End-to-End Lean Management: A Guide to Complete Supply Chain Improvement

Most organizations today look for quick and easy solutions when searching for cost savings and performance improvements. And efforts to improve supply chain performance through forced price reductions from suppliers or outsourcing often lead to a new set of problems. Progressive organizations have begun to recognize the need for a better and more permanent way to structure and manage supply chains. One performance initiative for manufacturers, service organizations, non-profit institutions and government can be found in implementing Lean management philosophies throughout the organization. As a philosophy, it is extremely robust meaning it can perform without failure under a wide range of conditions in any environment. Lean management is an end-to-end undertaking and the focus of this book. While there are a number of valuable resources that explain the Lean philosophy or focus solely on operations or manufacturing, none provide an integrated, holistic view and the "how to" needed to address today's relentless and severe pressure to gain or improve a competitive advantage. End-to-End Lean Management: A Guide to Complete Supply Chain Improvement fills an important void in the current literature. It shows how to apply Lean tools and techniques across the entire supply chain: from suppliers, through transportation, into operations, and through distribution to customers, with principles applicable to all types of organizations. Managers across all industries under constant pressure to find new sources of competitive advantage and to demonstrate performance improvements will find this book a timely and necessary resource. Organizations must pursue a Lean model that best fits their unique requirements and it is important to remember that Lean management is a continuous journey. Become complacent and improvements will likely begin to reverse themselves. Driven by the Lean philosophy and not exclusively to the Toyota model, this unique book provides a broad array of tools, techniques, measures and examples to support your systematic and continuous Lean journey.

Robert J. Trent, Ph.D., is the supply chain management program director and the Eugene Mercy associate professor of management at Lehigh University, where he teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Trent gained his practical experience in operations management, purchasing, distribution planning, production scheduling, and package engineering at the Chrysler Corporation. He holds a B.S. degree in materials logistics management from Michigan State University, an M.B.A. degree from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in purchasing/operations management from Michigan State University. He has been published extensively in numerous academic and professional journals and magazines and his research is often published by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS). Dr. Trent is co-author of a best-selling textbook entitled Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, now in its third edition, and author of another outstanding book entitled Strategic Supply Management: Creating the Next Source of Competitive Advantage. He is also a sought-after speaker for seminars, webinars and professional conferences. Bob and his family reside in Lopatcong, New Jersey.