Kaizen & Lean Six Sigma For Enhancing Ad Operations Service Levels

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How Forbes.com Used Lean Six Sigma To Enhance Ad Operations Service Levels

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Client: Forbes.com Advertising Operations
Industry: Media (Other)
Service: Kaizen Event

Challenge:
Forbes.com wanted to take its Advertising Operations to the next level. The team wanted to set itself apart and provide an even better level of service to internal and external customers by:

Improving transparency through the process
Creating innovative methods of gathering and using customer information so they could offer customers the most effective advertising solutions

Solutions:
Guidon Performance Solutions helped Forbes.com:

Streamline the insertion order process and make it more transparent
Gather more client information upfront, allowing employees to come up with effective and creative solutions
Increase efficiency by changing the format of insertion orders

Results:
By making minor improvements to the advertising insertion order process, Forbes.com:

Reduced the number of steps for order processing by 62 percent
Eliminated any potential order input errors
Improved the level of service they provided their customers

Forbes.com was ready for a new challenge and wanted to take its Advertising Operations to the next level. The company saw an opportunity to streamline processes and make operations even more efficient – and they saw some of the results companies outside of the publishing industry experienced with Lean Six Sigma. They wanted to be a pioneer in their industry and one of the first to implement Lean Six Sigma in publishing.

Forbes.com enlisted the help of Guidon Performance Solutions to conduct two intensive Kaizen events with members of the advertising operations, sales, and finance departments. Because the advertising operations department is so closely tied to both sales and finance, and because inter-department communication was a key focus, it was critical for members of each department to participate in the Kaizen. Working together, the Kaizen team found a number of opportunities to build upon the existing process and make it even more efficient and effective.

One of the improvements the team made during the Kaizen was to change the workflow between the ad operations, sales and finance departments. By making minor adjustments, the team found ways to more easily and efficiently share information which improved inter-departmental communication. In addition, the Kaizen team found a way to improve the format of the electronic insertion orders so they were easier to read on the screen and could be processed faster – resulting in faster approvals and happy customers.

At the conclusion of the Kaizen events, the team was enthusiastic about what they accomplished and saw the potential for using Lean Six Sigma in other ways that would have a positive impact on their individual roles and the company as a whole. As a result of actions taken after the Kaizen events, several key improvements were made, including:

Reduced the number of steps for order processing by 62 percent
Eliminated any potential for order input errors
Improved the level of service they provided their customers

Because of the changes, Forbes.com is acquiring more in-depth information about customer goals and key metrics, and the advertising team as a whole can come up with more effective, creative solutions for their customers – thereby increasing the desired results. Customer satisfaction has increased, which contributes to better outcomes, as well as greater loyalty and satisfaction.