everlean is the most recent startup in the etventure portfolio and offers a digital solution to support lean management activities. The idea behind it is that employees themselves are the best experts in their processes, as they deal with them on a day-to-day basis and see problems and opportunities for improvement. everlean now enables people to submit their suggestions for improvement simply through an app and to follow the implementation status digitally. The initial customers are already very positive about the tool.

The tool from everlean – as shown in Lean magazine

“I think everlean is terrific. Its configuration is excellent for monitoring tasks and you also have the option to contribute ideas remotely,” said Inga Bauer, proprietor of Bauer & Böcker, one of everlean’s first customers. This quote comes from a current article in Lean magazine. The trade magazine took a close look at everlean’s app-based solution and showed it in direct use at Bauer & Böcker, a manufacturer of LED lights, magnet solutions for trade and industry, and provider of laser marking services.

The everlean tool is based on a very simple insight, namely that employees who have to deal with particular activities and processes on a day-to-day basis are also in the best position to know how to improve them – whether this is in production, logistics or in the back office. It might sound trivial, but this potential is frequently underused in everyday business. Suggestions for improvement are either not expressed or they never reach the relevant manager.

Lean magazine clearly shows how valuable this expert knowledge is. “According to an independent study by the German Institute for Business Management (dib), there is an average saving of EUR 1,272 per suggestion ‒ in the case of a number of employees over several years, the amount often wasted by companies quickly becomes millions. In most companies, it is not clear who to contact, processes are paper-based and bureaucratic, and employees often wait for months or even years for feedback on their ideas.”

Continuous improvement via app

This is the focal point for everlean. Employees can simply enter their suggestions for improvement and process improvement ideas into the app and forward them directly to the relevant manager. Employees can then also follow the implementation status digitally, e.g. via a central monitor. This makes processes simpler and leaner, companies benefit from their employees’ creativity and ‒ last but not least ‒ employees feel that they have a real share in the company’s success. This can also be seen in the example of Bauer & Böcker. “By using everlean, Bauer & Böcker GmbH employees are more strongly committed to contributing suggestions and, thanks to the transparent presentation, they have an immediate feeling of success when their suggestions are implemented.”

Here is a video in German language explaining how everlean’s app-based solution works: