Integris Applied believes that its clients can and should remain “continuously contemporary,” keeping pace with customer demands and fast paced technological changes.  To support our clients’ goals we help them improve their business processes such as making procurements more efficient and timely, and streamlining decision making.  Most recently we helped the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) establish a pilot for a Lean Office focused on Procurement and Sourcing Governance.  We also provided the training for Kaizen Green Belt Certification to 10 GTA employees.

“We believe organizations must change and adapt to remain relevant.  Kaizen is a way of thinking that helps us and our clients assess any aspect of an operation with an objective viewpoint.  We were pleased to support GTA in its ongoing effort to use innovative methodologies to help serve Georgia’s citizens,” said Les Druitt, Integris Applied’s founder.

See what our client had to say in a recent all-employee note from Georgia CIO Calvin Rhodes…

You might remember that a few months ago we commissioned a team of eight GTA staff who were willing to learn and implement a proven philosophy for improving business processes. Kaizen – a Japanese term often translated as ongoing, continuous improvement – emphasizes finding creative ways to involve team members in improving business functions. The goal? Increased efficiency, productivity and teamwork.

After completing several hours of pre-requisite work, participating in three full days of training, and implementing pilot projects to put the concepts to the test, the team members were awarded Kaizen Green Belt Certification this week. In addition to GTA staff, the team included participants from Capgemini as well as our Integris Applied partners, who made the training available to us.

As they received their certifications from Deputy Executive Director Joe Webb at an event on Wednesday, the team presented their projects and shared lessons learned. The projects are already showing promise in several ways: ensuring that our GETS vendors meet their contractual obligations, preparing processes for serving GETS Ready customers, and streamlining the way we respond to open records requests.

The projects’ early success has fueled our interest in other ways that Kaizen concepts – also called Lean – can benefit GTA. Beginning January 1, we’ll pilot Lean Office in the Procurement and Sourcing Governance Office. With Joe Webb as executive sponsor and Shawn Whitney as facilitation lead, Chris McClendon and his team will work to build continuous improvement into their office management.

I appreciate the investment the team members are making in all the pilot projects, and I am confident that the work will continue to pay dividends for GTA.