The Impact of Standardization and Small Batches on Performance and Output Throughout history, humankind has continuously tried to create things and

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Running head: STANDARDIZATION AND SMALL BATCHES 2

STANDARDIZATION AND SMALL BATCHES 2

The Impact of Standardization and Small Batches on Performance and Output

Maleeha Latif

BIT 575 – Final Paper

Dr. Andrew Aken

The Impact of Standardization and Small Batches on Performance and Output

Throughout history, humankind has continuously tried to create things and innovate with what they had in order to make their lives easier. The world is constantly evolving, and we have had exponential increases in technological advancements. To continue this innovation and improvement, incorporating the concept of standardization and the process of small batches is extremely important. In order to allow ease, less waste, less mistakes, easy maintenance, and faster results, we must allow newer and better processes to replace our current ones. This paper will delve into what exactly standardization and small batches do to tasks and how they impact the performance and output of projects, professional or academic as mentioned in the Appendix.

Standardization

Standardization is the process of ensuring that the different machines or systems one would use to complete a task are similar in build, concept, and function (Limoncelli et al., 2017). What standardization does is ensure that commonly performed tasks are written up as a process and done the exact same way every time, regardless of who is doing them. These standard guidelines can make the lives of staff much easier and avoid confusion and chaos (Brandall, 2018). Common tasks could include dealing with customer complaints, onboarding new hires, sending out a supply request, certificate renewal and other such often repeated work. The IT industry has constantly made use of standardization, and which has allowed increased efficiencies in production and productivity (Lee et al., 2019).

Any work done in an organization that has been done before should be written down, coded, and recorded so that there are rules and guidelines in place. This ensures that no matter who takes on what task, they are able to perform is exactly as another (Brandall, 2018). It does not even have to be IT or systems administration based. Standardization can be used in any situation where it fits. For example, having a standard at home for doing laundry can help. Light colored clothing and dark colored clothing are washed separately. That is a standard. Whether mom, dad, brother, or sister decides to do laundry, they all could be told this standard that they must maintain. Similarly, in college, professors and instructors could have their standards that are set. If the instructions clearly state that you must submit a one-page, double spaced paper and the instructor will only count content as a part of the one-page, students should understand that in order to get a good grade, they need to meet that standard.

Standardization can decrease the amount of time employees take during the trial-and-error phase (Brandall, 2018). A set process that is laid out for everyone means that employees do not need to figure out the best or fastest way to do a certain task. Standards are usually set based on the best way to do a task so quality control becomes less of an issue as well (Brandall, 2018). Basically, standardization makes everyone’s life easier. It helps employees do their jobs correctly with minimal mistakes, allows easy maintenance, decreases waste, and encourages uniformity. Of course, when the organization is presented with an issue or problem that it has not had experience with before, standardization cannot work, and the trial-and-error process must take place. Standardization of IT processes have been quite common for a while and different data models and software processes have been created for organizations to ease into standardization (Laakso & Kiviniemi, 2012).

Impact of Standardization on Performance and Output

One of the main benefits standardizations has is that it clears up any confusion and clearly lays out how a process should be performed (Brandall, 2018). There is no need for employees to test and figure out the best way to do something because a standard has been created. This increases performance and output because less time and less waste occur while performing commonly occurring tasks.

Along with confusion comes the risk of losing quality (Brandall, 2018). When employees do not know the correct instructions or processes to use, they try different things. Some of these things work while others do not. The ones that do not work, negatively impact quality and produce even more issues down the road.

Once a process is standardized and the process is understood, the organization can go forward and standardize other processes. This creates a benefit to the organization in terms of time and resources. When an organization is not busy trying to fix mistakes or avoid quality issues, it can focus on new problems and innovation (Brandall, 2018). This in turn can improve employee morale which boosts productivity and output.

When you standardize processes and employees know what they are doing, they are happier (Brandall, 2018). Often ambiguous tasks or vague direction can result in employees being frustrated and not knowing what to do. Standardization helps avoid this frustration and negative association with tasks at one’s job.

Productivity and output can generally be shown in how customers are handled. If an organization is productive, it can usually be seen in how they handle customer complaints, requests, and questions. Standardization allows organizations to understand how best common complaints can be handled and it means that everyone is treated and informed correctly and uniformly (Brandall, 2018). Being able to understand and rectify customer complaints is one of the main ways organizations can prove their commitment to their customers. Standard procedures, canned replies, and written out guidelines can help any employee ensure that customers are taken care of.

Small Batches

Small batches are a concept defined as doing work in smaller chunks in order to avoid mistakes, waste, and time loss (Limoncelli et al., 2017). For a software development team this may mean writing small amounts of code and publishing it rather than spending copious amounts of time on writing a very lengthy and complicated full software (Kenig, 2020). Working in small batches can help in performance, morale, work time, mistake reduction, and easy changes. The small batches concept can be described as cutting up your work into smaller chunks. If you choose to do a big project, then you must plan, conceptualize, and organize your project which takes time and resources. Then you will have to sit down and write out all the code and procedures for this big project which could take ages. Then in the testing phase, figuring out glitches or bugs and which lines of code they are attributed to take even longer (Kenig, 2020). Often this process results in going over budget and over time. Using small batches, however, allows you to create a smaller, more succinct programs, test any mistakes you have, easily detect that code that you need to change, and publish it within a much shorter amount of time. This also allows one to easily make changes and pivot when needed. Manufacturing companies make small batch processing machinery which have been shown to improve both productivity and output (Schuh et al., 2019).

Impact of Small Batches on Performance and Output

When applying small batches to projects, it can significantly improve performance and output. Testing changes or identifying mistakes/bugs in larger projects takes a lot of time and effort (Kenig, 2020). However, working in small batches allow quicker tests, changes, and identifying mistakes which significantly improve the quality and speed of getting products out the door. Running tests becomes easier on smaller batches and can be handled better (Kenig, 2020). Similarly, making changes to a large project can prove to be extremely time consuming and frustrating. Making changes to smaller batches is much less arduous.

Increased amounts of output can also come from small batches. Customers appreciate something rather than nothing. So, producing and publishing systems for customers to use immediately rather than waiting for a large system and eventually realizing many glitches and bugs is much more appreciated (Kenig, 2020). Working in smaller batches allows you to produce quicker and more quality content for your customers to use.

Working in smaller batches can also be useful if teams are smaller (Kenig, 2020). Smaller teams can comfortably produce small batches of work and still maintain quality and standards. This allows the organization to remit less resources to one project. Lean startup which encourages immediate feedback is also a benefit of small batches as it allows immediate testing and feedback (Kenig, 2020).

Problems

Initially, encouraging the adoption of standardization might be easier than small batches. Standardization can easily be implemented by ensuring that certain tasks are performed by the most experienced workers and then those same workers can be asked to detail their process, so it is recorded and used by others. Small batches, however, can be a significant change in habit. Change intervention is a great way to encourage this adoption. First, employees can go through the unfreezing stage where the need to change is explained and taught. Then, change intervention can occur and small batches can be implemented. Finally, the refreezing stage can occur, and employees can be monitored to ensure small batches is being used effectively.

A resistance to change may occur at organizations. Employees may assume that small batches mean more work in the long run. They may be hesitant to take on the responsibility of ensuring that all their work is mistake free and low waste. While that is not true and in the long run it would be beneficial and better for morale, these issues may arise. Additionally, experienced workers may feel pressured to disclose the best way to do tasks which in turn may give them the idea of internal competition. While competition is important for innovation, workers should not feel that they need to hide or suppress their skills. As a matter of fact, applying standardization will free those workers up as they will not have to correct mistakes or deal with waste as much. It allows the organization to explore many different new ideas and allows workers to push themselves creatively.

Solutions/Suggestions

When it comes to standardization, a form of job security may open up experienced workers to sharing their knowledge and expertise. Allowing them their time and giving them the comfort they need to share valuable information with others will ease the process. Educating them on the benefits of spending less time editing, fixing, and correcting processes will be beneficial. Managers can explain that with time freed up by employing standardization, workers can focus on other endeavors and push their creativity to innovate and take the company further. A certain comradery and connection to the organization is important as well. Giving applicable rewards to employees who help with the standardization process can give them incentive and motivation but also help them realize that they are a valuable part of the company, and their input/expertise is acknowledged and appreciated.

Examples of small batches successfully being used in companies can help change the minds of those who may be resistant to change. Explaining the cause and effect of small batches and how they will not be more work and tougher deadlines but rather ease the process of producing content would also be a big help. Knowledge is power and in imparting knowledge, employees can gain a sense of what small batches are about and fear the change it brings less.

Incorporating any new process or procedure will have growing pains in the beginning. Employees and workers will have a hard time changing the way they do their work, and it will be a lot of trial and error. However, both standardization and small batches will eventually become habit and employees will be able to see the time and resource benefits it can bring. Case studies are also a great way to explain the potential benefits of these processes. Additionally, bringing in professionals that understand how to jumpstart the standardization process or how to incorporate small batches is a valuable alternative. Sometimes managers are not equipped with the knowledge to enact change or the knowledge of the benefits of a certain system. A professional can help bring credibility and maximization to whatever new process you want to implement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, small batches and standardization can do wonders for an organization’s productivity and output. Incorporating small batches can reduce the work, time, resources, effort, testing time, and mistakes when producing content. Small batches can allow developers to push out content and software to customers quicker with easier changes and fixes as opposed to customers having to wait long periods of time before even having access to software. Standardization can help increase uniformity, reduce mistakes, increase morale, and give an organization time to focus on other endeavors. Employing the skills and expertise of workers who know the best method to perform a task and asking them to record it is very important. Any other employee in the future doing the same job can use that information as a guideline and ensure uniformity between work.

As a whole, both of these concepts can be applied with relative ease as long as correct education and information is given to employees. It is important to understand and work with employees who might feel uncomfortable with certain areas of change. Also, some problems may arise in the beginning when implementing small batches and standardization, but these are simply growing pains and will benefit the organization as a whole in the long run. The investment into these concepts is worth any risk that comes with it.

References

Brandall, B. (2018). Why Process Standardization Improves Quality, Productivity, and Morale. Process.st. https://www.process.st/process-standardization/

Kenig, E. (2020). Working in small batches is the one single thing you should care about. Yotpo Engineering. https://medium.com/yotpoengineering/working-in-small-batches-is-the-one-single-thing-you-should-care-about-b1f49cdb5e7

Laakso, M. & Kiviniemi, A. (2012). The IFC Standard – A Review of History, Development, and Standardization. ITcon, 17. https://www.itcon.org/2012/9

Lee, B. N., Pei, E., & Um, J. (2019). An overview of information technology standardization activities related to additive manufacturing. Progress in Additive Manufacturing, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-019-00087-5

Limoncelli, T. A., Hogan, C. J., & Chalup, S. R. (2017). The Practice of System and Network Administration (3rd ed.). Lumeta Corporation.

Schuh, G., Kelzenberg, C., Wiese, J., & Ochel T. (2019). Data Structure of the Digital Shadow for Systematic Knowledge Management Systems in Single and Small Batch Production. Procedia CIRP, 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2019.04.210

Appendix

Initial Topic Proposal

The Impact of Standardization and Small Batches on Performance and Output

This research paper will mention the different impacts that standardization and the incorporation of small batches has on organizational performance and output. Standardization or using generic machines have been known to increase efficiency in situations where a failure, outage, or addition needs to take place. Similarly, small batches are shown to reduce the amount of waste, mistakes, and time it takes for a task to be completed. I will be delving into these topics by using information I find by different authors and real-life examples.

Feedback Received

Topic is sufficiently narrow in scope. Topic is on an appropriate subject.