A few weeks ago I was attending a meeting of my local ISM chapter. I was speaking with the purchasing manager for a local college about supply risk and mentioned the risk track and the session at the ISM Conference in San Diego in April, “Understanding and Choosing Supply Risk Solutions: Software, Content and Analytics” that Jason Busch (Editor, Spend [...]

2/22/2010 10:24:33 AM

As part of the public flogging of Toyota for its massive quality problems and recalls, some are calling lean and the Toyota Production System into question. A recent WSJ article, How Lean Manufacturing Can Backfire, describes how Toyota’s use of common parts wreaks havoc during a recall. Part simplification is considered a lean practice. Many [...]

2/12/2010 7:10:56 AM

As a supplier, has a buyer ever tried to sell you dreams of a long-term relationship, repleat with lots of business opportunities and a harmonious partnership? You hear all the right key words: long-term, partnership, mutually beneficial, increased business, trust, win-win.   It goes something like this: we may be beating you down on your customary [...]

2/8/2010 10:25:05 AM

If you didn’t think space exploration was dangerous enough, here’s something else to worry about. NASA has been looking into outsourcing parts of the space exploration program to outside suppliers, reasoning that this is the best way to speed up rocket development and to save money. They reasoned that private contractors would be able to provide the [...]

1/21/2010 10:53:43 AM

I’ve spent more brain cells than I care to think about on supplier evaluation and supplier scorecards. I’ve made a number of posts about the subject on this blog, which I will list in a future post.  And I’ve been a guest blogger on the subject. As part of its Best of Spend Matters series [...]

12/30/2009 10:42:01 AM

Looks like it’s really all over for NUMMI, the Toyota/GM joint auto manufacturing venture in Fremont, CA. Last summer, I wrote a post about the strong possibility of Toyota’s closing the plant (NUMMI: Things Are Looking Gloomy). The plant was losing money. Located in a high-wage area, even potential UAW concessions didn’t seem like enough to allow [...]

12/28/2009 9:50:21 AM

At the end of the year, and especially at the end of a decade, many top ten lists are popping up. So I’m joining in this list-making with the top ten reasons why firms should implement supplier performance management (SPM). Find out how well suppliers are really performing Improve supplier performance such as quality, responsiveness, customer satisfaction and [...]

12/23/2009 7:04:25 AM

Die casting is manufacturing at its most basic and dirty level. Companies that use casting suppliers must allow additional lead time for procuring the castings, as they are typically a long lead-time item. And die casters are known for being generally at the low end of the manufacturing efficiency and innovation scale. According to a North American [...]

12/17/2009 8:04:46 AM

Thousands of people have gone through Six Sigma training and many call themselves Six Sigma Black Belts. While they may have gone through black belt training and possess the technical know-how, many may not adequately fulfill the role and create successful changes and improvements in an organization. They have the book learning but not the street [...]

12/16/2009 6:52:09 AM

Boeing recently announced that it was planning to replicate all 787 parts built in the Puget Sound area in a new facilities being built in North Charleston, South Carolina. According to a recent article in the Seattle Times,  Boeing machinists are seeing this as the first step toward moving all parts out of Boeing’s Puget Sound plants. [...]

12/11/2009 9:54:02 AM