Fall 2007 Symposium

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Transforming Lean from Theory to Practice

November 6-7, 2007
Rauch Business Center
Lehigh University
621 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA

Co-Sponsored by:

Speakers and Abstracts:

Kate Vitasek (Managing Partner, Supply Chain Visions), Understanding the Lean Supply Chain-Beginning the Journey

Lean principles have enabled firms to be more flexible and profitable. Yet, to truly be lean, firms must extend these principles beyond the bounds of manufacturing to their supply chain partners. This session provided the key attributes of a lean supply chain; presented clear benchmarking data; and provided six major attributes of the lean supply chain - demand management, cost and waste reduction, process standardization, industry standardization, cultural change, and cross-enterprise collaboration. Each attribute was defined and benchmarked.

Gregg Goodner (President, Hytrol Conveyor Company, Inc.), Hytrol Power Lean-The Transformation of a Company

After 55 years of operating the business in the same manner, Hytrol embarked on a journey to transform their company using the principles of lean enterprise, six sigma and maintenance excellence. This small company made a major commitment to change the culture and will outline the successes and setbacks encountered during the journey.

Deborah Laudenslager (Director-Industrial Engineering, The Hershey Company), Continuous Improvement at Hershey: The Challenges of Changing a Culture

Hershey’s continuous improvement model began taking shape in 2004 and is still evolving. Although many successful operational and process improvements have been made through the implementation of lean tools, the cultural change across the organization is only just beginning. Particpants benefited from the experiences of The Hershey Company in pursuing a company-wide change.

Christopher Greene (Business Manager-Utility Services, Hewlett Packard), Manufacturing and Information Supply Chains: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach to Lean

HP has been successful at streamlining its manufacturing supply chains as well as making significant advances in its lean information supply chains. This session reviewed the transformation of one of HP’s manufacturing supply chains looking at the tools, processes, and metrics used to attain targeted efficiencies. In addition, participants learned of trends in information supply chains that HP is leveraging to support its manufacturing supply chains, the significant shift within internal information systems, and how HP is helping its customers deploy lean information supply chains.

David Ott (Support Systems Lean Enterprise Focal, Boeing), Using Lean Tools, Techniques to Boost Customer Service

This presentation discussed how Boeing, through a series of lean activities, is shortening the amount of time each aircraft spends on the ground for maintenance, allowing more flexibility to the war fighter. Lean maintenance is critical because it ensures mechanics and technicians perform work that adds value as defined by the customer. This process discipline improves quality, schedule and cost, in turn increasing customer satisfaction.

Panel Discussion: When is Lean Too Lean?
Moderator: Kate Vitasek, Supply Chain Vissions
Panelists: Christopher Greene, Hewlett Packard; Caldwell Hart, Dresser-Rand; Deb Laudenslager, The Hershey Company; David Ott, Boeing

Lean practices have revolutionized supply chain management and enabled enormous cost savings. But they can also leave supply chains vulnerable to uncertainty, unable to react when unexpected events cause changes in the supply chain’s environment. This panel discussed potential risks faced by lean supply chains and the benefits that supply chain “fat” can provide. The panelists suggested ways that companies can evaluate the tradeoff between the risks and benefits of lean practices, illustrating these concepts with examples from their own companies.

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