In today’s manufacturing environment, uncertainty has become the norm. Geopolitical disruption, inflation, changing customer expectations, labor shortages, and volatile demand patterns are forcing manufacturers and distributors to make faster and more coordinated decisions than ever before. Companies that continue operating in reactive silos frequently struggle with excess inventory, [...]
"The minority of clients that are proactive were using just-in-time principles, but in a way that works during the pandemic," said Lisa Anderson, President of the LMA Consulting Group. "As a decision-maker, I need to have a certain amount of safety stock, but I will replenish that as we take orders, and we'll replenish those reserves [...]
Several clients are wondering, “Is JIT Dead?”. Definitely not. Just-in-time inventory planning is a best practice inventory management process. If you are literally ordering just-in-time from China and expecting to not experience disruptions without strategic stockpiles, capacity or agility built into the picture is not smart. On the other [...]
Forget 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It' All bets are off in these unprecedented times. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. Take a fresh look at your product supply strategies. Should We Make or Buy? Many executives outsourced when it was the popular and often a smart [...]
I talked with the Direct Relief about the global supply chain during the pandemic. We discussed the issues of hoarding, the impacts on the global supply chain and what could be done to realign the supply chain so that consumers had what they needed where they needed it when [...]
Just-in-time might not be what it is cracked up to be! Certainly, the coronavirus impacts should give us reason to question this rule at face value. Are you running so tight that you only have one bin, pallet or small supermarket to keep your facility running? If so, the [...]
I talked with the Santa Clarita Valley Signal on the problems keeping shelves stocked amid the coronavirus lockdown. We talked about the end-to-end supply chain and what impacts the supply chain would have on how quickly the shelves would be restocked. See below for the reprinted article from the [...]
Must you compromise quality for speed? Reducing lead time will increase customer satisfaction and avoid the Amazon Effect.
When connecting people and process, think about using customer collaborative programs to link strategy with execution.
It seems very common that people get on the bandwagon of some of these philosophies like JIT, and they give up as opposed to understanding that it's not something trendy to do.
