How Lean Management Can Be Applied to a Grocery Retailer - Essay Example

The majority of people often do not see how lean thinking can be applied in a small business (Lau &Wang, 2013). This is due to the limited resources; however, small businesses such as small grocery stores can incorporate lean thinking in establishing a new business, expansion of the existing business, or in the placement of other branches in other regions. This paper discusses how a small grocery store owner can use lean thinking for the benefit of the business as well as of the clients.

Application of lean management to a grocery

Generally, the application of the lean approach in the context of a small business such as a greengrocery, allows the business to minimize its costs, minimize execution time, increase efficiency, reduce all types of wastes, as well as keep low inventories. Moreover, the approach contributes to the attainment of customer satisfaction, enhancement of the general product quality as well as increase the management morale, in this case, the grocer (Valentinova, 2015).

The major objective of using lean retail is basically a commitment to the elimination of wastes. Some of the waste in the context of a grocery store include excess supply that may result in the damage of the highly perishable products in a grocery. The grocer should ensure that the supply of products is directly proportional to the market demand. This reduces the damage of some of the highly perishable products such as tomatoes and kales. Moreover, the grocer should use preservative measures such as the use of freezers to preserve the perishable products. The owner should also ensure that the likelihood of defects of products is minimized to the lowest level possible. This can be ensured by taking all the required measures in the storage of products, for instance, while preserving perishable grocery products, the business owner should ensure that all the preservative measures are in place, for instance, the refrigeration time, period and ensuring that the products are preserved in the best condition (Sen, n.d.).

Moreover, the owner should avoid wastage of time in the business procedures. 

For instance, some groceries make home deliveries to their customers; late deliveries can lead to loss of customers due to as well as damage of goods during transportation. Furthermore, products from the farm should be preserved during transportation, that is in the context of highly perishable goods that may are transported for long distances before getting into the market. Moreover, retail grocers can use such tools and principles in the identification of all types of wastes that should be eliminated.

Some of the lean techniques that can be used in the management of a grocery include, simplification of the design of work. This means an organization of individual work, which should provide a high level of degree of feasibility as well as control. Secondly, the use of withdrawal to establish a replacement. This means that if the supply of products is fuelled by the demand of clients. There are various methods of achieving this; however, suppliers who do not use the lean depend on forecasts or anticipated demands.

 Grocers can use dry tests as well as minimal variable products that may help him or her evolve new facets in the existing grocery business. These two methods can be very instrumental in the introduction of new products; moreover, it prevents the grocer from experiencing the defection of products due to damage and expiry, therefore minimizing wastage in the business.

Run a dry test

This is a method of testing the response of the consumers to a new product into the market without actually launching it into the market. This strategy of launching new products gives the grocer a sense of the potential of the products to be launched as well as the reactions of the customers to your idea (Miina, 2012). For instance, a grocer may decide to launch the type of vegetable that is not common in the market in his or her region, before the initial launching, the grocer can choose to inform the customers that he will be introducing a new type of vegetable or fruits. According to the response of the customers, the grocer may either decide to introduce the product into the market or not depending on the data collected. This strategy is very beneficial since it allows the grocer to understand the viability of his or her ideas without investing money into the actual product (Venitz, 2015).

Potential issues with lean implementation

The potential issue of the use of the lean approach in a grocery is that it leads to overreliance on machines such as freezers. The initial cost as well the maintenance cost of these machines increases the running cost of the business. Moreover, choosing the right equipment is very critical in the success of the grocer since most of the perishable products will rely on performance (Venitz, 2015). Moreover, some of the lean approaches such as running a dry test may not succeed therefore leading to wastage of time that could be used in doing other activities. However, even if it does not involve investing in the product before launching it, the customers might respond positively during the collection of data, but during the initial launching of the products, they might respond negatively or even the demand might go down after some time. Thus, this might lead to issues of low demand and oversupply of the products