What is a Lean Supply Chain?
A lean supply chain is system focused on the use of lean principles for the logistics of providing and
moving materials, information and knowledge between suppliers, manufacturing companies and
their customers. It is important to understand that any business is only as good as its suppliers
ability to deliver their materials on time, every time. It your suppliers fail, your business fails to
deliver your products to your customers.
What steps are involved in a Lean Supply Chain?
There are four steps to implementing a standard work process:
1.
Get your own business practices in order first by implementing lean principles.
2.
Implement a pull system to improve process flow and inventory control using kanban.
3.
Negotiate with your suppliers to integrate your order process with your pull system, Ask them
to hold kanban quantities in their finished goods facility.
4.
Negotiate with your customers to align their ordering process with your pull system by
integrating it into their receiving process.
How does a Lean Supply Chain improve business performance?
A lean supply chain has a huge impact of the overall supply logistics because it lowers the amount
of inventory being held by every business. This reduces costs and improves the ability of suppliers
to deliver goods on time, every time. Implementing a lean supply chain will be dependent upon a
company’s buying power and their ability to negotiate with their suppliers and customers.
Lean Supply Chain
Leaning out the supply chain management process.
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Lean Principles
Strategy Deployment
Value Stream Mapping
Workplace Organization
Process Flow
Quick Changeover
Pull System
Balanced Workload
Standard Work
Kaizen
Lean Supply Chain