You may remember, the Visa commercial presents a busy restaurant that operates like a smooth running machine. It has a steady line of restaurant workers filling orders for an equally steady line of customers that pay using the check card. The entire line flows with a steady pace with no backups or delays despite variability in the items being ordered. All is fine until one customer decides to pay by cash which causes the whole thing to crash to a halt.

The commercial captures a key idea that is applicable to any business: Achieving a smooth and even flow of activities throughout the operation increases throughput and improves overall business profitability. Let’s take a closer look.

The first thing we notice is the principle of line balancing. All activities from inventory control through customer payment were balanced so that there were no bottlenecks or queues created. Customers come in and leave at exactly the same speed. There was no waiting and every action taken by the restaurant personnel directly resulted in the customer getting what they wanted when they wanted it.

The second principle is customization - fulfilling demand in batch sizes of one or few. Each customer is ordering a different combination of items and is being provided those items on demand. There are three choices that a business can make when attempting to fulfill variable demand without wait. One is to have every item prepared in large quantities with the hope that customers will purchase all the items available to them fast enough so nothing spoils. The second is to have the customer wait until their request is prepared to order. The third is to have a system that is based on having all items prepared in few or single quantities just prior to the customer pulling the item for consumption. Once the inventory is consumed to a pre-determined trigger point it signals the replenishment just before the inventory runs out. As shown in the scene in which the blended drinks are prepared, a variety of prepared drinks are being pulled for consumption with the next batch being prepared in a blender for replenishment. Stock-outs are minimized, spoilage is reduced, and the cost of preparation is lower since there is no need to pay for excess material and personnel to prepare items that may never be consumed. This is critical in a high spoilage environment but is applicable to any business that understands there is a high cost to carrying excess inventory.

The final principle illustrated for speed in business is that of simplicity. The goal is to eliminate excess movement and operating steps. The check card exhibits this by reducing the payment step to one swipe of a card as opposed to counting cash, having it transfer hands, entering the amount in the register, and counting out the change. As the video shows, when cash is used the extra steps create a backlog which cause the flow to be disrupted. The delay, in turn, reduces the number of orders that could be processed in a given amount of time and labor. If the business could handle 100 orders an hour with a set number of employees with the quick pay option, without the quick pay option it may only process 70 orders. To maintain demand at 100 orders and to eliminate the waiting a second or even third cashier will be added to keep the lines moving. Revenue goes up but costs are also higher.

So think about this commercial as you look at your operation. Where do you see backups or delays in processing? Where are the piles of paperwork or material? Does order processing move smoothly and uninterrupted from order entry through collection? If not, evaluate changes in process that will allow your business to operate as a machine that fulfills its customer orders to a fast and steady beat with fewer parts than its competitor. What would that mean for your business?