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A global OEM machinery manufacturer managing $88M+ in annual procurement spend across 43,000 component SKUs and 442 suppliers was experiencing systemic supply chain failure. Assembly lines were regularly shutting down due to component shortages while excess inventory simultaneously occupied valuable floor space. Purchase orders were issued late, ERP inventory data was unreliable due to incorrect backflushing, supplier on-time delivery metrics did not exist, and quality was accepted regardless of condition simply because parts arrived late. The shortage list exceeded 200+ components daily. Materials were received but could not be located — there were no barcoded locations, no Plan For Every Part, and no standard work for the materials team. Sourced materials came from 9 countries including France, Italy, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Japan, adding lead-time complexity. Each unit required between 8,000–12,000 components, making visibility and control essential.
Within the first 30 days, a war room was established with whiteboards on every wall to visually track late deliveries and expected arrival dates. Metrics were developed from scratch to track supplier OTD and quality. A comprehensive Plan For Every Part (PFEP) was created across all 43,000 SKUs — documenting where each component came from, who supplied it, and the required quantity per unit. Cycle counts were launched for all components. Every item was assigned a barcoded location, and suppliers were required to barcode their labels for inbound receiving. Critical parts were routed directly to point-of-use locations on the production floor. Kanban pull systems were implemented across all assembly and fabrication lines with RFID-enabled purchasing — when a kanban card was scanned, a discrete purchase order was electronically generated and sent to the supplier. Suppliers were managed under a strict Partner / Maintain / Develop / Exit strategy. VMI programs were established for high-frequency components with multiple daily deliveries. Supplier boundaries were enforced at 0 days late and 2 days early, with contracted kanban quantities calculated against demand. Distribution points were negotiated with suppliers located within proximity to the plant for long-lead and strategic items, reducing in-plant inventory requirements.
“The war room approach gave us visibility we never had. Within weeks, the shortage list went from 200 parts to 10. The team finally had confidence that the system was working — and the suppliers knew we were serious about execution.”
— Project Lead, Supply Chain Transformation, Global OEM Machinery Manufacturer
A global OEM manufacturer made a strategic decision to relocate an entire aerial work platform assembly line from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast — a distance of over 2,500 miles. The line's existing supply base was entirely West Coast–based, meaning every one of the 7,900 components in the bill of materials needed to be resourced with new, locally qualified suppliers. The original implementation plan called for two 4-month phases, but corporate headquarters compressed the timeline to 5 months total. Compounding the challenge: 3 new product launches, an ERP system migration, and full current production requirements all had to continue simultaneously. The line had a hard shutdown date — if the new facility wasn't operational in time, production would stop.
A 3P Stage Gate methodology was implemented using a Gantt chart with clearly defined go/no-go milestones and risk barriers. Weekly cross-site coordination calls were held between both facilities, with daily communication on critical-path items involving approximately 12 stakeholders including managers, general managers, VPs, and the CEO. A new commodity manager was hired specifically to lead the resourcing activity. All 7,900 components were systematically evaluated, quoted, and sourced from new suppliers meeting quality, delivery, price, consolidation, and lead-time criteria. For components requiring identical commodities across multiple corporate facilities, coordination was managed through corporate supply chain leadership. Three strategic suppliers were negotiated to co-locate a shared distribution facility less than one mile from the new plant, maintaining vendor-managed inventory with multiple daily deliveries. A complete Plan For Every Part, cycle count plan, FIFO supermarkets, and barcoded Kanban system were established. Ten Kaizen events were executed to optimize materials setup and flow, and custom carts and fixtures were developed for line-side material delivery.
“The hardest part wasn't the sourcing — it was managing the logistics of moving 5 tractor-trailer loads of material while keeping current production running and launching 3 new products at the same time. Disciplined stage-gate planning and constant communication made it possible.”
— Project Lead, Product Line Relocation, Global OEM Manufacturer
A Tier 1 global automotive plastics manufacturer operating 7 injection molding cells and managing $27.5M+ in direct purchasing spend had a severe inventory problem. Their service component inventory sat at 163 days on hand — over 5 months of stock — because the facility served as a global aftermarket distribution hub where inventory had accumulated unchecked. Rogue purchasing, input errors that bloated ERP system quantities, and a complete absence of cycle counting meant nobody truly knew what was in the building. Some parts had sat untouched for years. The attitude was "build it and they will come." Meanwhile, a major new product launch for two premium European and Japanese automotive OEMs was approaching with aggressive timelines, requiring qualification of overseas contract injection molding suppliers under stringent quality requirements.
A facility-wide Kanban system was implemented with purchase and scheduling kanban cards to improve information flow and reduce perpetual inventory overages. The materials team systematically audited service inventory, identifying dead stock, duplicate purchases, and items with incorrect ERP quantities. Cycle counting was established for the first time. For the new product launches, contract injection molding suppliers were identified and qualified under compressed timelines to ensure parts availability without jeopardizing launch dates. Supply chain and quality audits were conducted at each potential supplier. The logistics area was completely reconfigured — new dock doors were constructed, RFID scanning technology was installed, a staging area was built, and customer-returnable dunnage layout was redesigned to improve flow. Standard work, flow racks, bins, shadow boards, and lean material flow methods were deployed across the facility.
“The service inventory had been invisible for years — nobody questioned why we had 163 days of stock sitting in a warehouse. Once we started cycle counting and implementing Kanban, the waste became obvious. We recovered over $13 million in the first year.”
— Project Lead, Inventory Recovery, Tier 1 Global Automotive Manufacturer
A defense armor manufacturer operating across 4 facilities (two 300,000 sq ft fabrication plants, a 75,000 sq ft paint facility, and a 200,000 sq ft kitting/packaging center) with $28M in annual procurement spend was in crisis. On-time delivery to military customers was below 50%, and three DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) government quality representatives were stationed full-time at the facility due to chronic late deliveries. The root cause ran deeper than scheduling: the inherited buyer was receiving trips and financial incentives from 4 favored suppliers — all personal friends of the company owner — who received the bulk of purchase orders. These suppliers were capacity-constrained and batch-producing 300-400 identical parts when the BOM called for only 16, creating constant shortages. Indirect material spending in the tool room was $65,800/month with no controls — no min/max, no Kanban, no cycle counts. Operators simply requested what they wanted with zero accountability.
After building the case and presenting findings to the owner, the compromised buyer was terminated for cause. The supply base was expanded from 6 machining suppliers to 12, and requirements were split across the broader base to eliminate capacity bottlenecks. Purchase orders were restructured to require delivery in complete kits matching BOM quantities — no more individual part shipments that created shortages. Pull systems were established for raw materials, components, and indirect supplies with SWIP methods across all facilities. Formalized processes were developed for purchasing, strategic sourcing, planning, and shipping/receiving — none of which existed previously. Scorecard metrics were created for OTD, cycle counts, supplier performance, and inventory turns across all 4 sites. For the tool room, Kanban was implemented with weekly spend review meetings, immediately reducing monthly expenditure from $65,800 to $21,700. A multi-facility ERP integration was led to improve procurement, logistics, and planning across all sites.
“Three government quality auditors had been living in our facility because of chronic late deliveries. After the supply chain overhaul, they walked into my office, asked what had changed, and left — they never came back. We went from 50% to 97% on-time delivery.”
— Project Lead, Supply Chain Recovery, Mid-Size Defense Manufacturer
A global consumer electronics and automotive components manufacturer with operations across 3 North American divisions was running a 200,000 sq ft raw materials warehouse that had devolved into chaos. The facility was unmanned, unlabeled, and unsupervised — it didn't even display the company name. Twice a day, someone drove a company truck to pick up materials for the next four production shifts. Inventory sat at 30 days on hand, yet stock-outs were constant. The root cause: nothing was collocated, locations weren't identified, there was no cycle counting, and ERP system inventories were wildly inaccurate due to input errors. Materials that already existed in the building were being re-purchased because no one could find them. Corrugated packaging was mislabeled, scattered across different ends of the building, and in some cases segregated from its matching components. The mindset was "out of sight, out of mind — just buy more and leave."
A complete warehouse transformation was executed. A supervisor and two dedicated personnel were assigned to the facility. A comprehensive rack system was installed, and every location was assigned RFID labels. All materials were collocated by product family and arranged logically within the facility. A PFEP (Plan For Every Part) was created, and material maps were developed so any team member could locate any component within minutes. Cycle counts were implemented and maintained at 99.9% accuracy. Visual management boards were established to assign accountability for material allocation. A formal pull system was built between the plant and the distribution facility, replacing the ad-hoc truck runs. Vendor-managed inventory programs were negotiated with key suppliers, shifting the replenishment burden to suppliers who maintained contracted quantities against calculated demand. Standard work was established for every process in the facility.
“We went from a warehouse where no one could find anything — so they just bought more — to a facility running at 99.9% cycle count accuracy with 2 days of inventory. The pull system ended stock-outs entirely.”
— Project Lead, VMI Transformation, Global Consumer Electronics Manufacturer
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