How to Leverage Manufacturing Best Practices to Create Competitive Advantage in Distribution Centers

Overall, manufacturers have benefited from being the focal point of value creation (materials, labor, etc. required to produce a product), as their role in the process represents the largest percentage of cost within the supply chain. This status has helped manufacturers propel the development and standardization of process improvement tools and techniques, such as Value Stream Mapping, 5S, Andons, collaborative forecasting and planning, Kaizen, just-in-time inventory, and approaches adopted across the entire Toyota Production System. Increasingly, these tools and techniques are being embraced by supply chain players to reduce inventory within their distribution centers (DCs) and to more effectively manage product flow, with an eye toward significantly reducing costs and improving flexibility. For large DCs, spread across millions of square feet, both planning and execution excellence provide opportunities to leverage manufacturing industry best practices. Focal points include: