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

Boaz Tamir on why success does not come down to chance
September 7, 2017
Boaz Tamir on why success does not come down to chance

OPINION – The rise and fall of organizations does not depend on chance or bad luck. It generally stems from a fundamentally flawed strategic approach that fails to define a purpose, alienates workers and ignores customers.

Continue reading
Three key business challenges lean can tackle
May 7, 2019
Three key business challenges lean can tackle

FEATURE – Ahead of the annual lean conference of LEI Polska, the authors reflect on a recent survey they ran with their clients on the key business challenges they face.

Continue reading
What my Toyota mentors taught me about problem-finding
September 20, 2021
What my Toyota mentors taught me about problem-finding

FEATURE – Introducing his book, the author tells us what his Toyota mentors taught him with their contrasting, but ultimately complimentary approaches to problem finding.

Continue reading
Jim Womack on where lean has failed and why not to give up
August 29, 2017
Jim Womack on where lean has failed and why not to give up

YOKOTEN – Lean has changed the world in many ways, even though the original vision of its founding fathers has failed to materialize. Jim discusses why, as a movement, we shouldn’t give up and review our strategy instead.

Continue reading

Read more

No items found.