Strategies to Reduce Operational Cost without Capital Investment
Focus on operational cost reduction strategies to continue growing efficiently while also giving yourself pricing wiggle room.
Cycle Counting Remains Core to Success
Inventory management relies on fundamentals like cycle counting to catch discrepancies. But it has to be coupled with a focus on process disciplines or you’ll end up reliving the same problems every day. I've started working with one of my clients on a cycle count program, and so I'm [...]
Tips for Physical Inventory Success
Completing a physical inventory is a necessary part of inventory management because accuracy doesn’t just happen, it needs to be achieved. Inventory accuracy is cornerstone to success. It is a bedrock topic to improving service levels, reducing lead times, increasing margins, improving efficiencies, reducing inventory levels….and the list goes [...]
UPS Notes E-Commerce Boom
Published October 24, 2014 According to today's Wall Street Journal, UPS had robust growth in the third quarter, which was strongly influenced by the e-commerce boom. E-commerce now accounts for about 45% of U.S. packages. Is e-commerce on your radar? I'm on the flight back from Phoenix as I [...]
Master Scheduling Strategies to Add Value
A master schedule is an integral part of your production plan and communications to your team to centralize focus.
The Manufacturing Connector – Systems Pragmatist
To achieve significant progress on new organizational processes or systems tackle the fundamental to do list first: understand your current processes to figure out where the opportunities for improvement and systems leverage lie.
Best of the 100: Systems Pragmatist
Rushing forward without pertinent tools and processes can hinder your business goals. A systems pragmatist will gain traction by strengthening fundamental areas. As I've been going through my hundreds of articles to put together the 100 tips, it's become obvious as to which topics resonated with me as essential [...]
How To Elevate Business Performance with Lean I.T.
Technological innovations are abundant, even overwhelming. Rather than trying to modernize at every turn seek to leverage your I.T. department to provide maximum efficiency without non-value added work. We hear a lot about lean, Toyota Production System and the like; however, I rarely hear about Lean I.T. A friend [...]
Survey – The Skills Gap Issue
Many manufacturers and distributors are faced with bridging the skills gap in current employees and new hires. I recently partnered with the APICS (the leading association for supply chain and operations management) Inland Empire chapter to complete a survey on skill gaps as it is becoming a critical topic [...]
Why Become the Strongest Link in Your Supply Chain?
Being known as the strongest link in your supply chain is the key to success. In today's new normal business environment where sales are no longer easy, talent is in short supply even amidst high unemployment levels, volatility is the new norm and customers want "more for less - [...]