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Mar 19 2013

Replenishment lead time in retail

Raj Govindarajan asked the following question:

Your blog on Safety Stock Formula was very fascinating. I work in a Retail company and I am trying to apply the safety stock formula to the retail environment. Is it fair to consider “Replenishment Intervals” as “Lead Time”? In other words, for example, I have a lead time of 7 days, but I order every day to the store; so should I consider demand variability for 7 days or 1 day?

As you may recall, I am advocating wariness in applying the formula. If you are ordering every day for delivery 7 days later, you are not using the reorder point logic the safety stock formula is based on. With a reorder point, you are only placing an order when your stock crosses a threshold, and the stock on hand at that time is supposed to carry you until the order is delivered.

The question you are faced with, for each item, is “How much do I need to order today to make sure I don’t run out 7 days from now?”  The elements you have to make that decision are as follow:

  1. The quantity on hand you have today. 
  2. The already ordered quantities that will be delivered in the next six days.
  3. Your sales forecast, with confidence interval, for the next seven days.

The tricky part is the sales forecast. The safety stock formula assumes a consumption rate that fluctuates around a constant mean. This may not fit your products. To check it out, you need to analyze sales history. Cell phones and artichokes are both retail products, but with different demand structures.

For your products, you need to know whether they are on a trend that is long-term compared to 7 days, and which kind of trend. In addition, is there a weekly pattern in sales? Do your products sell more, or less, on week-ends? Data mining on your sales history can give you the minimum on hand you can expect at the end of six days and the quantity you need to receive on the seventh to avoid running out.

And you have to keep in mind that these calculations are only valid in the absence of earthquakes, hurricanes, stock market crashes, wars breaking out, new product introductions, or any other event that can severs the connection between historical data and the near future.

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By Michel Baudin • Answers to reader questions • 4 • Tags: Safety Stock

Mar 18 2013

Chrysler’s training academy hands-on (With Video) | the Windsor Star

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing

WARREN, Mich. — When you  step into the lab at the World Class Manufacturing Academy, your first inclination is to play. Warm colours, bright…

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

More details about Chrysler’s training academy.

See on blogs.windsorstar.com

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By Michel Baudin • Press clippings • 0 • Tags: Chrysler, Training, WCM

Mar 17 2013

One More Time: Lean Is Not Just For High-Volume Producers | Gregg Stocker

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“One of the most common arguments against the adoption of lean is that it applies only to high volume manufacturing operations.  Much of the literature available on the subject, as well as the close association with Toyota has created the misconception that lean is not applicable to organizations that deal with a small number of large projects or highly customized products or services.

There are three basic questions related to the application of lean that demonstrate that it is not dependent on the volume of product or services produced…”

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

Gregg Stocker’s perspective on the broad applicability of Lean.

See on leadingtransformation.wordpress.com

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By Michel Baudin • Blog clippings • 0 • Tags: Lean, Lean implementation, Process

Mar 17 2013

Visitors see ‘lean’ during RUH tour | Star Phoenix

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
 Technology is often touted as the cure for many of our modern afflictions.Funny, then, that a whiteboard in the staff room could make such a difference in how the city’s busiest emergency department runs.”It’s very low-tech,” says Jon Schmid, the registered nurse manager for Royal UniversityHospital’s emergency department. “But the impact it has on our organization is huge.”…

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

The text of the article is informative, particularly about the use of a white board, but the picture does not show this white board. In fact, it seems unrelated to the article, as if the newspaper just slapped on a stock photo from a hospital.

As it is, however, this photo is a good reason for the quotes around the word “Lean.” It is an encyclopedia of work space design mistakes, with work surfaces at uneven and ergonomically inappropriate heights, causing people to stoop, or even squat to access the refrigerator. Not to mention empty space in the center and chairs.

Workspace design mistakes

See on www.thestarphoenix.com

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By Michel Baudin • Press clippings • 0 • Tags: Ergonomics, Health care, Lean, Lean Health Care

Mar 17 2013

Toyota’s history rests on key textile invention | Long Island Newsday

Kiichiro and Eiji Toyoda
Kiichiro and Eiji Toyoda around a loom

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing

It was a single thread that gave a man a dream, created a little history and displayed the talents of a remarkable mind and a family with resourcefulness in its genes.

Sakichi Toyoda wasn’t all that interested in fast-moving machinery, just machines in motion. It’s how the Toyota Production System began. It’s how an inventor with a sharp eye and even sharper mind built an empire…

 

 

 

 

 

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

A summary of Toyota history with the usual omissions:

  1. Automatic shuttle change. The ability to stop when thread broke was not the only innovation of Toyoda looms. Automatic shuttle change was equally important, not just to looms but as a forerunner of autonomation, the Toyota approach to automation.
  2. The German connection. Toyota learned much about car technology from Germany through Kazuo Kumabe and his research team, in particular reverse-engineering a 1936 DKW. The concept of Takt also came from the German Junkers company via the Mitsubishi Aircraft plant in Nagoya.

See on www.newsday.com

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By Michel Baudin • History, Press clippings • 0 • Tags: Autonomation, jidoka, Toyota, Toyota Production System

Mar 16 2013

Windsor Chrysler workers reduce waste to be world class | Windsor Star (blog)

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
World Class Manufacturing, Fiat’s version of lean manufacturing, would become Chrysler’s way of doing business.

See on blogs.windsorstar.com

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By Michel Baudin • Blog clippings, Press clippings • 0 • Tags: Lean, Lean manufacturing, WCM

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