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lean manufacturing
lean six sigma
The Keys to Successfully Implementing Lean Six Sigma Practices
Many manufacturers have seen firsthand the benefits to be realized from implementing Lean Six Sigma practices, yet the obstacles to successfully implementing them can be substantial. Culture and existing mindsets and behaviors are frequently not oriented to using facts and data to make decisions — a foundational requirement to Lean Six Sigma programs.
A successful Lean Six Sigma program will implement processes to deliver continuous improvements in methodologies, emphasize speed and rapid deployment of actions and relentlessly pursue practices that mitigate waste. To achieve this, manufacturers need strong executive leadership and an equally strong company-wide commitment to continuous improvement. For maximum efficiency and effectiveness in implementing these programs, manufacturers should look to leverage lean manufacturing tools that support these initiatives.
Lean manufacturing tools should be able to provide proactive alerts to identify anomalies or exceptions where there is still time to take corrective action and avoid unacceptable situations. Such tools should also ensure that front-line decisions (e.g., response to changes, setting order policies) align with executive-level goals and commitments, thereby avoiding costly and potentially wasteful expenses.
Accelerating the Adoption of Lean Manufacturing Processes
Kinaxis™ RapidResponse™ delivers the capabilities that accelerate the adoption of Lean manufacturing processes throughout manufacturing organizations. RapidResponse delivers:
- Multi-enterprise, multi-tier supply chain visibility to everyone throughout your organization to ensure that everyone is working from a single version of the truth
- Proactive, event-driven alerts that identify changes throughout your supply chain that could prevent you from executing to your current plan
- Rapid assessment of the impact of change on your financial and operations key performance indicators (KPI)
- Collaborative simulation of viable action alternatives to quickly determine the course corrections available to deal with changing conditions
- Integrated analysis of each action alternative against your operations performance objectives to ensure that you are choosing a course of action that is best aligned with your committed KPIs
With the right Lean manufacturing tools in the hands of your front-line supply chain managers, they are equipped to rapidly identify changing conditions and determine the appropriate actions to take. This increased supply chain flexibility and agility dramatically reduces costs and eliminates waste that could undermine the objectives of your Lean Six Sigma initiatives. And, these same tools can be used to support continuous process improvements by simulating the effects of changing order policies and other supply chain network design considerations.
Combining strong leadership, a commitment to continuous improvement and the right Lean manufacturing tools has proven to enable the type of Lean supply chain critical to competing in today's hyper-competitive business climate.
