Sense of Change: Success Story Staufen AG

Lean Sales – Team performance
instead of solo success
Spurred on by success in production and driven forward by internally
trained lean experts, FEIG then focused on other areas.
Sales Director Franz-Josef Kaiser was initially still skeptical when it
was finally his department‘s turn. No wonder: Sales rose by up to
12 percent annually – a remarkable achievement that he in no
way wanted to jeopardize.
But this success came at the price of a considerable workload.
Almost every process in the area first landed on the sales director‘s
desk – without him practically nothing got off the ground.
Certainly a risky system, because if such a key person is absent
once, even temporarily, the wheels stop turning. Moreover, the
long-standing sales director was set to retire. And the sales professional
was determined to ensure an smooth transition for his
successor. So, he decided to put lean to the test.
And with complete success, because within a short time
Franz-Josef Kaiser became a true advocate for the lean philosophy:
"I am convinced that companies can only survive in
the future if they work according to lean principles. We now
have a completely different culture in sales and are an even
stronger team than before." Visualization and efficient regular
communication make up the core of the new system. Using
Shop Floor Management boards, he and each of his employees
can see the status of various sales projects and key
figures at a glance. This alone saves the sales manager almost
an entire workday a week, which would otherwise be spent in
endless one-on-one meetings. Short-cycle regular communication
takes place once a week, a quick meeting within the sales
department. Exchange with other departments takes place once
a month.
Employees have also experienced a significant change. Administrative
burdens in sales managers‘ activity profiles have been
significantly reduced. They can concentrate on their core tasks
– namely supporting dynamic growth through systematic initiatives
and continuously improving processes with cross-area CIP.
8 STAUFEN. | FEIG