Copywriting Is Like Lean Manufacturing…Or At Least It Should Be
Get your copywriting business running like a finely tuned machine
Yes, I really see copywriting as a lean manufacturing operation. Now, you’re probably going ‘what?!?’, but just stay with me.
Prior to starting my career as a copywriter, I worked at a cabinet door manufacturing plant. During my time there, the plant transformed its operations from traditional production to lean manufacturing, which is very similar to the business model Toyota uses to make their cars. The idea is that it increases production and quality significantly without requiring more work.
Traditional plants have one or more people designated for each specific step in the process. When they start an order, they work to complete the entire order before going onto the next one. This works well except when an unexpected order comes through — they have to wait for the projects in front of them in order to go through.
With lean manufacturing, orders are split into individual pieces or small chunks and each person is assigned one piece. The company divides the orders and spreads out over time, so that the plant works on several orders in one day instead of just one.
Several orders can be processed at the same time so the customer can have their orders faster (a shorter lead time). Lean manufacturers also find product quality increases and they save money because there are fewer mistakes.
While it wasn’t a huge deal at the start of my copywriting adventure, getting my various projects organized became harder and harder as time went by. When you have a 100pc writing project, three or four 10pc orders, and a few individual projects to fit in together, things start getting a little scary.
As soon as I incorporated the lean manufacturing mindset into my copywriting business, everything fell into place and my productivity skyrocketed. I determined a due date for the largest project (leaving a day or two extra for the unexpected of course!), decided how many I needed to do each day, and scheduled the rest of the projects in around it.
I found this method helps battle that overwhelming feeling you get when things get really busy or seem like too big of a job to handle. Try it out for yourself and you’ll find it will solve the problem of trying to fit in rush projects and you always know what kind of time you have left over.
November 25, 2008 at 3:32 pm | For the Writer | 1 comment
Hello Angie H,
I am the editor of the Lean Directions e-newsletter published by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and I am writing because I am interested in having you write an article for our newsletter on applying lean principles to projects of all types, including freelance writing.
Please contact me at XXX.XXX.XXXX, XXXXXXX@windstream.net
Joe Jancsurak, E-News Editor
Society of Manufacturing Engineers