Lean Supply Chain

Having an efficient and effective supply chain is a strategic advantage, because competition does not only take place in markets

We can define as Supply Chain (SC) the flow of information and materials between companies, customers and suppliers. Companies operate in supply chains with different complexities, without lean strategies extended to the entire supply chain, but customers and suppliers are strategic elements for the survival and prosperity of the organisations.

It is important to remember that:

Getting new customers holds a strategic value, while keeping current ones is indispensable.
Winning customers means taking them away from others. One must aim for an innovative approach to sales, instead of selling one must be bought
Good Suppliers are contented by all

Therefore, it becomes essential to rethink the entire supply chain (Company, Customers and Suppliers) from a lean perspective by eliminating waste and building new partnerships, i.e.:

Sharing the concept of customer value among all actors in the supply chain
Implementing a Lean growth plan together
Having the strength of the team

The Lean Supply Chain (LSC) approach involves three coordinated points:

Being a company that has applied the principles of Lean Thinking

Extending these principles to the entire supply chain

Applying the Lean approach to distribution and sales processes

Being a Lean factory means laying the indispensable foundation for building company know-how and then moving outwards and applying Lean principles to external collaborators.

The improvement in the entire supply chain involves choosing strategic partners (suppliers/third parties and customers/distributors) with whom to map the processes of mutual interface, identifying waste and opportunities for improvement, and planning the future state together.

With regard to the upstream supply chain, with a view to a collaborative partnership and not a mere supply relationship, a PULL system is implemented that can evolve into a JIS (Just in Sequence) supply. This means sharing investment costs and transparency regarding the benefits obtained.

With regard to the supply chain towards the market, it will be possible to implement strategies for the delivery to customers/distributors in a PULL perspective, by proposing evolved services (e.g.: Kanban) anticipating possible future market demands (e.g. automotive and mass distribution). Subsequently, sales processes can be redesigned from a Lean Sales and Lean Distribution perspective.
The methodology must be applied in perfect coherence with the market approach strategies.

The tool to support logistical analysis:

Lo.Go.S.® (Logistic Governance System), the software for Measuring, Designing and Improving Corporate Logistics Performance

Discover Lo.Go.S.®