Category: Manufacturing Best Practices

2020 has brought a whirlwind of change, uncertainty, and ongoing disruption to normal business operations. But at the same time, the world has seen first-hand the importance that manufacturing and supply chain plays in the day-to-day life of every individual. While this year has been challenging, one thing remained constant: We continue to be honored and proud to work with such incredible partners in the manufacturing space. Continue Reading “Letter from the CEO: Top 5 Procurement Moments in 2020 for LeanDNA” →

This year brought massive challenges and unrelenting uncertainty for manufacturers. But with challenge comes opportunity. In a time when optimizing physical factory operations is more important than ever, our customers navigated new obstacles with grace and innovation. With 2021 nearing, we wanted to stop and take a moment to appreciate and recognize the tenacity of this year’s LeanDNA-Listers—whose work laid a foundation for efficiency and resiliency for whatever challenge came next. Continue Reading “2020’s A-Listers Persevered Against the Odds: Read their success stories” →

The medical device manufacturing industry is undergoing a significant transformation. Driven by global economic growth, innovation, and an aging population, the U.S. medical device market was poised to reach $800B by 2030 before COVID-19 hit. During the pandemic, some medical device companies selling essential supplies and equipment faced demand surges. Others were impacted by a loss of revenue due to procedure postponement. Still, many expect the industry as a whole to recover by 2023. 

Continue Reading “The Inventory Management Hurdle: What’s Next for Medical Device Manufacturers?” →

Manufacturers are feeling it: Stresses on procurement workflows have been growing for years due to the global and heavily customized nature of today’s supply chains. The pandemic further exposed cracks in oversight, priorities, and daily tasks, resulting from tighter budgets and increased constraints across factories. These shifts pose a significant challenge to procurement teams’ daily work: How can teams do more with less, while also making incremental progress toward organizational goals? 

Continue Reading “Building Manufacturing Efficiency in Today’s Fast-Changing Environment” →

As supply chains grow increasingly complex, it can feel impossible to understand how to assess and optimize inventory from end to end. Supply chain leaders, already tasked with the daily responsibilities of firefighting through shortages and ballooning inventory, also have compounded responsibilities to guarantee sustainable on-time delivery over time.

However, inventory data collection is often tedious and manual, and it can take weeks, if not months, to complete. And as soon as it’s analyzed, the inventory data may already be out of date. And while ERPs can hold all of that inventory data, they require expensive, manual, and time-intensive maintenance to keep up to date. Without a simple, structured process for routine inventory data updates, it’s even harder to see and act on opportunities for improvement in the factory.

That’s why lean manufacturers introduced the Plan for Every Part (PFEP). As your team develops inventory optimization goals to reduce shortages, improve working capital, and ultimately maximize production throughput, your PFEP can help you prioritize opportunities that can create the biggest impact in end-to-end inventory management. Instead of churning through noise to look for exceptions, your team can instead efficiently manage the outliers that most affect your supply chain.

Continue Reading “PFEP (Plan For Every Part) Helps You Optimize Your Entire Supply Chain” →