Aberdeen Group: Five Practices to Achieve a Lean Supply Chain

Aberdeen Group has released the report, “Lean Manufacturing: Five Tips for Reducing Waste in the Supply Chain.” The report looks at how companies are reducing operational costs and meeting customer mandates through leveraging a Lean manufacturing environment. The capabilities differentiating top manufacturers today will not be enough in today’s economic conditions.

Consumption across the board is shrinking, forcing companies to adapt and run as efficiently as possible. The report reveals that 79 percent of all respondents identified operational costs as the top pressure driving companies to consider investing in a Lean manufacturing strategy.

When companies consider Lean today, they are more likely to be considering the handoffs between manufacturing and supply chain. “Improving this handoff translates into synchronizing manufacturing execution with customer demand and improving the collaborative processes for supply chain planning and manufacturing operations, both of which were identified as the top two strategic actions by the respondents,” explains Nari Viswanathan, VP/Principle Analyst, Supply Chain Management, Aberdeen Group. “To help in the execution of these strategies, this report is a roadmap for professionals looking to implement Lean principles and extend them into the supply chain,” added Mathew Littlefield, Sr Analyst, Manufacturing Practice Leader.

Aberdeen, www.aberdeen.com