Please Follow directions or I will dispute
please answer original forum with a minimum of 250 words and respond to both students separately with a min of 100
page 1 Original Forum with References
page 2 Benjamin response with references
page 3 Janice response with references
Original Forum
Part I. Explain how a reduction in lead time can help a supply chain reduce its inventory buffer without hurting customer service. Please provide an example to support your research.
Part II. End your initial response with a follow-up question for your classmates to address in further the discussion.
student Response
benjamin
Happy New Year again Classmates!
I apologize in advance but when I hear the term lead time I instantly have migraines as it is a constant issue within the military system for getting parts and effecting the overall readiness of our equipment which effects our training and combat effectiveness along with day to day capabilities and operations.
The Army fielded a new software system years ago called the Global Combat Support System-Army that was supposed to help, alleviate or at least help reduce the lead time by identifying issues and improving the overall aspect. However years later new equipment same old problem.
When it comes to lead time there are many factors associated with date provided from manufacturer, to ordering, inventory, processing, and management to name a few. Improving lead time accurately can help balance inventory management with accurate requests that will help reduce or increase based off of frequency of need. Inventory Buffer in the military is the re-order point of an item based of the acquisition amount or frequency of order/need. So If I have a 3 Re order point then that’s the buffer not get lower than and if I hit that number system generates a fill. Reducing lead time can assist this process with up to date real time accuracy of requests and inventory that will save costs at no real expense of the customer wait time. If anything it increases the delivery process and transparency of an item. In the old days it was called an ASL review that the SSA would run and analyze numbers to reduce lines on stock and quantity based off of the current analysis of requisitions. Though it was time consuming (one-two weeks manually) it made operations easier as it reduced excess inventory and created room for required parts.
I found an article on GCSS-Army that was recently written by an Army Officer. I thought it was interesting as it breaks down the system and problems and possible solution within the process of GCSS-Army. Biggest take that effects lead time is personnel and training on the systems. Educate those that are handling the actual labor of the supply chain management and it will improve lead times, inventory buffers, costs and other potential unrest with customers and bosses
With your knowledge or background, How would you start in a company or supply chain to improve lead time?
Ben
Shockley, E (2020) Using GCSS-Army to Address the challenge of long lead time parts.
janice
Lead time refers to the period between placing an order and receiving the shipment. It is dependent on the business’ ordering process and the supplier’s efficiency. A delay in lead time causes insufficient stocks, inconveniencing customers, and increasing costs for a company. A reduction in lead time reduces a supply chain’s inventory buffer without compromising on customer service in various ways.
First, decreased lead time helps minimize supply chain costs. Companies work with suppliers to discover better bearer travel times, causing a reduction in pointless stock. A decrease in the time required to perform any of these capacities causes a generalized decline in costs along the supply chain. Besides, a reduction in lead time stimulates successful on-time compliance be lessening the variability of similar lead times. Even after working with suppliers to reduce lead time, companies should agree with suppliers and producers on principles that will result in a cause-to-destination premise. Additionally, a reduced lead time enhances supply chain administration and productivity. A company can now decrease stock and pack process durations while freeing up more money and getting more time to market. Plus, with a reduced lead time, an organization can successfully cut its measure of cycle stock. This way, it can place orders more frequently, though in much lesser amounts (De Treville, Shapiro & Hameri, 2004). In 2017, Nike sought to shrink its lead time to meet the changing customer needs – affordability combined with speed. The company launched an Express Lane initiative in North America and Western Europe to half its production time. The initiative aimed at decreasing the time spent on creating prototypes while also building sneakers more quickly and efficiently(McKevitt & Macri, 2017).
Question: In Nike’s case scenario, does fastening the production process influence the inventory buffer?
De Treville, S., Shapiro, R. D., & Hameri, A. P. (2004). From supply chain to demand chain: the role of lead time reduction in improving demand chain performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21(6), 613-627.
McKevitt, J., & Macri, K.P. (2017, June 20). Nike Seeks to Reduce Lead Time in Production. Supply Chain Dive. Retrieved from https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/nike-seeks-to-reduce-lead-times-in-production/445329/
