Lean management, lean six sigma, lean manufacturing, going
lean, and lean startup. Is lean just the
new buzzword in the world of logistics and supply chain or is there something
more to it? The truth is that an increased number of companies [1] – from retailers
to automotive – continue to adopt (and see positive results from) this “trim
the fat” mentality and strive to keep the focus on how each step adds value to
the process so that waste is eliminated.
It seems like lean’s got everything covered. Last week we talked about inventories, and as
it turns out, companies are now applying lean
inventory management.
What is it?
Lean inventory management is a new practice that becomes
popular by the day. The focus is on
eliminating the over/under stocking so that you have exactly what you need to have
efficient inventory turnover. This is
similar to Just In Time (JIT) methodology except that it is not applied to
manufacturing, but to deliveries; although you could shamelessly just call it
JIT inventory and you get the same result.
What this means for companies is no more buying in bulks “just in case
we run out”, or having to take an educated guess of how much stock is
needed. The theory says that companies
end up saving in delivery time, transportation costs, and overall improving
their supply chain [2]. It’s not all
magic and intuition with lean inventory management though. After deciding to embrace this practice, the
company needs to invest in the software that does the hard work. Softwares like Quickbooks Inventory
Management and CribMaster System are among the most popular.
Does it work?
We can ask Boeing what they feel now that they have accountability
and control over parts moving in and out of their plants after implementing CribMaster. Today they are successfully tracking
transportation through all of their plants and save time on almost 1000 issues
per day [3]. Sherwin Williams is another
happy customer. They have improved
productivity, availability, profitability, and consistency with their Kanban-based
lean stock inventory system [4]. These
are only two of the most popular cases, but the users of this inventory
management style keeps growing in numbers. It looks like lean it’s the way to
go, so what does the future of lean management look like? What will be the next
“lean”?
References:
By Elisa Taymes
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