Hi Ghibson.


I have found that when business expand, especially when this expansion is rapid, they struggle to cope.

Throughput and productivity go down, WIP and inventory goes up.


Now if that expansion is only temporary followed by a return to normal operating, then business (management) may not see the need in changing and improving.

However, if that expansion is continued then the WIP & inventory growth will be very problematic in terms of fulfilling orders and getting paid (Working Capital Excellence).


This will have a detrimental effect on the business operations, as they take more people on to progress work, productivity keeps declining and inventory will keep building....


Ok, so I have painted an apocalyptic future (in business terms), but you can see that whilst not being lean may not kill a company, it certainly doesn't do it any good.


There is a great book, The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, which explains this in great detail.

Ghibson,


Business expansion, along with any change, will require planning including attention to change management (CM). CM should be a combination of planned and emergent change. The emergent change will involve organisational learning and adaption for processes that develop as the business expansion matures. In my view, lean will still be very relevant, but remember it involves the whole supply chain who can expand together.

When business expand they often forget to engage with their most valuable assets - Employees. They can support the rapid expansion of their business (employer) if they feel part of the future and are communicated with on how any changes might affect them. No project or expansion can truly be successful without employee engagement.


John Kotter wrote about leading change some years ago. Leading Change (2006) was the book I read many times. As with many lean initiatives and approaches rebranding takes place, however the message remains the same if you get to the detail and use it as it was intended.