Prepare, prepare, and prepare: 80% of your success is in preparation. Organize the warehouse, clearly mark areas, label exceptions, complete and review system transactions, etc. Stop / isolate movement: When you begin your physical count, stop all physical and system movements and transactions. This is a critical foundation - [...]
A few best practices for reducing inventory levels without negatively impacting customer service include the following: Put the "right" people in the "right" jobs - it is amazing how much this one point contributes to success. Managing inventory levels requires a unique skill set - analysis, seeing the bigger [...]
Do these hypothetical situations sound familiar? Acme Company has a large, priority customer called Wylie Company. Acme must service Wylie flawlessly to maintain the contract, so to ensure stock is always available when Wylie needs it, Acme agrees to a guaranteed safety stock level for Wylie. And, Acme ends [...]
I am a supply chain and operations consultant and former executive. Based on my experiences, I have seen many companies look for the "magic ingredient" in how to achieve profitability. Several high-priced consultants and programs (such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Toyota Production System) later, the company [...]
The key to effective cycle counting is to not get bogged down in resolving every dollar, but rather focus on the significant discrepancies. The main goal of cycle counting is to cycle through your inventory to ensure inventory accuracy on a consistent basis. (In contrast, a physical inventory is [...]
Today's international business climate is becoming more and more competitive and tough to stand out in the crowd. Additionally, more and more plant operations are moving to Mexico, China and other countries where there are lower wage rates, less intensive laws (workers compensation), etc. To succeed in today's environment, [...]
In manufacturing, the only route to success is to manage costs, reduce waste, and increase efficiencies. From a waste point-of-view, here are six tips to successfully reduce waste which will not only reduce costs but it also improve customer service. Stop doing those activities that no one uses anymore [...]
Manufacturers can no longer count on customer loyalty, but they can expect customers continued demands for quality products and service. Quality has seemingly fallen out of favor in terms of the number of articles and attention in industry circles; however, it remains a bedrock principle for customer service and [...]
I was asked to give a speech in January of 2008 on trends and opportunities of 2008. While researching for the speech, I reviewed the last several months of Wall Street Journal alerts and other trends, and the overall story was downright scary - oil continues to push to [...]
