Zack Scrivner, elected representative on the Kern County Board of Supervisors, reflects on a successful 2017 after deploying a Lean Six Sigma driven program, the LaunchKern Initiative. Open to every county employee, the program aimed to utilize their firsthand knowledge of processes to become better, faster and stronger. By focusing on the processes (and not the people), Kern County was able to save $24,000 in Behavioral Health & Recovery by changing their fleet policy, $120,000 through redesigning the tax bill by making them easier to understand and decreasing submission errors, and $27,000 by switching to an electronic benefit package. It didn’t end there, with Planning and Natural Resources using Lean Six Sigma to streamline their Oil and Gas permitting process, driving the turnaround time from nine months to seven days. It’s apparent Kern County has figured out a way to save money with out cutting employees, and with another great year ahead, they’ll look to stay the path to success equipped with Lean Six Sigma.
