The answer to all our consumer problems
The principles of lean consumption could be used to solve the myriad difficulties facing the modern shopper, writes Michael Skapinker One of these days I will summon up the courage to telephone my broadband service provider. I am not looking forward to it; my last call was answered by someone who clearly could not wait to get ridof me.
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The reason I need to call is that a gadget the Financial Times has given me to read my office e-mail from home does not work. Actually, the gadget does its job of constantly generating new numerical passwords very well. It is just that the FT's e-mail site keeps rejecting the passwords. The FT's IT support people have patiently attempted to solve the problem, but they have now run out of ideas. They say it must be my broadband provider who is blocking my access hence the need for the call I am so reluctant to make.
Why is everything so difficult? We can now buy a huge range of electronic products at ever-lower prices. We can read independent consumer reviews, compare prices online and have goods delivered to our door. And we can do all that in the certain knowledge that what arrives will not work.
At least I know I am not alone in these problems. “Why do we routinely encounter the custom-built computer that refuses to work with the printer, the other computers in the house and the network software?” James Womack and Daniel Jones ask in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review.
It is not just technology that frustrates consumers, they say. “Why does the simple process of getting the car fixed require countless loops of miscommunication, travel, waiting and defective repairs? Why does the diligent shopper frequently return from a store stocking thousands of items without having found the one item that was wanted? And why is this tiresome process of consumption backed up by help desks and customer support centres that neither help nor support? In short, why does consumption which should be easy and satisfying require so much time and hassle?”
The answer to all these problems, they say, is lean consumption. An excellent idea, you may think. Rather than buying all these defective products and services, we should try to do without them. How much do we actually need, after all? We managed perfectly well before personal computers, personal digital assistants and the rest came along. It is far friendlier to the environment and easier on the wallet to do without.
But that is not what the writers mean by lean consumption. Their idea is an extension of lean production, as practised, pre-eminently, by Toyota, the Japanese car manufacturer. If that jogs the memory, it is because Mr Womack and Mr Jones were, with Daniel Roos, the authors of a celebrated book, published in 1990, called The Machine that Changed the World, which was all about lean production.
The book, based on a five-year Massachusetts Institute of Technology study of the car industry, explained a set of manufacturing practices that seem commonplace today, but sounded revolutionary then. The authors examined American and European car manufacturers' reworking areas, where faults in the completed vehicles were corrected, and discovered that Toyota did not have reworking areas. This was because Toyota employees were encouraged to eliminate faults during the manufacturing process. Workers who saw faults occurring could stop the assembly line to ensure they were corrected.
Remarkably, the assembly line had to be stopped less frequently as time went by. This was because the Toyota workers were using the information from the shutdowns to solve the faults permanently, meaning there were fewer and fewer of them. There were other related drives to improve quality throughout the manufacturing process, such as “total quality management” and “quality circles”, all of which attempted to make the elimination of faults and defects every employee's responsibility.
Toyota also adopted a different attitude to suppliers. Instead of drawing up specifications for components, asking potential suppliers to bid and then selecting the cheapest, Toyota developed deep relationships with suppliers, taking equity stakes in some of them.
The company took the same attitude with dealers. In contrast to western manufacturers' often prickly relations with their dealers, who were expected to stock models whether consumers wanted them or not, Toyota's close ties with retailers and their links, in turn, with customers, helped the company forecast demand.
Mr Womack and Mr Jones argue that the same principles can be applied to solve consumers' problems today. How would it work? Take helplines, for example. At present, they serve the same function as the western car companies' reworking areas: they try to solve problems after they have occurred. They do not do it very well either. Helpline workers are rewarded for their “efficiency”, in other words how many callers they deal with which is why they are so eager to move on to the next one. Helplines should do more than help people with problems, the writers say.
The helpline staff should use the calls to identify common problems, which can then be solved the equivalent of the stopping of the Toyota line.
There is a big opportunity, too, for companies that can manage consumers' lives. Companies such as Toyota rely on a smaller number of suppliers than their competitors, using those that understand their needs best.
“This same concept can be applied to the process of consumption,” the writers say. “For example, why can't a single provider solve your computation and communication problems by evaluating your specific needs and then determining the best equipment, software and services? The provider could then obtain, install, maintain, upgrade and replace the required items for a standard fee, with no unpaid work or hassle for you. And why can't another solution provider put the vehicles in your driveway, then maintain, repair and dispose of them as appropriate, for a simple usage fee, without consuming any of your time or attention?”
They stress that they are not talking about “concierge services”, which are “actually a step backward into a world where the well-to-do hire staff to cure their consumption headaches, which are caused by broken processes”. The integrators they are advocating could improve the processes, eliminating problems and lowering the cost of lean consumption. Let us hope it happens soon. Now for that dreaded call to my broadband provider.
苦恼的消费者
这几天，我得鼓起勇气，给我的宽带服务商打个电话。可我真不想打：上次打的时候，接电话的人明显迫不及待地想摆脱我。
我打电话求助的原因是，《金融时报》给我配置的供在家里阅读办公电子邮件的设备无法正常使用。不过，这个设备不断生成新数字密码，这方面干得倒是挺好。可问题在于，《金融时报》的电子邮件地址一直拒绝接受这些密码。《金融时报》的信息技术支持人员也曾耐心地尝试解决这一问题，但他们现在已经无计可施。他们认为，肯定是宽带服务商封锁了我的路径，因此我必须打那个我十分不情愿打的电话。
为什么凡事都如此复杂？我们现在可以购买各种电子产品，而且它们的价格也是空前便宜；可以阅读有关消费问题的独立评论文章，在线进行价格比较，享受送货上门的服务。不过，做这一切的时候，我们必须有所准备，那些送来的东西可能都不能用。
至少我清楚，遇到这些问题的绝非我一人。詹姆斯?沃马克(James Womack)和丹尼尔?琼斯先生(Daniel Jones)在《哈佛商业评论》第三期上发表的一篇文章中提出疑问：“为什么我们总是遇到这样的问题：定制的电脑与打印机不能匹配，与公司其它电脑及网络软件不能兼容？”
他们说，让客户失望的不仅是技术问题。“为什么修车这么一件简单的事情，非得一再经历误解、来回跑路、等待和修理不善等没完没了的麻烦？为什么那些不知疲倦的顾客在购物时经常发现，商店虽然堆积着各种商品，却没有一件称心如意？又为什么，消费过程让人觉得很累，本该是为顾客提供帮助和支持的咨询处及客服中心根本没有履行其职责？ 总而言之，为什么本来应该是轻松惬意的消费过程却如此耗时和麻烦？”
詹姆斯?沃马克和丹尼尔?琼斯说，所有这些问题的答案就在于精益消费(lean consumption)。你可能觉得这个回答可谓高明之至。与其购买那些有问题的产品和服务，还不如不用它们。我们实际上究竟需要多少东西呢？在个人电脑、商务通和其它一些玩艺儿出现之前，我们不是也过得挺好吗？没有那些东西，要环保很多，也可以让我们宽裕一些。
然而，作者所指的精益消费并非这些。他们所指的是广义上的精益消费， 如日本汽车制造商丰田公司有过成功实践的那种模式。如果这个名字唤起了你某种记忆的话，那是因为沃马克先生和琼斯先生曾经同丹尼尔?鲁斯(Daniel Roos)合作撰写了一本名著。此书出版于1990年，名为《改变了世界的机器》(The Machine that Changed the World)，说的全是有关精益生产的问题。
此书依据麻省理工学院历时5年完成的汽车工业研究报告，解释了一整套在当时颇具革新性，而如今已平淡无奇的工业制造实践方法。书的作者研究了美国和欧洲汽车制造商进行再加工的区域，他们在这里对成品汽车存在的瑕疵完成修正；研究结果发现丰田公司没有推行这一做法。这是因为，丰田公司鼓励员工在制造过程中就剔除瑕疵。工人一旦发现有瑕疵出现，可以停止组装线的运行以加以修正。
值得称道的是，渐渐的，停止组装线的运行以进行瑕疵修正的频率不断降低。这是因为丰田公司的工人们利用停工期间获得的信息永久地解决了那些瑕疵问题。也就是说， 瑕疵越来越少。这里还有其它一些相关机制用以推动质量在生产过程中得到提高，如“整体质量管理”和“质量圈”。所有这些，都旨在使消除瑕疵和故障成为每个员工的责任。
丰田公司还对供货商采取与众不同的做法。它不是采用先制订部件规格，然后让潜在供货商竞标，最后再选择出价最低的供货商的办法，而是与供货商建立深层次的关系，其中包括参股部分供货商。
丰田公司对经销商的态度也是如法炮制。西方的汽车制造商与经销商之间矛盾重重，这些经销商被要求接收各种型号的汽车而不顾用户的实际需求。与此形成鲜明对照的是，丰田公司与经销商关系密切，而经销商又与客户关系亦是如此，这样就使该公司能够预测市场需求。
沃马克先生和琼斯先生认为，丰田公司采用的那些原则也可以用来解决当今的客户问题。那么，如何让其发挥作用呢？以帮助热线为例，目前，其作用相当于西方汽车公司的再加工区：热线是在问题出现之后加以解决。但做得也不太好。帮助热线的接听人员根据“效率”获得奖励，换言之，就是根据接听电话的数量来决定他们的薪酬。这就是为什么他们那么想放下这个电话去处理下一个电话的原因。书的作者认为，帮助热线的作用不应仅仅局限在帮助客户解决问题上。
接线人员应当通过电话鉴别常见的问题并加以解决，这类似于丰田公司中断生产线进行瑕疵修正的做法。
那些懂得诠释客户生活方式和需求的公司，同样拥有很多机遇。例如，与其竞争对手相比，丰田公司拥有的供货商数量较少，他们只选择那些最熟悉其需求的供货商。
作者指出：“同样的理念可以运用于消费过程中。比如，一家提供商为何不能通过评估您的具体需求、然后确定最佳的设备、 软件和服务，来解决您在计算和沟通方面的问题？然后，这个供应商就可以提供购置、安装、维护、升级以及更新换代服务，并收取标准的费用。这样既避免干活得不到报酬，也不必争吵扯皮。为什么提供解决方案的商家不能把车开到您家的车道上，对其进行适当的保养、维修和处理，然后收取简单服务费而无需耗费您的时间与精力？”
作者强调，他们所指的，并非“侍从服务”(concierge services)，即那些有钱人雇用人员解决自己在消费方面遇到的、由于生产过程缺陷而出现的棘手问题。这实际上是一种倒退。他们提出的综合解决办法也许可以改进生产流程，消除问题和降低精益消费的成本。让我们期待这一理想能够早日实现。现在我得硬着头皮给宽带供应商打电话去了。
