sherlock Waste platform for all employees of the Center in Krakow and in Kuala Lumpur. We combined this event with the official launch and the "9 Wastes" workshop, which we conducted almost simultaneously on-site in Krakow and in the Malaysian capital.

EFFECTS

In addition to the employees involved in this initiative, who submitted as many as 163 problems and 160 ideas for their removal, leaders, managers and the Improvement Team also showed great commitment. As of today, we know of 22 removed problems and 44 ideas that are regularly implemented. That's up to 40% of the implementations from the solutions given.
We also conducted an anonymous survey of employees to see what they thought of the new tool. Some responses, such as this one, exceeded our wildest expectations!

"Created to share ideas and build cooperation between Krakow and Kuala Lumpur."

We also asked Mr. Pawel Sulinski, who is in the position of Business Development and Continuous Improvement Director, what he thought of our application:

"Sherlock Waste is a fast, simple and intuitive tool for reporting problems and ideas for fixing them. I was also persuaded to decide to use it by its transparent form: everyone can see the submissions and anyone can add an idea with a solution. Sherlock Waste is worth recommending to any company that does not yet have any improvement system in place, and one that wants to re-engage employees in this initiative."

As Sherlock Waste also has an element of positive gamification on the basis of awarding points for entries, we announced a contest. Its conclusion was celebrated with the distribution of prizes, certificates and considerable refreshments.

Hitachi Vantara

Solve 40% of problems with Sherlock Waste

Hitachi Vantara, operating in Poland since 2007, is a center for financial and accounting services and support in the areas of HR, Business Intelligence, IT and after-sales services for Hitachi units in Europe and the Americas.

Challenge

Hitachi Vantara was looking for an innovative solution to elevate employee involvement in the existing system for submitting ideas and improvements. The goal was to increase operational efficiency by actively involving employees in the process of submitting problems and ideas for solutions.

Solution

The Sherlock Waste platform was implemented for all employees of the center in Krakow and Kuala Lumpur. The implementation process was combined with "9 Wastes" workshops conducted simultaneously at both locations.

Processes and action steps

Employee training

Training on how to use the platform was conducted so that each employee could effectively report and monitor problems.

Integration with operational processes

The platform has been integrated into the company's day-to-day operational processes, making it possible to monitor requests on an ongoing basis.

Monitoring and analysis

Regular monitoring of requests and analysis of their content by a dedicated quality management team.

Implementation of solutions

Based on employee requests and suggestions, effective solutions were implemented, which helped improve process efficiency.

Achieved results

As a result of implementing Sherlock Waste, York has seen impressive results in the first period:

reported problems

added ideas

0 %

reported problems have been solved

removed problems

ideas implemented

Sherlock Waste is a quick, simple and intuitive tool for reporting problems and ideas for fixing them. The transparent format, where everyone can see the submissions and add their ideas, convinced me to use it. Sherlock Waste is worth recommending to any company that wants to re-engage employees in improvement initiatives.