Planet Lean: The Official online magazine of the Lean Global Network
How we slashed waiting times for our customers

How we slashed waiting times for our customers

Zsolt Moczik
July 23, 2018

VIDEO INTERVIEW – A store manager explains how a simple kaizen reduced waiting times for customers who want to return products. We use today’s video to launch our Lean Improv contest.


Words: Zsolt Móczik, Deputy Store Manager, Praktiker Hungary


As a company, we want to make it easy for our customers to return products, should they wish to do so. So, when our transformation started, shortening the time it took them to return items quickly became a lean project at one of our stores in Budapest.

By observing the process, we realized that our Information Desk staff (those who in contact with customers returning products) wasn’t equipped to effectively and swiftly answer the query. They didn’t have the information they needed in order to make an informed decision on whether a product could be returned (if it’s been used, for instance, we don’t take it back), and as a resulted they used to rely on the salesperson from the area the product originally came from.

Not only did this mean a long wait for our customers, but also that our salespeople spent a staggering 51 days a year walking back and forth from their areas to the Information Desk, just to complete a process that other staff could have done… given the right information.

Take a look at this video to learn how we fixed the problem.


THE AUTHOR

Zsolt Móczik is the Deputy Store Manager of a Praktiker store in the outskirts of Budapest

Read more

Defining lean is useful, lean definitions are useless
May 16, 2019
Defining lean is useful, lean definitions are useless

FEATURE – In this article, the author reflects on how his understanding of lean thinking evolved over time – as did the way he defined it.

Continue reading
The Wells Fargo scandal teaches us lean must be nurtured
October 28, 2016
The Wells Fargo scandal teaches us lean must be nurtured

OPINION – The latest banking scandal had us all wonder whether Wells Fargo has lost its way. But how does a pioneering bank that once had lean at its heart betray its core values so profoundly?

Continue reading
Lean healthcare in Nigeria: the EHA Clinics story
June 17, 2025
Lean healthcare in Nigeria: the EHA Clinics story

FEATURE – Thanks to Lean, EHA Clinics improved safety, efficiency, and patient experience. Now they’re hoping their results will inspire a growing movement to transform healthcare across Nigeria.

Continue reading
When a book on lean thinking shapes management behaviors
March 6, 2017
When a book on lean thinking shapes management behaviors

FEATURE – When they realized their lean efforts had overlooked the crucial aspect of management behavior, AkzoNobel senior leaders turned to a great lean book for help with leadership development.

Continue reading

Read more

No items found.