Tag: electronic kanban

Guest Blog Part 3: Listen to the Process
Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In my second installment, I reviewed strategies for rolling out an eKanban project that have proven successful for me. In this final entry, my focus turns to continuous improvement.

In thinking about this final entry to my eKanban blog series, it may be helpful to review where we’ve been (irony of this to follow). Previously, we talked about establishing a plan to include what we want to accomplish, why and how we will measure results (Real-world Advice for Getting Started on eKanban). We reviewed the importance of engaging leadership in the eKanban project and strategies for turning frontline contributors into change-agents.

Then, we turned toward execution, reviewing replenishment process mapping and rolling out a pilot with examples of how to engage suppliers (Start Your eKanban Implementation with Value-stream Mapping and Engaging Your Suppliers). I left you with the thought of keeping the goals of the mission in mind and continually reinforcing and communicating key outcomes and progress toward the attainment of those goals. The fact is, you need to keep evangelizing the project; particularly after the software goes live and rolls out across the organization. Keep the momentum strong. Communicate results. Win advocates.

“Knowledge speaks; wisdom listens”

These immortal words from the great Jimi Hendrix couldn’t be truer. With regards to our eKanban project, knowledge and communication were critical to complete the first part of the journey, listening comes next.

As the organization starts to use the new eKanban system, start to listen. Tune into the process and listen for feedback from both internal (inside the four walls) and external (customer and supplier) sources. This is the start to the continuous improvement process.

Through patient listening, you’ll receive good – and sometimes surprising – process feedback that can lead to key quality and performance improvements. As you collect feedback, you will need to start assessing your options. Typically, it breaks down into:
1. What improvements can be done quickly. Tackling some quick wins can be helpful in demonstrating to those providing feedback that the organizations is really listening – and behind the project all the way.
2. What is going to take longer to implement. Sometimes these can become projects in and of themselves. In this case, it’s critical to breakdown the issue to ensure it’s executed correctly: Create a plan; test; validate; implement.
For one manufacturer, I was involved in an eKanban implementation across six facilities. After implementing the software – and listening to the process – an issue came up where suppliers would receive replenishment signals, but wouldn’t know which facility initiated the order. The quick fix was to add a source code to the order. Problem solved.

The same manufacturer also required a fix that took a little more time, due to some software adjustments. They wanted to add a date and/or the revision number of the part to the eKanban label. So, we created a plan with our software partner (Synchrono), tested it, and when it was validated, we implemented. An easy fix that needed to be worked into the software development cycle.

While listening is a very important part of the continuous improvement process, data gained from the eKanban system also has value in identifying areas for performance improvements.

For example, a manufacturer using their eKanban system for tracking their on-time delivery rate, was able to identify suppliers who were consistently late. Worse, because these suppliers were known to be late, purchasers (with the best intentions) would trick the system and override the Kanban quantity. Of course, they ended up with too much on hand inventory. Through access to the eKanban system data, we were able to get to the root cause of the problem and take corrective action.

Go Mountain Climbing

Sometimes the continuous improvement process may leave you feeling like things are never good enough. Not true! Just take a moment to take in the view.

The analogy I use in teaching Lean Manufacturing is mountain climbing. When you’re climbing, you’re just focused on getting up the mountain in the most expedient way. And, in doing so, you may start to lose steam.

Re-energize yourself (and your team) by looking back occasionally to see what you’ve accomplished. Look at the new terrain you’ve traveled; the boulders you’ve moved – and how much you’ve saved the company!

You’ll find that sometimes reflecting back is just as important as looking ahead.

Jim Shore is the Principal of Quality Lean Solutions, a Consultant Firm that specializes in Medical Device companies, Supplier Quality and Lean Manufacturing principles. Mr. Shore is co-author of “Proactive Supplier Management in the Medical Device Industry” (2016: Quality Press). Jim has 25 years of quality and supplier management experience in medical devices, semiconductor, aerospace and defense for firms and organizations including Titan Medical, Nypro Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Aspect Medical, Brooks Automation, Raytheon and ACMI Gyrus (now Olympus). He is Six Sigma Black Belt and Quality Manager/Operations Excellence-certified by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), as well as an ASQ-certified Quality Auditor and Mechanical Inspector. A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 15 years.
February 19, 2018
It’s Time to Revisit Vendor Managed Inventory

A few decades ago, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) was a hot topic. Many manufacturers saw it as a way to reduce inventory levels and costs. If they could get their suppliers to maintain ownership of raw materials or subcontracted components until consumed, inventory levels would naturally drop—on paper anyway. Because they were giving most, or all of their business to one supplier, they were also in a position to negotiate better terms. For the supplier, VMI was a win, too, because it allowed them to lock in the manufacturer’s business.

But VMI came with inherent risks to both the manufacturer and the supplier. On the supplier’s side of the equation, the risk lay in the manufacturer’s ability to forecast demand. Unless the contract between manufacturer and supplier had some sort of “shared responsibility” clause, the manufacturer had no incentive to minimize actual inventory levels. Safety stock and reorder point levels could be set high, with minimal risk. And if the forecast was overstated, the manufacturer didn’t need to worry about excess vendor-managed raw material or contracted-components inventory.

From the manufacturer’s point of view, the risk lay primarily in the reliability of the supplier. If the supplier didn’t hold up their end of the bargain or a shipment had material defects, the manufacturer risked a material shortage and significant production delays. While these problems could occur with any supplier, one of the visions of VMI was to reduce the headaches that come from managing supplier issues.

As a result, many manufacturers limited their use of VMI to Class C items that were relatively inexpensive and easily sourced. That way, high safety stock levels didn’t impact their balance sheet much, and supplier reliability issues had a minimal impact on production schedules.

Demand-Driven Manufacturing Technology Makes VMI Easier

The technologies our customers use to manage their internal Demand-Driven Manufacturing initiatives have the added benefit of making VMI feasible once again. Electronic Kanban (eKanban) software is a classic example.

Most readers of this blog are probably familiar with Kanban. They are the automated replenishment signals that are so vital to Lean and Demand-Driven Manufacturing environments. Kanban comes in multiple flavors such as the manufacturing Kanban that signals the need for internal replenishment of materials; the supplier Kanban that initiates replenishment from external suppliers or outsourced manufacturers; and a customer Kanban signals from the customer to the manufacturer for finished goods or replacement parts. Often tugger routes are introduced into the process to deliver materials as needed (regularly or on demand pull) from the warehouse to point of use.

The eKanban system enables real-time, electronic signaling. As materials are received into inventory, they are scanned into the system – and, they are scanned again when consumed. Upon consumption of a Kanban, a signal is sent to a supplier or contract manufacturer, bypassing the standard procurement process and shortening cycle times.

Demand-Driven Manufacturing Reduces the Risk of VMI

OK, so eKanban can make VMI more functionally feasible and efficient than it was twenty years ago, but what about the risks inherent in VMI?

That’s where Demand-Driven Manufacturing comes in.

Technically, implementing Kanban replenishment signals doesn’t automatically qualify your approach as Demand-Driven Manufacturing. You could be in a traditional manufacturing environment using reorder point planning (ROP) to trigger replenishment. For example, your bin sizes are based on ROP calculations that have little to do with actual demand. Since the signal comes from downstream consumption, some would consider this to be pull manufacturing, but it is not in the same way that Lean or Demand Driven environments consider “pull”. Pull is getting close to the actual demand signal; the more inflated the bin sizes, the further the process is from pull – and the larger the bullwhip the process will create.

In true pull-based or Demand-Driven Manufacturing, replenishment is based on actual demand or consumption. (And some buffer stock which we talked about here.) Projected and actual demand, demand variability, and supplier reliability are monitored and inventory is right-sized to meet these specific attributes of the item. The allows Demand-Driven manufacturers to continually adjust their Kanban Loop sizes so they are always in alignment with demand, supply expectations and actuals. As variability is removed and lead-times are reduced, the Kanban Loop adjusts to become one step closer to demand.

Demand-Driven Manufacturing makes VMI far more attractive for your suppliers. They understand that the signals they receive for replenishment aren’t based on some pie-in-the-sky forecast that will leave them sitting on tons of materials in the supply chain that they will eventually have to write off. And, it puts you in a better position to negotiate the kinds of service levels agreements (SLAs) you need to reduce the risks associated with supplier variability.

If you’d like to learn more about eKanban, here are a few additional resources:

White Paper: Gaining Control: Exploring Push vs. Pull Manufacturing

Article: Moving From a Manual to an eKanban System

Case Study: Continuous Improvement Immersion Plus the Right Tools Proves Profitable for Dynisco

January 8, 2018
Guest Blog Part 2: Start Your eKanban Implementation with Value-stream Mapping and Engaging Your Suppliers
by Jim Shore

Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In this installment, I’d like to talk about strategies for rolling out an eKanban project that have proven successful for me.

Whether you use Google maps, Apple, MapQuest or some other breed of navigation, you know you must enter both a starting location (or allow the system to “know” your current location) – and a desired destination. Too often, I see manufacturers get excited about the destination of best-practice process improvement without carefully considering the starting point.

The Value in Value-Stream Mapping

In my view, the process starts by gaining a clear understanding of the current, “as is” state, because you can’t make process improvements unless you can explain the problem you are working to resolve. With eKanban implementations, this can be any number of problems including excess materials on hand, slow inventory turns, too much scrap and more.

So, once you have universal buy-in on the project (see Guest Blog1: Real-world Advice for Getting Started on eKanban), the first step toward execution is to develop a good process, or value-stream map. For an eKanban project, this would involve documenting the flow of the current, manual Kanban process. (If you’re not using a manual Kanban system, map the current inventory replenishment process.) Next, document the process for the future state – using an eKanban system – and note the gaps. The goal is to identify the processes that do not provide value (e.g. waste) so they can be eliminated or improved upon.

Take the time to ensure you’ve mapped out everything. It may seem tedious, but it is worthwhile. For example, in one facility I worked with, it took us a day to develop a good process map. Over the course of the exercise, we found multiple variations in the current, 66-step process that produced excess waste. For example, they were literally logging 7 miles a year to track down inventory! Once we streamlined our map and implemented the eKanban system, the process was trimmed to just 6 steps. The exercise exceeded expectations, providing all team members with quantifiable value of the project.

Before I move on, I want to take a moment to tie the value-stream mapping exercise to the key take-aways from the first blog in the series: Communication and buy-in. Those involved in developing the process maps will likely buy into its outcomes, hopefully becoming vocal advocates of the eKanban project. As in the example above, the mapping exercise also provides useful data points for leaders and others to communicate across the organization.

Strategies for Getting Suppliers on Board

Some manufacturers experience supplier resistance to a new electronic Kanban solution. This push-back may stem from the perception that they are being forced to adopt new technology, pay the price, and/or hold the risk.

This criticism is based on the idea that when a supplier holds the inventory, they hold all the risk. One manufacturer I worked with had a unique solution to this dilemma. First, they started their eKanban implementation with a software pilot in a controlled area of their organization – and engaged just their top three suppliers. The manufacturer approached these three suppliers and entered into to a contract with them where they would assume half of the risk. Then they created a test environment where they could get the suppliers comfortable with the software. The suppliers received training on various scenarios, became familiar with email communications they would be receiving – and gained visibility into the supplier portal where they could monitor the manufacturer’s consumption and/or receive replenishment signals.

The manufacturer also gave their suppliers an incentive by including their eKanban software usage as part of their performance rating.

By taking more of a partnership approach with their suppliers, the suppliers became more engaged and, in fact, found their own benefits in using the system. One of the suppliers, while finding the software easy to understand, liked the ability to monitor demand through the eKanban supplier portal. Another supplier who was initially concerned about having excess inventory, found the eKanban system allowed them to better level-load. As a result, they reduced their over-time costs and were able to increase capacity without added expense. A win-win for all.

The Pilot Program and Beyond

As was demonstrated in the use case above, a pilot (or vendor free trial) is not only helpful for suppliers, but for internal adoption and continuous improvement. Starting an eKanban implementation on an isolated line or work cell allows you to work out any kinks or issues before rolling out the software to other areas. Internal chatter about the system starts to take hold and, based on my experience, employees start hoping their area is next in line.

Beyond the pilot program, it’s time to start measuring progress toward what you set out to accomplish – and the metrics that will influence those outcomes. The manufacturer in my example established metrics for baseline inventory reductions and increased inventory turns and were able to recoup their initial software investment before implementation was complete.

Metrics typically associated with eKanban projects include:
- Inventory turns/Inventory cost
- Replenishment lead time
- Stock buffer health
- Supplier performance
- Freight costs
Improving these metrics often contribute to corporate-level goals of expense reduction, improved on-time delivery and greater throughput.

Keep the Goals Top-of-Mind

When executing a transformative process, ensure no one loses sight of the mission. Continually reinforce the value of the outcomes and regularly communicate progress toward goal attainment. This not only helps to set expectations as you roll out the project, but creates anticipation for its results.

In summary, for a successful eKanban project rollout, here are the steps I recommend:
1. Map the current and future states of the process.
2. Start focused – implement a pilot in a controlled area, make necessary adjustments and continue rolling out through a pragmatic approach.
3. Partner with your suppliers to make the implementation a win-win.
4. Monitor your metrics.
As you think about eKanban – or similar Lean projects in your organization – I hope you find this insight helpful. Next time, I’ll address post-implementation strategies of “listening to the process” and focused continuous improvement.

Jim Shore is the Principal of Quality Lean Solutions, a Consultant Firm that specializes in Medical Device companies, Supplier Quality and Lean Manufacturing principles. Mr. Shore is co-author of “Proactive Supplier Management in the Medical Device Industry” (2016: Quality Press). Jim has 25 years of quality and supplier management experience in medical devices, semiconductor, aerospace and defense for firms and organizations including Titan Medical, Nypro Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Aspect Medical, Brooks Automation, Raytheon and ACMI Gyrus (now Olympus). He is Six Sigma Black Belt and Quality Manager/Operations Excellence-certified by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), as well as an ASQ-certified Quality Auditor and Mechanical Inspector. A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 15 years.
December 18, 2017
Supply Chain Visibility and the Bottom-line

Visibility Matters.

Rick Morris, a Certified Supply Chain Professional wrote in Supply House Times that while improving fill rates, improved forecast accuracy also lowers inventory levels measured in days of sales; and simultaneously, improved forecast accuracy improves fill rates and lowers inventory. He suggested this translates into increased profitability. When analysts have studied companies that were best-in-class in demand forecasting, they found these companies averaged (according to Advanced Market Research) 15% less inventory; 17% higher perfect order fulfillment; 35% shorter cash-to-cash cycle times; and 1/10 the stock outs of their peers. In addition, every 3% increase in forecast accuracy increased profit margin by 2%. These improvements in inventory efficiencies then translate into improved financial metrics, including 10% improvement in earnings per share; 5% increase in return on assets; and a 2.5% gain in profits.

Reducing the Risk of Supply Chain Disruptions

Sunil Chopra and ManMohan S. Sodhi, reported for the MIT Sloan Management Review, that supply chain executives complain there have been major supply chain disruptions, highlighting vulnerabilities for individual companies and for entire industries globally. Today’s managers know that they need to protect their supply chains from serious and costly disruptions, but the most obvious solutions — increasing inventory, adding capacity at different locations and having multiple suppliers — undermine efforts to improve supply chain cost efficiency. Surveys have shown that while managers appreciate the impact of supply chain disruptions, they have done very little to prevent such incidents or mitigate their impacts. This is because solutions to reduce risk mean little unless they are weighed against supply chain cost efficiency. After all, financial performance is what pays the bills.

Supply Chain Market reported the closest any manufacturer can get to the magic bullet is supply chain visibility. Supply chain visibility is needed to achieve a manufacturers’ goal of saving money quickly and inexpensively. Supply chain visibility means all partners get access to data in real-time. Visibility to all orders allows suppliers to proactively respond to abnormal fluctuations in demand. Poor visibility often results in parts shortages. Frustrated manufacturers report having no idea they were down to the last box of parts. The result is expensive, requiring faster shipping methods to get the part back on the shop floor. A real-time view of parts on hand allows a supply chain manager to take-action before there is a stock out, eliminating expedited fees.

eKanban software provides an effective quick win. An eKanban system can mitigate disruptions associated with stock outs through automated inventory replenishment and visibility into real-time demand signals, supplier response and more. Current manufacturing Kanban technologies have evolved to automate and simplify even the most complex supply chains.

In addition to eKanban, many of today’s manufacturers are taking advantage of all the digitization created to enable the Internet of Things and elevating visibility within and beyond their four walls – and across multi-enterprise environments. So, what steps are manufacturers taking toward this end, and more importantly, what is the investment?

The answer depends upon your starting point.

In a recent research report, Gartner defines their five stages of maturity in supply chain visibility to include: Asset; functional; supply chain; value chain; and ecosystem visibility. (Gartner, Define the Five Stages of Supply Chain Visibility Maturity, 2016.) As an organization moves toward greater maturity, the number of disparate data sources to be aggregated and made visible multiplies. As such, web-based and SaaS priced visual factory information systems (VFIS) are gaining favor based on their flexible technology architecture, affordability and ability to easily scale – manufacturers can use the same system to visualize information as they mature through the stages. And because the VFIS connects to any data source (legacy systems, ERP, MES, PLM, WMS, machines, etc.), manufacturers wouldn’t necessarily need to invest in any other systems to get started on impacting the bottom line through greater supply chain visibility.

We will spend more time exploring how manufacturers are creating greater supply chain visibility and empowering people with relevant, real-time information, in future posts. In the meantime, if you have any examples you would like to share, please leave a comment!

Additional resources:

Video: How Orbital ATK is Leveraging the IIoT and Visual Factory Technology to Drive Continuous Improvements

Video: Visual Factory Software Overview

White Paper: Gaining Control: Exploring Push v. Pull Manufacturing [using Kanban systems]

November 18, 2016
Creating Trust Throughout the Supply Chain Using Demand-Driven Methods

How reducing forecasting errors and disruption risks create better supplier relationships.

Building trust in the supply chain is essential to driving flow; and when there are forecast errors, there is an inherent mistrust throughout the supply chain. Lack of collaboration is often the cornerstone of conflict, blame, and mistrust between a manufacturer and suppliers. Missed shipments tend to lead to finger-pointing, followed by over-buffering on both sides to guard against further disruptions, which often results in further exacerbation of the negative bull-whip effect.

Cost-effective supply chain collaboration between manufacturer and suppliers is paramount. Without that constraint addressed, all other benefits are pointless.

Start with right-sizing inventory and just-in-time replenishment practices.

In a recent issue of Financial Director, editorial contributors Paul Dennis and Peter Young, suggested if there is one thing about predicting the future that always comes true, it’s that everyone, from time to time, gets things wrong. It is safe to say that with forecasts, they can be relatively accurate at a high level (i.e. total sales, sales for product type, etc), but at a low level like sales for an individual for the week 40 is near impossible. However, this is where the relationship between manufacturer and suppliers exists. The article argues that what separates best-in-class companies from those that struggle with accuracy is how they root out (and learn from) forecasting errors.

From an inventory perspective, today more manufacturers are viewing excessive inventory as a huge financial liability rather than an asset. Best-in-class demand-driven manufacturers successfully combat this risk through “right-sizing” inventory and stock buffers using pull-based or demand-driven replenishment solutions. This methodology greatly reduces reliance on forecast and therefore reduces the impact of forecast error. A common and highly effective way to implement a demand-driven methodology is through an electronic Kanban system.

In leveraging an eKanban system, manufacturers and supply chain professionals start driving good replenishment signals to the supplier, fostering trust and reducing noise. eKanban systems automate inventory replenishment by sending suppliers real-time demand signals and enable collaboration by providing both parties with online visibility into order and fulfillment status. How does real-time collaboration and visibility impact the financial statements and key performance indicators? Case in point: In their first year on an eKanban system, plastics manufacturer, Dynisco, saved over $985,000.00 in inventory costs, just by right-sizing. (See article in Plant Services magazine.)

Create a collaborative, transparent environment for all suppliers.

“From Superstorms to Factory Fires: Managing Unpredictable Supply Chain Disruptions,” was a feature article published in Harvard Business Review by David Simchi-Levi, William Schmidt, and Yehua Wei. They suggested that leaders using traditional risk-management techniques and simple heuristics (dollar amount spent at a site, for instance) often end up focusing exclusively on the so-called strategic suppliers for whom expenditures are very high and whose parts are deemed crucial to product differentiation, and overlooking the risks associated with low-cost, commodity suppliers. The fact is, a lack of collaboration with any supplier introduces an element of risk including disruptions to flow that impact throughput. And, a lack of visibility across the supply chain network results in managers taking the wrong actions, wasting resources, and leaving the organization exposed to hidden risk. Demand or Pull-based manufacturing is a method that allows companies to identify, manage, and reduce exposure to supply chain risks by creating transparency.

We define Pull-based or Demand-Driven Manufacturing as a method of manufacturing where production is based on actual customer demand rather than a forecast – and where all layers of manufacturing are synchronized (people, process, materials, machines, and information) to drive flow. This process is accelerated by technology that automates, digitizes data and connects every function within the demand-driven organization to every layer of the supply chain. Gartner estimates that 90% of manufacturers who are not truly demand-driven, want to be. This is likely due to the many benefits demand-driven manufacturing offers, including greater customer – and supplier – satisfaction.

Environments for Demand-Driven Manufacturing

Demand-driven principles can be used in nearly every manufacturing environment because the focus is on flow through the factory. In make-to-stock (MTS) environments, a demand-driven manufacturing platform can drive immediate improvements by right-sizing inventory, increasing flow and throughput, and replenishing resources using an eKanban system. These improvements can be extended across the entire supply chain. In make-to-order (MTO), engineer-to-order (ETO), and configure-to-order (CTO) environments, a synchronized demand-driven manufacturing planning, scheduling, and execution approach manages constraints to deliver increased flow, throughput, on-time delivery, and clarity throughout the manufacturing process and the extended supply chain.

In any environment, the aim of a demand-driven system is to synchronize all layers of manufacturing to drive flow. Order statuses (and any associated disruptions) are visible throughout the enterprise – to the production team, supply chain management, customer service, sales, leadership – and suppliers. Everyone is working from the same factual, real-time information. Trust is built from a single version of the truth gained through shared visibility and collaboration.

Additional resources:

White Paper: Gaining Confidence: Syncing Supplier Delivery to Customer Demand

Article: What is Demand-Driven Manufacturing?

Case Study: Continuous Improvement Immersion + the Right Tools Proves Profitable for Dynisco

November 7, 2016
Lean Manufacturing Driven by Rapid Return on eKanban Technology Investment

Lean Manufacturing relies heavily on trusted relationships with suppliers and pre-negotiated terms of engagement. Through the use of supplier quality certifications and blanket (long-term) purchase orders, a manufacturer can accurately and effectively calculate the optimal level of inventory needed to fulfill demand requirements through the duration of replenishment lead time.

Ensuring supplier performance

When a relationship is setup with a supplier, a service level agreement is defined. Items such as negotiated lead times, packaged quantities, order receipt confirmations, and advanced shipment notices must all be specifically spelled out. An eKanban Pull-based inventory replenishment system monitors that each aspect of the service level agreement is being met by the supplier in real-time. If they are not, a series of alerts and notifications are issued to all interested and affected parties. This gives everyone a chance to quickly adjust their behavior to bring performance back in line.

eKanban software also makes all of this real-time information available for historical analysis and to identify trends in performance. Late shipments, short shipments, and other supply chain performance concerns are all captured and presented in terms of percentage of conformance to the service level agreement. These reports give everyone in the supply chain information about how to focus their continuous improvement energies.

Eliminating inventory waste

eKanban is heavily based on Lean and Six Sigma principles and tools, and adds focus to these efforts by eliminating inventory waste through real-time demand signaling and just-in-time replenishment.

eKanban replenishment is based on the notion that if you take one, you make one. As such, you are reducing on hand inventory and not building assemblies or products without actual demand. You dramatically reduce the amount of inventory that becomes old or obsolete, free warehouse space and you build flexibility – and potential capacity – into your production process. An eKanban system exposes this flexibility so that manufacturers and suppliers can rapidly evaluate the true capability of the system to respond to a specific change in demand.

Manufacturing operations utilizing Lean are increasingly implementing Pull systems with more suppliers. And eKanban systems are taking hold as a relatively easy, and non-disruptive way to introduce Lean thinking into the organization – and bank on a quick return. Just in “right-sizing” inventory levels alone, some manufacturers have saved millions and added tens of millions back to cash flow that can be put to use in more productive ways than filling a warehouse. Additional savings are being realized in improved supplier relationships, lead times and inventory turns – and a dramatic reduction in administrative paperwork.

If you have an experience using a manual or eKanban system, please add a comment. I’d like to hear it!

Additional Resources:

Case Study: Dynisco, A Roper Company

White Paper: Exploring Push v. Pull Manufacturing with Kanban

October 18, 2016

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