The development of a global world class supply chain is a challenge in good times, but is really tested when a supply chain is significantly disrupted. During periods of supply and demand disruptions, like we are currently experiencing, the concept of world class is severely tested. As companies are attempting to understand the resiliency of their supply chain, …Read More

Situation Analysis

A $400M per year consumer products company was experiencing problems with their Sales, Inventory, Operations Planning ( SIOP or S&OP ) process. Lead times for product were excessive and the supply chain wasn’t responsive enough to serve the needs of its markets. Inventory had swelled 25% to over $70M. This was due to their business processes not being able to …Read More

Kaizen is part of a Continuous Improvement strategy where stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees and contract workers) at every level work together to implement process improvements at the business level and on the shop floor.  These improvements may be …Read More

Here are some facts to consider when deciding to add the Brown Paper Exercise to a Value Stream Mapping Project:

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In Part V of the series on Driving Continuous Improvement, we discuss the importance of utilizing the right combination of Continuous Improvement tools. Once you have your program aligned with your business strategy and …Read More

Many people believe that Continuous Improvement is a culture.  It certainly is in the eyes of the Japanese and many others, but is continuous improvement really a culture or something else? …Read More

Continuous Improvement has a long history in the business world and after over 50 years many leadership teams we talk to believe that it can be done quickly and throughout the entire organization in 6-12 months.  How wrong they are.

Part III is about …Read More

In Part I, I identified 5 things you need to do to drive Continuous Improvement.  In this article, we show how business strategy should drive continuous improvement programs and not the other way around.  The 5 things were: …Read More

Change happens. Every business environment requires continuously changing strategies, processes, tools and skills. Implementing a continuous improvement program is one way a company can harness their response to change and create competitive advantage. As companies launch continuous improvement programs, they need to have a plan. Effective programs require the following 5 elements leading to successful and sustainable …Read More