Lean Production: Why Small Batches are Better Than Large Batches
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Staten Island, NY Posted: 7/22/2016 1:00:00 AM
If you have a large number of items to put together, it may be better to do them one by one, instead of like an assembly line.
Let's say you're in the widget business, and you decide to put together 1000 widgets that contain 4 parts each. How would you go about it?
Most people would start by building 1000 of each of the 4 parts, then use a traditional assembly line approach by systematically assembling the parts in one big batch.
They start by adding part 1 to part 2, then repeating it 1000 times. Next, they take the combined results from the first step, and add part 3, repeating this step 1000 times. After that, they add the 4th part to each of the units to complete the widget. If all goes well, you now have 1000 widgets.
As efficient as that sounds, there's actually a better way... The "Lean Manufacturing" way.
To build the same 1000 widgets using the Lean approach, you wouldn't start by building 1000 of each of the parts. Instead, you build just a few of each part, and instead of putting them together with a traditional assembly line, you assemble each one from beginning to end, before moving on to the next one.
If you're unfamiliar with Lean Manufacturing, you're probably wondering why the heck you would want to build each widget one at a time, or why you wouldn't want to start with 1000 of each of the parts. The surprising thing is that unlike the traditional approach, the Lean approach is not only faster, but it yields a higher quality product.
One reason is that when you follow a Lean approach, with each widget you build, you have the ability to improve both the parts and the assembly procedures, so that chances are, the 1000th Widget will include dozens or even hundreds of small improvements that you didn't anticipate when you started.
For example, in the traditional approach, after assembling the first 3 parts, you may discover that the 4th part doesn't quite fit, or perhaps some of the first customers using it started sending them back because one of the parts tends to wear out too soon. Unfortunately, you are now stuck with nearly 1000 completed units that all share the same flaws and faulty components.
Using the Lean approach, you discover the flaws as you build each one, and make improvements along the way, so that each one is potentially better than the last, and you're never stuck with an inventory of flawed widgets that you need to either fix or throw away.
I've been a big fan of Lean for years after reading an amazing book written by Paul Akers called "2 Second Lean" (Sorry, I mentioned the wrong title in the video). It's one of the best books on Lean out there, mainly because the book itself... is Lean. Paul doesn't waste his time on unnecessary words. He get to the point, and gives you clear examples of Lean in his business and personal life.
Lean is a way of life, and each day I try to find ways to apply it to my daily routines... Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way how I should've incorporated Lean into the way I make my daily Idea videos.
Every couple of weeks, I shoot as many as 10-15 videos in one large batch, thinking that will save me time, but because I often have technical issues, I've often ended up spending a lot of time trying to fix lighting, sound or color problems that end up being part of all 15 videos.
It's bad enough having a couple of videos with those kinds of problems, but trying to fix all of them is a big waste of time, and it still doesn't yield the quality I strive to produce.
Lesson learned. Next time, smaller batches.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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