text: One might argue that the biggest benefit accrues to large companies, due to their size and scale (imagine a one-cent saving on 1,000,000 widgets… $10,000). But small and medium size companies can easily apply things like Lean to start. A simple 5S exercise, Sort, Set-in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain, is a great way to go. Simple to start, everyone can get on board. Think of it as a “place for everything and everything in its place” sort of discipline. You can then move on to more advanced concepts like identifying some of the 8 Wastes and knocking them out of the way. For example, waiting. Just walk around your shop or just look at your e-mail inbox at all those e-mails waiting for your action. The key is devising a plan to reduce the waiting (batching) of e-mail: Zero e-mails in my inbox at the end of each day. Imagine that, an empty e-mail cue at the end of each day? That’s productivity.