How can you find the most reliable suppliers for lean manufacturing materials?

By conducting supplier audits, one will understand the position of the suppliers in terms of compliance with the requirements. During these audits, sharing of information to help the supplier on areas of improvement can be done as well as training which ends up in a win-win situation.

Para encontrar fornecedores que garanta a qualidade do seu material ou serviço, costumo perguntar indicações de amigos, pesquisa na internet e feiras. Assim que encontro um fornecedor procuro fazer uma visita técnica para avaliar a estrutura da empresa e qualidade de suas maquinas, auditorias, certificações, estudo de caso, amostras e testes.

First start with thorough research into potential suppliers' backgrounds, including their reputation, industry experience, and customer reviews. Look for suppliers with relevant quality certifications, such as ISO standards. Assess their track record for on-time delivery, product consistency, and responsiveness to inquiries. Conduct site visits to evaluate their facilities and production processes firsthand. Establish clear communication channels and foster collaborative relationships to ensure alignment with lean principles of efficiency, quality, and continuous improvement. Also, seek recommendations from trusted industry peers or associations to identify reputable suppliers.

It is important to start with a thorough market analysis, identifying key players and assessing their reputation, product quality and supply conditions. Next, you should conduct a detailed comparison of suppliers based on criteria such as price, quality, geographic proximity and delivery reliability. It is important to establish long-term partnerships with suppliers based on mutual trust and understanding of business goals. Close interaction with suppliers, built on openness and transparency, helps minimize risks and ensures continuity of supply. In addition, it is important to constantly monitor the market and look for new potential suppliers in order to diversify risks and ensure competitiveness of production.

In God we trust, everyone else bring data. If evaluating a supplier, the data will tell you their capabilities, and by all means, if they are integral to your success, go walk their shop floor!

Clear communication and understanding of expectations in a collaborative environment are crucial for creating a culture of trust and support. When expectations are clearly communicated, both parties can align their objectives and understand each other's needs and capabilities. This transparency creates an environment of trust between the organization and its suppliers. Additionally, clear communication helps streamline the onboarding process, ensuring that suppliers are adequately prepared to meet the organization's requirements and contribute effectively to lean manufacturing practices. Open and transparent communication facilitates successful onboarding of the most reliable suppliers for lean manufacturing materials.

Aqui onde atuo foi possível desenvolver um projeto baseado em dados onde mensalmente o fornecedor tem acesso a uma base que disponibilizamos e ele informa de forma parametrizada sobre os prazos e status de produção de cada item a ser entregue, assim conseguimos nos planejar quanto ao suprimento. Isso nos ajuda bastante a amortecer qualquer intercorrência. Essa base está conectada nos paineis que desenvolvi e assim conseguimos ter uma visão bem ampla de como anda o cenário.

A comunicação é o primeiro pilar da relação cliente <> forncedor, visto que esta relação quando é encarada como uma pareceria, é uma relação Win-Win e dessa forma o feedback, as sugestões de melhoria, a comunicação das dificuldades servem para encontrar soluções e resolver problemas que surgem naturalmente no dia a dia deste tipo de relações.

Open communication is the key to supplier/customer interactions. When the customer tells the supplier of potential shutdowns due to parts or even line maintenance the supplier will appreciate the heads up to help plan there work load upcoming. Also when a supplier informs the customer of possible shortcomings to the schedule the customer may be able to change the "playbook" and accommodate the supplier. Talk with your suppliers/customers.

We teach our clients how to partner with their suppliers. Set-up a cadence (at least with your most important ones) to discuss how things are going. One of the most impactful questions you can ask: "How can we be a better customer for you?" Which always prompt them to ask: "How can we be a better supplier for you?"

Trust is good control is better ;-) Performance metrics are indeed an important tool for monitoring and evaluating business performance. You assess the efficiency of their suppliers! Define the KPI´s which are important for your company or business case. But keep an eye on suppliers strategy

Relativamente às métricas, são na minha opinião a base de análise da performance de um fornecedor e devem assentar em vários pontos: > cumprimento de prazos de entrega > qualidade do material entregue > embalagem e acondicionamento > capacidade de resposta a Não Conformidades detectadas no processo de recepção > análise de NC's (8D por exemplo) após report de NC por parte do cliente > flexibilidade para responder a pedidos urgentes Todos os pontos acima indicados devem ter um peso específico na análise e mediante o material a fornecer a ponderação é variável, no entanto quando se trabalha em parceria deve haver uma comunicação clara ao fornecedor em que se indicam quais os parâmetros básicos para uma boa performance de fornecimento.

Already stated, but "In God we trust, everybody else bring data." If you are so inclined, develop the data WITH your supplier so they understand why it is important to your organization. Find the KPI that are most impactful for your performance, and ensure that there is perfect alignment b/w what you need from them, and what they are measuring.

Finding reliable suppliers for lean manufacturing materials is crucial for operational efficiency. Focus on performance metrics to evaluate suppliers: 1. On-time Delivery: Timely deliveries prevent production halts. 2. Quality Compliance: Consistent material quality reduces waste. 3. Cost Efficiency: Competitive pricing without sacrificing quality. 4. Flexibility: Ability to scale up/down based on demand. 5. Sustainability: Eco-friendly practices align with lean principles. Leverage data-driven insights and continuous improvement feedback to maintain strong supplier relationships.

A principal métrica de fornecimento aqui é baseada nas entregas. Ex. Se o fornecedor não atrasa um pedido, a entrega dele possui um peso 1, se atrasa 5% do pedido, recebe um peso 07, 10% recebe 05 e acima de 20% o peso é zero. Ou seja, com isso conseguimos ponderar a capacidade do fornecedor de entregar no prazo, assim gerando um indicador em % com o somatório de todas as entregas. Dependendo do cenário pode ser visualizado anualmente, mensalmente ou semanalmente, dependendo do tipo de material.

In Companies like Tata motors, Maruti, Renault Nissan i have observed myself they have a SQA Supplier Quality Assurance team. The team ensures implementation of Lean at their end and completion of projects focusing on RFT , process capability, waste reduction. While working with Metaldyne industries i have witnessed this myself from Nissan and Tata motors. Post this intervention we developed our own SQA team to focus on our suppliers. As most suppliers were located with 25km radius lot of improvement could be done easily. We partnered to bring their costs down that also gave us better negotiated prices

Costumo enviar uma carta de desempenho ao fornecedor mensalmente onde compartilho sobre seus atrasos, prazos, andamento do contrato, intercorrências, pagamentos, multas aplicadas e etc. Tudo com foco em dados e algumas analises qualitativas. Assim o fornecedor tem ciência de como ele está se desempenhando dentro da empresa, como também, por ter gerado visibilidade, sugerimos planos de ações onde auxiliamos em suas demandas também para que juntos possamos alcançar o objetivo principal.

Promoting a relationship where suppliers view our business as a long-term partner creates a foundation of trust, commitment, and mutual support. This, in turn, enhances reliability and strengthens the partnership, ultimately benefiting both parties in the long run. They are willing to collaborate closely, share insights, and proactively address issues, leading to smoother and more efficient supply chain operations. They are more likely to invest in capabilities, processes, and technologies that support our long-term objectives, ensuring their offerings remain relevant and reliable.

It is believed that Long Term Partnership helps to create a strong bonding encouraging belief and investment between two parties in a win-win manner. This also helps to understand each other's business atiquetts and Lean Manufacturing requirements which further results focused efforts towards mutual benefits. Once Long Term Partnership is established, both organizations work towards common goals which will be the building blocks for their Professional Growth along with Financial Growth. Hence, Long Term Partnership is the key factor in identifying Lean Manufacturing supportive supplier. Further Organizations can implement Training, Supplier Audits and implement Lean Manufacturing at Supplier end very easily.

En general las grandes empresas NUNCA verán a las pequeñas empresas como socios, por lo que el termino a desarrollar en la relación es ambientes de trabajos COLABORATIVOS, de forma de construir valor mediante este proceso, es muy difícil que los objetivos sean comunes, ya que cada uno busca en particular como empresa satisfacer los objetivos de los accionistas o mandantes.

If your company is truly working in a lean environment then look for suppliers who have no fear in providing /publishing their rework and delivery statistics along with their safety statistics and avoid suppliers who flatter to deceive by consistently only publishing their LTI figures.

Each organization is having it's own business prospective and getting suppliers accordingly is always a challenge. So we should prefer once who meets minimum compliance requirements and ready to upgrade with time.

Over the years, we have brought suppliers in to execute kaizen with us, and often, we will go to the suppliers to execute kaizen with them/for them. This makes them invested in your success and also helps them be an overall better performing company. You want your suppliers to be financially stable and able to provide on-going support.

Working together with our suppliers as partners can be incredibly beneficial. By collaborating closely, we can drive operational efficiency and cost savings over time, enabling both parties to strengthen their market position and thrive in a competitive environment. Let's continue to foster strong relationships with our suppliers to ensure mutual growth and success.

Além de reuniões colaborativas, nós disponibilizamos relatórios de desempenho mensais aos fornecedores apontando pontos positivos e de melhorias. Os de melhorias sugerimos planos de ações, como também pedimos um feedback sobre como eles podem agir, assim já nos preparando para uma melhora no próximo período. Os relatorio são comparados para entendermos o desenvolvimento de melhoria, assim entendendo se estamos tendo ou não resultados positivos.

Poucas organizações tem planos de contingências para gerir a cadeia de fornecimento. Existem fornecedores que são fontes únicas de determinados produtos e serviços e precisamos estar atentos. Planos estruturados de mitigação de riscos e desenvolvimento de novos parceiros é primordial. Não é uma tarefa fácil, mas extremamente necessária para garantir o abastecimento de toda cadeia de fornecimento.

Atuar com suprimentos de fornecedores é extremamente desafiador, pois estamos expostos a diversos cenários que fazem com que as demandas flutuem. Para isto é necessário ter um acompanhamento contínuo sobre as datas contratuais e as datas de previsões (como em um gráfico de Gantt mesmo), pois assim conseguimos amortecer qualquer previsão de atraso no futuro e assim desenvolvendo planos de ações prévios para minimizar intercorrências que ainda não impactaram o processo no final.

The Suppliers Reliability for Lean Manufacturing can be gauged thru their Systems Audit, their Customer Delivery & Quality Ratings, their sub suppliers agility & incoming materials Quality Ratings besides their Inventory Turnover Ratios & In-Process Quality. Also, whether they understand JIT System philosophy & are using it successfully for their major Customers without any past failures.

Think Local, Act Lean: Source Strategically for Efficiency Location matters : Go beyond price and factor in supplier proximity to your manufacturing sites. Why local? : Local suppliers unlock two lean manufacturing advantages: Streamlined Logistics: Minimize transportation costs and lead times by opting for nearby suppliers. Enhanced Collaboration: Foster closer relationships with local partners. This allows for quicker communication and smoother problem-solving, ensuring your production runs smoothly. Prioritize local suppliers when possible to streamline your supply chain and achieve lean manufacturing excellence.