Planet Lean: The Official online magazine of the Lean Global Network
Managing a chain of 100 cafes in Barcelona with lean

Managing a chain of 100 cafes in Barcelona with lean

Emi Castro
January 23, 2018

THE LEAN BAKERY - For the past decade, lean has fuelled the growth of a chain of cafes/bakeries in Barcelona. With 100 now open, the Retail Manager explains how lean helps them manage a booming business.


Interviewee: Emi Castro, Retail Manager, 365.café


You might have heard our story: a business in trouble discovers lean and turns things around so dramatically it is now booming. Our chain of over 100 cafés/bakeries in and around Barcelona has been growing so much over the past decade, and if we have been able to manage this growth it is thanks to lean thinking.

Our lean experiments started in our main workshop (more on that in a few weeks), and only reached our "shops" a little later. But when they did, they truly transformed our way of working.

In the short video interview below, Eva and Conchi (two of our coaches) and I explain how we manage the shops day after day, how we organize the work, and how lean is helping us open new cafés quickly and easily. There will be two more episodes on the retail side of our business in February, so make sure to come to Planet Lean next month.

Thanks for watching!


You can read all about the 365 story in The Lean Bakery.

The Lean Bakery book cover

Buy your copy here


THE INTERVIEWEE

Emi Castro photograph
Emi Castro is Retail Manager at 365.café in Barcelona

Read more

What a good supermarket looks like
April 4, 2019
What a good supermarket looks like

THE NAKED GEMBA – Our new series goes back to basics to unlock the secrets of the gemba and tell us about some of the main tools and techniques we can use in a lean transformation. First up, supermarkets.

Continue reading
Using lean to discharge patients before 12PM
December 13, 2022
Using lean to discharge patients before 12PM

FEATURE – This nurses-led experiment in Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic is proving successful in getting more patients discharged on time and avoiding surgery cancellations.

Continue reading
A better way to learn lean
October 8, 2020
A better way to learn lean

INTERVIEW – The Lean Enterprise Academy just launched the Lean Learning Journey, an online platform from which practitioners can pull the practical knowledge they need in their lean transformation.

Continue reading
The iron law of scale-up
October 24, 2019
The iron law of scale-up

FEATURE – As our social systems grow, we need an effective way to manage them. This makes bureaucracies an inescapable part of life for our society and businesses. But how can we mitigate their negative effects?

Continue reading

Read more

No items found.