Fujitsu Lean Supply Chain
Fujitsu Lean Supply Chain
Fujitsu Lean Supply Chain
FUJITSU
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In addition, picking errors were running at over 4%, which meant having to
rework many orders. Morale was low, with 14% absenteeism. Productivity was
running at a minus figure, SLAs were being missed and we had to pay for off-site
storage to handle 1,000 pallets of kit as our own 141,000 sq ft warehouse was
full! In short, our reputation was badly damaged customer expectations were
low, complaints were increasing and new and key contracts were in serious risk
of being lost. Something had to change significantly to improve the situation.
Fujitsu Solution
Drawing on the experiences of world class companies who use Lean
operational practices together with Fujitsus own unique Sense and
Respond approach to continuous service improvement, Fujitsus
Supply Chain embarked upon a program of change utilising
elements of Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma.
We had to remedy what was going wrong before we could enhance the service
we offered, says Paul Fraser. So we analysed the situation and found that
we had a significant amount of customer-owned stock, much of it aging, and kit
that needed to be recycled, but we had no instructions about what to do with it.
In fact, it turned out that there were almost 90,000 units of redundant stock
taking up space and just getting in the way physically and logistically, so it was
inhibiting efficiency, morale was low and accidents were happening.
Fujitsu realised that it needed to change the way it did business
with its customers, so that it was clear about their needs, what had
to be done to meet them and what was wasteful. Paul Fraser adds,
The most important thing is to talk to your customers and understand what is
really of value to them, so that you can decide what to do away with without
affecting customer service.
So, Fujitsu initiated a Lean programme, called The TIC Way,
through which it developed a vision of where it wanted to get to
and how it would measure its progress and success. This was captured
in a detailed Transformation Plan, covering everything from leadership
and processes, through to inventory controls and management.
CASE STUDY
FUJITSU
Page 02 of 02
Through the use of Lean we have restructured our operation and processes to
ensure the work flows and relationships with suppliers and customers are
enhanced and we are more flexible within a highly controlled environment,
comments Paul Fraser. As a result, we have a very capable back-end to a
very efficient and proficient front-end capability in the procurement of equipment
and the delivery of engineering services, such as our break-fix and recycling capabilities.
We are now a leader in our field, because we understand what our customers
want and can deliver it.
Our Approach
First developed in the manufacturing industry, Lean is a systematic
approach for identifying and eliminating waste or unnecessary
activities through continuous improvement of the product or
service in response to customer needs.
Paul Fraser says, The involvement, inclusion and development of our people is
key as it enables new processes to be put in place much more quickly than would
otherwise be possible, because they have an understanding of the overall strategy.
Weve now got a team of people who question, recommend, advise and are always
looking for involvement in customers needs. In fact, because we can now tap into
the experience of our people in many cases we know what our customers want before
theyve recognised it themselves. And that mean they have pride in what they do,
which is enabling the cultural change necessary for sustainable success.
Thanks to the introduction of
The TIC Way Fujitsus Sourcing
& Supply Services recently won the
award for Best process
improvement initiative at the 2007
CIPS Supply Management Awards,
for the second successive year. To win
the award Fujitsu saw off stiff
competition from BP, DWP and
EDF Energy, and the judges said,
This people-led project was leading-edge
in a complex, competitive environment.
The turnaround was very rapid.
Our Expertise
Fujitsu has been delivering consistently high levels of service to
organisations across the UK for more than 30 years. Its business
is helping its customers realise the value of information technology
through the application of consulting, systems integration and
managed service contracts. As such, its support infrastructure is
constantly being developed and refined to stay ahead of the
demands of new technologies and evolving business practice,
so that services can be delivered effectively and economically.