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Case Study:

Gaining Team Consensus in Project Planning - Part 1 Page 4

The team based on the “Direction of Solution” drafted the following Final Solution Objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1: We closely measure and monitor our inventory quality by backorder frequency, inventory turns, and the size of the inventory as a percentage of revenue.

OBJECTIVE 2: To improve current inventory quality we reduce the existing slow moving inventory, excessive surplus inventory and obsolete inventory.

1.To eliminate existing slow moving inventory and excessive surplus inventory we identify new customers who can utilize that inventory now, and to market our inventory to those customers.

2.To eliminate obsolete inventory we identify new customers who can utilize that inventory, they still have a need for older parts, and we market our inventory to those customers.

3. We return and exchange some existing slow moving inventory and excessive surplus inventory with suppliers, some existing slow moving inventory and excessive surplus inventory is wholesaled to other distributors.

4. We scrap for salvage some obsolete inventory and some is written off completely.

OBJECTIVE 3: We improve our on going inventory quality by addressing the causes of slow moving inventory, excessive surplus inventory and obsolete inventory and eliminating or significantly reducing those causes.

1. We establish a process to monitor the lifecycle of the equipment that we support. As a type of equipment is being phased out at the end of its life cycle, we reduce the stocking levels of replacement parts associated with that equipment.

2. Working with our customers, our vendors and equipment manufacturers we improve our forecasting accuracy to allow us to better match current and anticipated parts demand with our inventory stocking.

3. We significantly improve our inventory control to eliminate part losses.

4. We redefine our inventory management policies to better align with our stated company goal.

5. We address issues of parts reliability by monitoring customers stated preferences for more dependable manufacturers and parts. 

OBJECTIVE 4: We shrink the supply or replenishment cycle time for parts by instituting a process of supply chain management in conjunction with our parts suppliers.

1. We encourage suppliers to establish local inventories adjacent to our distribution facility. These local inventories can provide same day supply or replenishment to us "just in time" to satisfy order demand.

2. We work with suppliers to streamline their fulfillment process and shorten order cycle times.

3. We provide suppliers with detailed forecasts of our estimated and actual demand to facilitate their own forecasting. We establish data interchange and sharing to help facilitate this process.

4. We shift appropriate items fulfillment to suppliers who are capable of shipping parts directly to our customers as effectively as we can, but insuring that the drop shipments are done as transparently to our customer as is possible to eliminate potential disruptions to their business activities. (Packing lists, parts labeling, etc.)

5. We minimize the number of nodes (points of coordination) that define the supply chain.

6. We establish in conjunction with our suppliers a set of global performance measures defined from our customer's perspective that are utilized to insure that all participants in the supply chain are aligned on the achievement of the same goal, and to assist in driving continuous improvement in the performance and management of our supply chain.

The team having established a list of Final Solution Objectives now was faced with developing a plan to achieve those objectives. The team agreed that if these Final Solution Objectives could be achieved that the business problem would be well addressed. The real problem facing the team was getting from here to there. Everyone could see huge roadblocks and pitfalls standing in the way. We certainly had agreed on an ambitious target.

"That would be great, but we can never pull it off."

Part 2 of this case study will examine steps 2 and 3 of the consensus building process. We will explore how obstacles are identified and a method of addressing those obstacles is implemented. We will also see how a sequence of implementation is developed.

References:

1. Thinking for a Change; “Putting the ToC Thinking Processes to Use”

By Lisa J. Scheinkopf, 1999 St. Lucie Press

About The Author
Mr. Keslensky, an executive with over 25 years experience, is the Managing Director of Connected Concepts a management consulting firm which specializes in applying Constraint Management and the Theory of Constraints in Manufacturing, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Project Management and Service Industries.
Contact Information:
Jerry.Keslensky@connectedconcepts.net

Continued in Gaining Team Consensus Part 2

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