Written by Metro Caring is Denver’s front-line anti-hunger organization through poverty reduction. Those in need can choose from an array of nutritious foods based on their dietary needs and preferences, and leave with a week’s supply of groceries, including fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and lean protein.
They agreed to collaborate with members from the Colorado Lean Network (CLN) on a series of lean improvement events. CLN provided the free consulting to the nonprofit, while CLN members have the opportunity to observe real-time improvement events to increase their learning and hands-on experience.
- July 2018 – 6S organization event in the busiest walk-in coolers – Training and walk-through held on July 24th, organization event held July 31st.
- Nov 2018 – Current State Value Stream Mapping Event – focused on problem identification within the dry foods sorting and restocking processes.
- Feb 2019 – Value Stream Mapping Event – improvement planning on the dry foods sorting and restocking processes. The first session was held on Feb 13th to finish the current state mapping, and the second session was held on Feb 20th to complete the future state map and develop the action plan.
As a result of the improvements and support from CLN, they have been able to make improvements to their dry good stocking processes and they are seeing more full shelves than before.
Read a summary of the volunteer events at Metro Caring: https://coloradoleannetwork.org/2019/04/10/lean-in-the-community-event-recap-metro-caring/