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It’s all about cycle time and yield
Recently, I read in the newspaper 22,700 legal cases have been postponed because of capacity issues with judges and their staff. It reminded me of a discussion I had a few years ago. During a summer party, I had a chat with a judge who explained to me some of his challenges. At the time being involved with family-related conflicts, he mentioned a problem I was familiar with as an engineer: lead time. He told me that it took fourteen months on average to close a case in which one partner wanted to adjust the alimony.
Being trained in project management, Lean and QRM (Quick Response Manufacturing), I asked him two simple questions. Do you have one person in the organization responsible for the progress of the case? The answer was a resounding “no”. Then, I asked how much time it actually takes to resolve a case. His answer: about 32 hours. The rest of the time the case was sitting on the desk of some expert, waiting for his or her input.
I recognized the enormous opportunity to improve efficiency and suggested he should contact an expert in Lean and QRM I know. A few months later, I inquired whether any progress had been made. He replied there had been some consultations, but in the end, management decided there was no money available for a process consultant. You can imagine how I feel these days when I read about capacity problems at the Dutch courts.