Last time, we dug deep into the topic of smaller dosage and the impact of this approach towards the company. We learned that it’s the management that needs to start the shift in the dosage and that the environment plays a crucial role in the results. This topic still provides us with a lot of invaluable information which can solve many problems today’s startups are facing. And you know me. I’m eager to give value to anyone who is willing to look for it. So let’s dig even deeper and see what more can this topic teach us.
Keep calm and don’t lose your FOCUS
Imagine a situation when you are a manager of a team. Your team works in large doses. There are several products that your company produces and you have to be ready for (literally) anything. You are the one responsible for everything when something goes wrong. The truth is that in a position of the manager, you have to check and rebuild the product at least 4 times (and that’s a fact) before the production process goes smoothly. This means that there will be a lot more pressure on you and on your team. Nobody wants that. Especially, when the pressure could be lowered by working smart, not hard. Here comes the game changer. Why would you try to solve the problems with the product and adjust it to the process, rather than adjust the process itself?
The answer why nobody does think like that is that many managers tend to stick to the good ol’ ways and their instincts that tell them to create more because that automatically means more sales. BAD.
The key to solving the negatives that come with large dosage is seeing and trusting in the results which come after lowering the dosage. The efficiency comes with a lot of work prior to implementing the change. The crucial key elements have to be all adapted to this change and have to be in agreement.
A great example is a huge company with a system of warehouses. It’s not only the stores that have to be aligned with smaller dosages. But also the warehouses where the spare part are stored. In this case, when a client comes to a store with a need for a spare part, you only have to call to the nearest warehouse for that concrete part. Once the warehouse runs out of these parts the system will create a virtual hole and it will automatically assign few parts for transport into the warehouse. And all of this in very small numbers. This will highly lower the risk of the part being broken or low on quality, while no one will have to be worried about the whole production process being compromised because of one spare part. Time/money/energy saved.
Supply Chain on a Diet
The main theory, the core of the whole methodology with smaller dosage is: Produce as much as it’s demanded by your customers. Why? Because anything more is a waste (as of that concrete time) and when the demand is higher, you can be sure that with smaller dosages you can cover the demand efficiently, while being confident that the setbacks will be solved in no time. That’s what you need to understand as a startup. Being fast is the other name for smaller dosages. And being fast is a huge competitive advantage in any industry. Only a few companies can manage to be both fast and have a high quality of their products.
I’m not going to be romantic about this. There’s a lot of work before a company can be as efficient as companies in the situations I pointed out above. But what’s more, there is no right plan on how to do it. Each company needs a little bit different approach. The company culture and hierarchy are always different. And so are the approaches towards manufacturing. It needs not only the mindset (it’s super important to believe in the benefits) but also being highly practical. You need to know your company really good in order to execute smaller doses in a proper way. And of course, you need the right people around you. Without the right support and the willingness of the people who are important in the process, the execution will be very hard.
Make sure you cover these points, understand your company and be precise with execution!
Let me know if you found yourself in a situation when you wished you were more efficient with the production process and feel free to share with us how you managed to solve the problems. Thanks!
Source: www.oddleaks.com
