In my article entitled ‘Putting the ‘O’ into security’ (Career Development, March 2007), I stated that airline managers had yet to use lean management to boost retail sales. My example served to illustrate how using security processes could contribute to an organisation.
In The Times article by David Robertson (issued dated 3 May), BMi chief Sir Michael Bishop echoed “the concerns of a number of airlines” in accusing the British Airports Authority of using security as a ‘weapon’ to force customers to arrive early at their airports in order to boost retail sales – thereby making the whole experience of flying less attractive and, arguably, more costly.
So, far from being a poor example of ill-designed processes resulting in low customer satisfaction, airport security is an excellent example of a badly thought-out process that has a deleterious impact on the customer experience and other stakeholders!
The example cited also shows how widely and extensively managers need to think when considering lean management, making other routes towards efficiencies far more attractive.
Del Hunter FREC FInstSMM
Director
SSR Personnel Services
