Chapter 17: Managing Service and Manufacturing Operations GOING LEAN AT STARBUCKS It started off as a day basically like any other. You went into the Starbucks that you manage, helped employees open, and thought about making a dent in the mountain of paperwork left over from the previous week. But then you got an unexpected visit from a team at the corporate office. They started talking about the need to lower labour costs, improve efficiency, and increase productivity. When you asked them how they planned on doing all that, they responded, "Lean production." They informed you that lean production is a management philosophy derived from Toyota that is focused on reducing waste. Whether it's wasted motion, wasted time, or wasted parts, the goal of lean production is to eliminate waste so that all an organization can do is work efficiently. The executives then show you all the "waste" that's in your store right nowbaristas bending over to scoop coffee from a counter below, others waiting for coffee to fully drain before starting a new pot, one worker carrying trays of pastries from storage to the display case, another spending 10 seconds per drink to read the milk label. They even