A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. – Lao Tzu, a famous Chinese philosopher Around the world, more and more organizations have started to adopt Lean principles and practices to improve competitiveness. As a holistic approach, office activities must fully support shop-floor manufacturing operations to eliminate waste as a means […]
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Your Supply Chain Doesn’t End Where You Think It Does
The physical supply chain is made up of thousands of moving parts, literally. Before it’s a laptop, your computer may have started as a screen from South Korea, a CPU from the United States, a processor from Japan, combined in China in a case from Taiwan, and shipped to a retailer in the United States. […]
Credibility in the Supply Chain and Elsewhere
Trust is built on credibility and credibility comes from acting in others’ interests before your own. – anonymous If leaders have credibility, people want to work for them. But credibility is important in many areas, not just in leadership roles. For instance, sales professionals need credibility to be successful. You have to do what you say […]
Have You Heard of Postponement Strategy in the Supply Chain?
The postponement strategy is based on the following two basic principles of demand forecasting. The accuracy of forecast demand decreases with an increase in the time horizon. The farther the time window for which the demand is being forecasted, the more inaccurate it will be. This effect can be shown as a funnel: as time extends farther […]
Effective Use of Cross-functional Teams
Software is a necessity in all facets of business today, but people are needed to manage the software and ensure data integrity for accurate data output. People are your most important product. Use them to continuously improve your organization. Cross-Functional Teams are a good way to use multi-talented people to solve many kinds of problems […]
Flevy Author Spotlight: Our Interview with Lean Pioneer, Vishnu Rayapeddi
Lean Management has been an area of increasing interest for Flevy customers. As of now, we have over 300 documents related to various Lean concepts and Vishnu Rayapeddi contributed close to 100 of these documents–with a focus on training series. Vishnu is a pioneer of Lean Management, combining the power of Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, and other best-class […]
2 Types Of Performance Metrics Everyone Must Differentiate
There are leading and lagging indicators in business. It is important that managers understand the difference between them and ensure they have both types of metrics to get an accurate picture of performance. However, there are also some important issues to watch out for. All performance measures are, by definition, backward looking. They tell us […]
Warehouse Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measures of a company’s strengths and weaknesses of the business. They should be used in comparison to the external competition and internal customers to improve company’s economic standing. In Supply Chain, the warehouse is a critical function. Should products not move effortlessly within the warehouse, a business could come to face […]
Just-in-Time vs. Just-in-Case: An Inventory Dilemma
As manufacturers are reaping the benefits of Lean and Lean Six Sigma or other continuous improvement processes within their facilities, the importance of eliminating waste still hold sway. So the question now facing these manufacturers is this: Has the time come where Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory levels need to be changed to Just-in-Case levels? With the […]
The Art of Transforming Waste into Profit
Here’s a little different tactic from the usual idea of reducing or eliminating wastes in a manufacturing process. How about gathering the waste from the other steps in a manufacturing process and using it to make a new product? Many manufacturing firms are at a loss as what to do with by-product waste. This idea […]
Building Resilience into Supply Chains
The supply chains of most companies, large and small, exploit a world of opportunities. But, increasing global exposure comes with an increasing range of risks. These companies’ complex networks of suppliers and customers are as diverse as the goods and resources they manage. Within the same supply chain, giant multinational companies can sit side-by side […]
Want to Train Your Staff on Lean and Organizational Excellence?
Several training series have recently been published on Flevy on the management topics of Lean (Operational Excellence) and Organizational Excellence. These training series can be used for internal certification programs in organizations of all sizes. Lean Shop Floor Training Series – 8 Modules. This is a Lean training series for beginners. With this series, you can arm your […]
