Lean, the next journey in the Footwear and Apparel industries.

April 24, 2013

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By Alex Lizama

When you hear about Lean Manufacturing or Lean Sigma you usually think about automotive industry, being Toyota the auto maker most frequently reminded.

However, if you research over the Internet, then tons of information pile up:   successful case studies, Lean associations, consultants, training & certification, blogs and a long etcetera. Nowadays, Lean has reached almost all industries and services… almost. Manufacturing factories have reaped the benefits of Lean, as well as service sectors like healthcare and financial institutions.

The list of such benefits ranges from lead time reduction to process optimization, from cost savings to improved quality performance. Yet the most important one is improved customer satisfaction, as demonstrated by measurable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) like On-Time Delivery and Customer Reject Rate; and not-so-easy to measure customer relationship which translates into loyalty to our product / service.

Nevertheless, implementing Lean is not a conventional project with start and end dates. Lean is a journey. Many companies have successfully integrated Lean into their business processes, and many others have significantly struggled or even failed.

Why? There is an easy answer to that, which is a difficult one at the same time: Lean systems and philosophy need to be adapted to and adopted by the organization implementing it. Easy because it’s a pretty straight forward, common sense answer to the question. Difficult because it’s easier said than done!

Impactiva has developed a Lean Transformation program adapted to the footwear and apparel manufacturing industries. Contact us today to find out how we can improve your business performance with our Lean service.