Prepare for whiplash

dimanche 22 mars 2020 :: perrick :: Notes :: aucun commentaire :: aucun trackback

Une diatribe de Michael Ballé :

We need lean thinking and lean thinkers more than ever. We need people who put customers, here patients and caregivers first. People who understand how supply chains work and have firsthand familiarity with the Forrester effect and how to counter it. We need people who are experienced with flexibility in operations and know how to modify buildings and equipment to make new stuff out of existing operations. And we need people with the coordinating know-how that understand that vast undertakings can’t work with bureaucratic command-and-control systems but need collaboration and teamwork.

Je vous avais déjà parler des logisticiens : parmi eux, on aura besoin en particulier de ceux qui comprennent l'effet « coup de fouet ». Il est encore temps de s'y familiariser.

Where Is All the Toilet Paper? Don’t Worry, It Is coming!

mercredi 18 mars 2020 :: perrick :: Notes :: aucun commentaire :: aucun trackback

Quand c'est une crise sanitaire, il faut écouter les médecins (surtout si on est président). Mais pour parler des produits courants, c'est surtout un logisticien qu'il faut lire (avant de se plaindre du Just-In-Time pour ceux-ci). Dans le lot, Christoph Roser fait un point sur la question épineuse du papier toilette.

Toilet paper is one of the cheapest goods by volume that you can find in a supermarket. Hence it makes little sense to produce it abroad, and most regions have one or more local manufacturer nearby that provide the stuff. These manufacturers operate close to their usual output. A paper machine is a rather expensive product, and manufacturers try to run it around the clock anyway. Hence, there is not much option to increase capacity. There may be an idle plant that goes online, or maintenance can (not necessarily should) be reduced. Overall, production is increased very little. And, as we see later, it should not be. If they put in a lot of effort now to increase capacity, they would have to put in a similar effort later to reduce capacity, since the overall demand does not change!