When
a
target
came
down
from
corporate
to
save
$25
million
in
a
year
by
elimi-
nating
waste
the
goal
seemed
daunting,
but
after
observation
at
the
gemba,
opportuni-
ties
were
abundant.
With
the
help
of
consultants,
corporate
developed
“A
Better
Way”
standards
for
common
high-frequency
activities
in
the
stores
(brewing
coffee,
making
other
bever-
ages,
preparing
Frappuccinom,
loading
the
pastry
case,
etc.).
In
formulating
the
sys-
tem,
corporate
made
a
number
of
discoveries.
For
example,
the
lead
time
for
espresso
drinks
was
faster
if
two
beverages
were
prepared
in
parallel,
with
the
machine
pro-
cessing one
while
the
barista
prepared
the
other.
Astonishingly,
it
was
discovered
that
there
was
no
standard
system
for
making
urns
of
brewed
coffee.
Another
big
problem
was
running
out
of
brewed
coffee
from
large urns,
leaving
customers
waiting.
The
existing
process
called
for
the
four
urns
to
be
assigned
to
a
particular
coffee
type:
two
for
medium
roast,
one
for
bold,
and
one
for
decaf.
An
obnoxious
buzzer
went
off
every
30
minutes
when
a
timer
expired
and
it
was
time
to
make
the
next
batch.
It
took
7
minutes
to
make
the
batch,
and
so
there
was
a
mini-
mum
of
7
minutes
until that
type
of
coffee
would
become
available
again
(1
minute
changeover
and
6
minutes
brewing).
So
roughly
25
percent
of
the
time—by
design
of
the
recommended
SOP—bold
and
decaf
coffee
weren’t
available
for
customers,
and
that’s
if
everything
went
as
planned.
And
there
was
no
clear
role
responsible
for
mak-
ing
the
coffee,
and
it
often
was
delayed
further,
waiting
for
someone
to
get
freed
up.
With
the
Better
Way,
the
coffee
in
urns
was
now
brewed
in
an
8-minute
cadence.
Just
as
a
specific
type
of
coffee
(e.g.,
bold)
was
expiring,
that
same
type
of
coffee
was
fin-
ishing
the
brewing
process
and
thus
becoming
available
(see
Figure
5.5).
A
floater,
who
previously
supported
mainly
the
barista
and
cashier,
now
was
expected
to
pre-
pare
coffee
every
8
minutes
and
fit
in
the
other
tasks
in
between.
As
it
turned
out,
this
also
improved
the
quality
of
the
coffee
and
reduced
wasted
labor.
Previous
Process:
¢
Coffee
unavailable
Prep
:
¢
Coffee
quality
lower
1
min
Coi"fezej1
available
¢
Extra
labor
for
batch
grinding
min
Coffee
available
Coffee
brewing
unavailable
for
7
minutes
Just
as
one
batch
of
a
particular
coffee
type
expires,
a
new
batch
of
the
same
type
Brewed
coffee
'
/
P
=
becomes
available
repeatable
routine
1.
Reset
single
timer
2.
Drain
“twin”
server
at
sink
3.
Grind
coffee
4.
Clean
brew
basket
and
server
5.
Load
brew
basket
&
Brew
coffee
[HIITHEm
'
'
2
sminuies
[
|||
INEESSEITEELELL
Figure
5.5
Better
Way
for
brewed
coffee
—prior
condition
compared
with
new
stan-
dardized work.
Source:Starbucks.
As
sensible
as
these
ideas
seemed,
they
did
not
always
work
as
planned
at
the
store
level.
For
example,
there
was
not
always
staffing
for
a
floater,
and
what
hap-
pened
when
the
floater
was
busy
with
support
work
that
he
or
she
could
not
just
drop?
Fortunately,
the
corporate
team
had
learned
the
value
of
flexibility
and
local
adapta-
[0
IR
10l
5
(76
[0
W1
TORYA
S
To
B
[
BT
TR
{0
(D
4
V1
TS
B
There
was
no
way
any
corporate
team
can
come
up
with
one
best
way
for
all
stores—or
even
one
store.
Instead
each
leader
was asked
to
select
and
adopt
a
“seed
store”
and
try
out
the
Better
Way
for
themselves.
Then,
with
the:>
store
team,
use
the
problem
solving
skills
they
were
trained
in
to
tailor
i
routine
to
that
specific
store’s
situation
(layout
of
equipment
and
custon
flow,
beverage
demand
and
mix,
etc.).
