Standardisation

Reducing variety deliberately. Fewer options, lower cost, easier delivery.

What it means

Standardisation reduces the number of variants in products, processes, components or service offerings.

Why it matters

Variety is expensive: more stock, more training, more errors, more quoting time. Much of it accumulates without ever being chosen.

What it looks like in practice

Look at the long tail. In most product ranges a small proportion of lines produces most of the revenue and the rest consumes disproportionate effort.\n\nProductising a service — fixed scopes at fixed prices — is standardisation applied to service businesses.

What to watch out for

Standardising what customers actually value as different. The test is whether they would pay for the variation.

Where to get proper advice

Your own figures.