Manufacturers face a growing trend: customers increasingly request highly customized products at short lead times. Companies that have responded to this challenge have seen growth in profitability and market share. The key to this success: reducing lead times to eliminate waste such as expediting, excess inventories, and high overhead.
QRM has helped companies reduce lead times by over 80%, reduce costs and inventory by 20-40%, and substantially increase market share. I have worked on few projects we have implemented the principles of QRM at shop-floor and offices and have achieved significant reduction in lead times.
Figure: Lead time reduction efforts.
Figure: Kanban implementation.