Lean manufacturing and buyer's responsibilityManufacturer himself can not become a complete lean manufacturer. Many outside parties have to support him in this effort. One of the important partners in supply chain is the buyer. He is the initiator of the manufacturing process. Therefore the buyer or the customer has to play a major role in lean efforts of their manufacturers. It is true to say the prime focus should be on the customer. But in today’s world, many manufacturers do not manufacture for the end customer. They manufacture for the brand owners. Brand owners do the marketing and selling from their on. Therefore many manufacturers all around the world consider the buyer as their customer, not the end customer. Being a lean manufacturer is all about satisfying the customer. In fact the customer provides the drive to the system. The pull manufacturing concept, one of the most important concepts of lean manufacturing is completely dependent on the customer feedback. Therefore any lean manufacturer must be tightly coupled with the requirements of the buyer to be truly lean. Here the buyer has a big part to play. Buyer is not only a person who gives his manufacturer an order. He has to work closer with his manufacturer to extract true value of lean manufacturing. He must be copertive and reasonable. The buyer should not expect that his manufacturer must do anything that he wants. Every buyer must understand and treat their manufacturers and service providers as their partners. Manufacturers must be provided with the correct information on time. They should be reasonable when they request changes. This ultimately makes everyone’s lives easier. Actually this will benefit the buyer the most. They will get their goods on time and costs will be lower and high in quality. The buyer has a part to play in many problems most of the manufacturers face. Therefore the customer or the buyer is very important in the journey of becoming a lean manufacturer. |
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No lean No Pain | Lean manufacturing and buyer's responsibility | HR contribution in lean manufacturing |
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