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Innovation at Work:
Lean Thinking and Smart Shravani Bhatkar
Automation for Success Associate Analyst, SG Analytics
shravani.bhatkar7@gmail.com
Batch- 2022-24
In an era where like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Material, Measurement, and Environment) helped
Learning, and Large Language Models dominate teams engage in structured problem-solving.
conversations around innovation, it’s important to
remember that breakthrough success doesn’t always Another highly effective tool we’ve leveraged is
need to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes, the Pareto Chart, which has enabled us to apply the
it’s the simple, intelligent use of existing tools that 80/20 rule with precision. In one instance, Pareto
can spark the most impactful transformations. analysis revealed that a majority—nearly 80%—of
customer complaints were linked to just 20% of our
At my current organization SG Analytics—a firm process steps. By channelling our efforts toward
set in the Data Insights and Research sector—we’ve those specific areas, we saw a substantial reduction
embarked on a journey to improve productivity, in complaints within a single quarter, significantly
quality, and cost-effectiveness through smart improving client satisfaction—all without adding
process innovations. By combining Lean Six Sigma costs or expanding the team.
principles with practical automation techniques,
we’ve witnessed firsthand how even small changes Automation: The Power of Simple Tools
can lead to big results. While large-scale tech transformations often grab
headlines, we’ve found immense value in automating
Lean Six Sigma: A Culture of Continuous routine tasks using simple tools like VBA macros
Improvement in Microsoft Excel. These macros have helped us
Lean Six Sigma has become more than a automate repetitive and time-consuming activities
methodology—it’s part of our operational DNA. such as:
We’ve used its structured approach to identify • Daily work allocation across teams based on pre-
inefficiencies and reduce variations in defined logic
several processes. One of the key tools • Auto-generation and emailing of productivity
that has helped us drill down into and quality dashboards
root causes is Fishbone Analysis • Alert systems for SLA breaches or
(Ishikawa diagrams). Whether the anomalies
issue was missed deadlines,
quality errors, or high rework The impact? A significant reduction
rates, visualizing potential in manual errors, enhanced
causes across categories consistency in reporting, and a
(Man, Method, Machine, saving of nearly 20+ work hours
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