Moving Beyond Lean Manufacturing to a Lean Supply Chain
Michael Bittner - September 13, 2005

Background

Most of the buzz and activity around the adoption of lean manufacturing concepts within an enterprise has been linked to the shop floor. Production operations have been the target of most lean manufacturing deployments, but lean manufacturing principles and techniques can be extended beyond the shop floor to processes that are unique to and transcend efficient production operations and supply chain operations. Stretching lean manufacturing principles toward a lean supply chain is a tall order, and only a few early adaptor enterprises such as Toyota, Lockheed-Martin, Nokia, Delphi, and Honeywell can speak to the challenges and successes of lean initiatives. To date, over 50 percent of all U.S. manufactures report some type of lean manufacturing initiative in process, while less than 10 percent report transition of lean principles beyond plant production...