Thus manufacturing is about procedures and the people who develop, document, and carry out the procedures. To keep the machines on the manufacturing floor humming, you have to plan, coordinate the flow, and document your procedures. You make improvements constantly, and you find a unique and optimal solution for each bottleneck. If you think you've found a generic solution, you've stopped optimizing. The concept of flow can help you understand the real impact of your decisions.
Life is simple in the beginning.
But as the business grows, manufacturing becomes more complex. My earlier experience at another startup company provides a good lesson in what to avoid. Most of us, including myself, had only a foggy understanding of manufacturing, and by the time we recognized the need to build the manufacturing organization, it was already too late in the growth cycle. Building an operational system when you already have hefty sales is like fixing your car while it's doing 55 miles an hour. Manufacturing became an isolated black box, and it was never possible to optimize the whole company.