Craig Jarman: Seeking Truth in Data and Improving Safrans Inventory Optimization Practices
The LeanDNA-List celebrates the hard work of our customers, who day-in and day-out work to optimize inventory, reduce shortages, and empower their companies to operate more efficiently. These winners represent the tenacious, knowledgeable, and hands-on users and champions of LeanDNA.
“Craig cares so much about the procurement organization at Safran. His attention to detail and thoroughness has led to not only huge data health improvements across the organization but also one of the best deployments I’ve ever seen. He is engaging, thoughtful, and so passionate about empowering his team with tools for success. We’re all lucky to work with him.”
Germain Lavalade, Customer Success Manager, LeanDNA
Craig Jarman is a truth-seeker. He looks to accurate, validated data for guidance as he navigates business and technology decisions in his career—a trait that is pivotal for his role as business intelligence lead at Safran’s seat division in Great Britain. During his 15-year tenure, he’s held various analyst roles in the company, and most recently, is working alongside the executive team to restructure the core foundations within their ERP system, such as their work centers and warehouse control. The continued goal for Craig’s work: To gain further efficiencies and process improvements by shepherding teams through new technology implementations.
“Now more than ever, the ability to get immediate information is crucial. LeanDNA has gone from being just another business tool to the key tool where all standardized reporting and data analysis is undertaken across multiple teams and available at the press of a button. This process change has only been achieved due to Craig’s passion for advancing our supply chain.”
Nicola Bardsley, VP of Supply Chain, Safran Seats GB
For almost three years, Craig has been the ultimate LeanDNA champion at Safran Seats Great Britain, leading the rapid software implementation, establishing total trust and visibility of inventory data to drive efficient processes, and getting teams moving in the same direction toward shared goals. Because of Craig’s resolute focus on data integrity and trust-building, the Safran teams quickly adopted the standardized processes through LeanDNA, resulting in a 36 percent inventory reduction in three months—a success story that earned LeanDNA the 2020 NextGen Analytics Provider of the Year award.
“I’ve always been passionate and eager to learn how to do things faster and better, so naturally, I’ve always been keen on technology that can automate operations. Almost all areas of our business are using LeanDNA nowadays. It has become a pivotal tool for our business to improve and standardize our processes. We need to keep innovating in today’s manufacturing space.”
Craig Jarman, Business Intelligence Lead, Safran Seats Great Britain
To build an agile inventory operation with his organization, there are a few non-negotiables for Craig and the procurement team at Safran:
“The truth”—validated, clean data. Craig uses LeanDNA to consolidate, validate, and instill trust in Safran’s inventory data. The result of his efforts? Control over ERP system data and total visibility across the organization. “To find operational efficiencies, you have to start with the foundation,” Craig says. By eliminating their siloed spreadsheet approach, the procurement team has a single source of truth on which to build an efficient inventory management process.
An aligned team ready to drive change. Beyond clean data, a strong foundation also includes a passionate team equipped with the tools to drive change. To quickly empower the team at Safran, Craig masterfully implemented LeanDNA into their organization in just four weeks, bringing the total time from the first LeanDNA demo to the first LeanDNA Inventory Action completed by his team to 61 days. He organized strategic on-site training for a team of Safran “superusers,” who drove LeanDNA adoption as their system of record throughout the organization. As usage snowballed, the teams were ultimately able to standardize inventory optimization practices and build the foundation to reduce both manufactured and purchased inventory.
Today, nearly all teams rally around LeanDNA to align and provide total visibility across their organization. Those that aren’t on the platform yet, Craig notes, reach out to get on board.
Technology to propel innovation. Craig has always been a “software guy,” looking toward technological advancements to drive faster, better, and more efficient work performance. “I’ve always been keen on technology to automate operations,” he says. “Once we have clean data and the right processes in place, technology like LeanDNA helps bring efficiencies to life.” Once he brought in a validated, single source of truth and a foundation for process improvements, the team replaced manual analysis processes with LeanDNA’s AI-powered actionable intelligence engine, using the prescriptive inventory recommendations to fuel a 36 percent inventory reduction in just three months. Craig is now driving the adoption of LeanDNA’s shortage reports, encouraging further automation of manual processes and cross-site, cross-functional collaboration within one software. This will help the Safran team systemically halt shortages in their tracks and sustainably improve on-time delivery to customers.
“Craig plays a pivotal role in our ongoing supply chain transformation. His belief that the foundations of our processes have to be correct, and that proper data management and extraction are key, is fundamental to our success.”
Nicola Bardsley, VP of Supply Chain, Safran Seats GB
Craig continues to empower Safran’s procurement team, using technology and continuous improvement initiatives to keep the team out of constant firefighting mode and looking at the right information to inform decisions. Craig’s tenacity and innovative spirit are not only saving his team time and headaches, but also driving results and empowering the organization with improved visibility and the tools to succeed in today’s volatile market.
Ready to find truth in your data and transform how your teams take inventory actions? Reach out to a LeanDNA expert to get started.
