A lot of people assume that when it comes to management styles (including but not limited to quality management), they really only apply to large international corporations and conglomerates. This is not true at all, and small companies stand to benefit just as much from good management styles are large companies. When it comes to just how much money is saved with a change in management style, the results tend to vary depending on how broken or inadequate the old system really was.
Lean production manufacturing tends to do a really good job when it comes to embarrassing old management styles and showing everyone just how flawed they really were. Unlike with other styles, lean production, or simply lean, does not focus on changing everything about how a system is already functioning. Lean focuses on efficiency, and taking the time to rewire a business just to fit in a new management style would certainly not be effective. This is why lean takes the existing system and simply works to improve on it by identifying the obstacles in the way of making it a truly effective system.
Examining the waste hidden inside a system, lean looks deep into everything that might disrupt the flow of an effective system and sets out to find a way to fix it. Now when it comes to small businesses also benefiting from lean, it really pans itself out when laid out and looked at more closely.
Help the Small Ones
Small businesses are not exempt from the major flaw of managing employees and resources poorly, and many people take this to be real since they believe the smaller amount of things to manage makes it simpler. Now while it may apply to some businesses, most of them will still be woefully unequipped to handle the amount of resources they have effectively and intelligently.
Lean production manufacturing looks at removing waste from an existing system, and the smaller the system, the easier it is to lay out every step and examine which ones might be suspect to waste. Waste does not just mean wasted resources, it also applies to things like problems with scheduling, possibility of injury in the workplace, and disruption of the smoothness or flow of a system.
All these things pose serious threats to efficiency, and when a small business chooses to change how things work for them, they open themselves to serious increase in profits thanks to just how effective lean can be for them.
Everyone’s a Winner
Lean helps all different sorts of businesses, whether they are large, small, international, or mom and pop shops. The mindset implemented into managers when they adopt this system helps them rationalize how things should be done and really examine the system from afar. A mind not invested in the system is more open to altering it, and lean helps out at doing just that.