The Lean StartUp - 9 Batch (Part Three - Acceleration)

The author advises startups to create their products in small batches instead of large batches. The main reason for this is the fact that problems with the quality in smaller batches can be identified much quicker. This is the foundation of Toyota's high quality and low costs success. In fact, Toyota figured out that this approach also made the carmaker more efficient. 

As Ries continued to state, if a startup operates by creating large batches of product, then if customers do not seem to like the product, all that capital invested into the product and the time and effort put into developing the product is wasted. On the other hand, producing smaller batches ensures that this waste is reduced. 

Additionally, one way to accelerate the process of design, is 3D printing. Even though it is expensive to purchase, a 3D printer can then product hundreds of thousands of products at low cost. Therefore, 3D printing is reported to be the sensation of the future, since it will allow entrepreneurs to produce small batches with low cost but a lot quicker. (Consider the fact that 3D printing now in 2020, can produce almost anything from alternative meats derived from plants to buildings). 

Correspondingly, the author emphasises that the procedure of producing smaller batches has the effect of going through the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop, discussed in previous Chapters, a lot faster which gives the competitive advantage of learning quicker about the customers. 

Notably, it is important to state that if hospital pharmacies would deliver in smaller batches rather than large, they would, in fact, minimize the total workload of the pharmacy and make sure that the right medication is delivered to the right place at the right time. The same is true about hospital lab blood collections, that if they would deliver in smaller batches, the test quality of the blood would be much higher and the total system cost lower. 

The author concluded where he started; with Toyota. It is best to use his own words: "Toyota has demonstrated an ability to unleash the creativity of its employees, achieve consistent growth, and produce innovative new products relentlessly over the course of nearly a century". This is primarily the result of solving and tackling problems quickly, which the reader ought to remember that it works better when producing smaller batches and consequently results in the long-term success that every startup should strive to achieve.