Lean Process Integration

Company Profile: Incorporated in 1904, the City of Conroe, Texas, is a mid-size city of over 49,000 residents that employs approximately 500 full-time employees. Conroe is located 45 miles north of Houston and is the largest city in Montgomery County – one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.

Project: As a result of a surge in its population, Conroe has seen a significant increase in tax revenue. Wanting to ensure that the public’s money was being utilized responsibly, Conroe’s city manager turned to TechSolve to help implement a Lean program in all City departments.

Conroe partnered with TechSolve to introduce a new continuous improvement culture that would lead to the improved quality and efficiency of city work processes and employees. TechSolve’s Jumpstart to Lean included customized solutions and kaizen events to empower Conroe employees to find innovative approaches to current processes. To ensure that these efforts were ongoing, TechSolve coached the City’s internal auditor to lead process improvement events.

Results: Conroe’s efficiency efforts have enabled the City to save time, workforce, and costs. For City departments and employees, as well as Conroe citizens and businesses, “Conroe Lean” has realized:

  • Over 30% (from 35 to 24 days) reduction in its permitting process by eliminating non-value-added steps
  • $175,000 in cost savings through the consolidation of janitorial services
  • 100,000 in annual interest savings by creating a purchase schedule of city vehicles and eliminating leases
  • Approximately $100,000/year savings in employee time by hiring a part-time mail clerk to eliminate multiple trips by staff throughout the city to hand-deliver mail items
  • Over $1,450,000 in hard-dollar savings from all improvement projects combined

“The Lean process integration into the City of Conroe culture has been a great success thus far.  TechSolve staff empowered our employees to take the lead in following a user-friendly process.”

Management Team Member