Service Operations Management is Different from Manufacturing. These Articles Explain How and Shows Best Practices You Can Apply Today

The fourth principle in Lean Consumption (or Lean for Service Organizations is1: Provide exactly what the customer wants, where it is wanted This principle rests on the notion of convenience and price. Based on experience, we pay a lot for convenience. But, the Lean for Service Operations mindset takes a different route. It is possible to […]

The third principle in Lean Services (or Lean for Service Operations is 1: Provide exactly what the customer wants. This principle rests on the notion of Pull. Rather than relying on large, expensive, centralized forecasting systems (which are almost always wrong), Lean for Service Operations looks at the situation with a rapid and frequent replenishment mindset. […]

The second principle in Lean Consumption (or Lean for Service Operations is1: Customer Value and Don’t Waste the Customer’s Time Obvious at first glance, but what seems obvious to us or common sense is surprisingly not common practice at all. Indeed, a good majority of my posts are actually a look at waiting or queueing. Why? […]

The first principle of Lean Consumption is1: Solve the customer’s problem completely by insuring that all the goods and services work, and work together. The service industry has become a large, complex, and convoluted mix of services that don’t work well together. What companies do, instead, is compensate for the parts not working together through the creation […]

The principles of Lean Thinking 1 has gone well beyond the factory floor. With the rise of more consumer – provider services, the service industry2 is quite ripe and in need of the principles of Lean Thinking. In an article back in 2005, Womack and Jones expand the principles of Lean Thinking in an article […]