HOW LEAN CONSULTING AFFECTS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Lean manufacturing is about ridding waste within your company. Through PeopleWorks’ lean consulting services, we apply lean manufacturing to supply chain management.
The ideas behind “lean” are derived from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack and The Way of Wealth. Between these two readings, he stated that too much time, superfluous cost, and excess inventory were “evils” against you.
Toyota took Franklin’s ideas and implemented lean management from them. In this modernization, they identified seven sources of waste:
- Defects
- Excess motion
- Inappropriate processing
- Overproduction
- Transporting
- Unnecessary inventory
- Waiting
Our lean consulting services take the seven sources and identify how your supply-chain management is influenced.
Basically, the more complicated the manufacturing process is, the more room there is for error. When lean is applied to your supply chain management, the entire process becomes simpler.
Our lean consulting services are inspired by modern success stories that utilized lean management. Nike used lean management to turn a problem into a positive lesson. When Nike was boycotted in the 1990s, board member Jill Ker Conway took it upon herself to learn about the inner workings of the company.
Because of Conway’s observations of the company’s contracted factories, Nike decided to make changes by applying lean manufacturing. Instead of relying on a large number of supplier factories, they focused on building quality, long-term relationships with fewer. Through this reduction in supplier factories, they set a new standard within their industry.
Undergoing a lean transformation ended up positively affecting the company and the customers. Because the company became leaner, its employees were better able to learn and understand more than one task. This allowed for a higher quality product delivered in a timely fashion, which meant happier customers.
Our lean consulting services can help your organization. Become the Nike in your industry and enlist our help today.