Just a quick note on computer operating systems today. Dry you might think? How applicable to my Automotive or Manufacturing business struggling right now with high fuel costs? A lot.

It’s not too hard to get into a cocktail discussion comparing Windows Vista (or XP) to Mac or Linux and find fans in each corner. But looking at these three operating systems through the Lean Manufacturing lens reveals something interesting.

Microsoft has a product development cycle that mirrors many huge automotive corporations. A standard 5 or possibly 7 year refresh cycle - not much different than GM, Ford, or Chrysler (yeah, there are some fancy creative ways to count to say that cycle is only 3 years). Sure there are some design studio tweaks every year with trim and colors and fabrics to entice someone to upgrade, but the main architecture remains constant between major redesigns. Why? It’s hard and expensive to develop all that stuff and make tools and test it and all this activity in a huge organization.

Apple is a smaller company than Microsoft. They have found ways to launch new operating systems about every 2 to 3 years where Microsoft takes 5 to 7. What this allows is Apple can better anticipate what hardware will be available two years out - those crazy chip makers like Intel and AMD can show them what they’ve got going for Holiday Sales two years from now - because it’s right there on the bench getting tested. Meanwhile, Microsoft has to guess out 5 years. Those chip makers are guessing out that far themselves (”we think it will be round or possibly triangular this time”).

Just like Automobile manufactures have to guess what consumers will want five years from now. Like will gas prices be high or low? Guess one way and all your competitors are making huge profits in SUVs and have to answer to Wall Street hecklers or you’re stuck with a pile of Trucks that no one wants to put fuel in. You can put a nice word on it like “forecast” but in the end it’s just “guessing”.

The solution to all of this is to consider how to make your product development and company “Lean” so you don’t have to guess at all.

There is a fast mover in Linux operating systems, headed by Canonical, that is an amazing beast - an open source operating system that is consistently releasing new code with as many changes as Microsoft and Apple do in their more sedentary pace - but releasing every six months - “Ubuntu Linux” (ubuntu.com). In terms of just Linux operating systems it rocketed from obscurity to the top spots of the Linux popularity tracking lists (distrowatch.com). It’s helped get Linux on the radar of long-time Apple and Microsoft fans. And it’s increasingly becoming easier to use for the casual computer user (it’s certainly more secure and stable for its existing fan base).

The more I look at Windows, Mac OS, and Linux through the lense of Continuous Improvement in the Lean Manufacturing toolbox the more I expect Linux will vault far ahead of the other two operating systems - and quickly. Mac OS is noted for its stability, some advantage due to a small controlled set of hardware where Microsoft has to work on a lot of random hardware pieces, ease of use, “and beauty”. Windows is known for being able to play the latest games, and do some office-type work.

Ubuntu goes through four to six product generations in the time that Apple updates Mac software and a whopping ten to fourteen generations between Microsoft revisions. Ubuntu (which is pulling along all the other flavors of Linux in its wake) has really only recently entered this OS race, but that sustaining that product refresh cycle will propel it past Microsoft and Apple. Watch for continued stability, better hardware recognition, and a more beautiful operating system.

Imagine what GM, Ford, or Chrysler could do if they began structuring their operations with the flexibility to really redesign products every year - not just lipstick and trim? Or if their component suppliers could do the same? It’s hard, but mandatory for survival, that the Automotive Companies begin thinking like this.

A faster cycle from a streamlined process will take the guess-work out of building the next generation of cars and trucks.

Hard, but doable.

Cheers!

I was looking through the most recent Best Buy sales flier and looked at the page on desktop computers. And was struck by the multiple layers of branding. Stripping off the computer manufacturer layer (emachines, Dell, HP, and Gateway) and looking at just the central processors listed show the following choices:

AMD Athlon 64 4000+, Intel Pentium Dual-Core, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 6000+, AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9600, and an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor.

So, what sense is an intrepid desktop computer purchaser likely to make of their possible choices? Mostly, without significant research, the consumer will look for things like 2-cores are better than one and four must be really good and then look at their price budget. But will they get value?

Where is the clarity and simplicity?

Think about the entire sales Chanel. Everyone in that system must figure out what this all means to communicate to others in the chanel. Or everyone uses price points as the only indicator of performance - though that is often clouded by how much ram or what storage capacities and monitors are included in the computer system purchase.

With a clouded picture created from multiple mostly meaningless brand images, a consumer is left to just pick any machine that fits their budget.

As a manufacturer in any business that’s the worst possible criteria.

A manufacturer wants lust. They want a customer to feel they need ten cylinders instead of eight and want a Viper instead of a Corvette and pony up a $20,000 premium.

A few years ago, there was a fierce performance push in CPU chips centered around chip clock cycles. It was much better to purchase a 500Mhz chip than a 300Mhz one. It was easy to see the measured difference. It was hard for the manufacturers to keep on the Moore’s Law treadmill, and when they fell off their only choice seemed to be multiple cores. And marketing brand gimmickry.

Confuse the buyer. Is that Quad-Core slower or faster than the Dual-Core processor? And what’s a Phenom? Or how do the other names bantered about over the years; Celeron, Sempron, Duron, Xenon, and such fit amongst all of this? It’s not clear - which is a risk - a risk that the consumer may even begin to think their existing home computer is quite satisfactory, it has some sort of Core in it, and checks the email ok, so they’ll wait for next week’s flier to see if there is more sense in the paper.

So, is your company wallowing in brands? Figure out how the customer shops and makes decisions. Make the process simple and meaningful. You will likely find that by simplifying your message, you will streamline your products, lean out your inventory, better focus your marketing expenditures, and thus strengthen your core marketing message - which will translate into increased sales.

Cheers!