Leveling Mothers Day?

By Mark Graban On May 9, 2006

Wall St. Journal (free via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Here is an interesting article on the very manual efforts at AT&T to balance supply (phone circuit capacity) with calling demand. Mothers Day, this Sunday, is the traditional busiest calling day of the year. This isn't AT&T's suggestion, but maybe some of us can call our Mothers on Saturday, instead of Sunday, to help level demand? Nah, probably not a good idea. The AT&T example is one where, even if they wanted to implement lean practices, they're pretty hampered against the idea of “leveling” demand.

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Mark Graban

Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent book is the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus. His latest book has been released as an "in-progress" book, titled Measures of Success.