Bachman,
Looks like this hasn't been posted. Interesting article from 7/26 NYTimes (you may need to register to successfully link), "Is This the Factory of the Future?"
nytimes.com
A few quotes:
"In the last two years, the manufacturers have tried to slash inventory by making computers only after customers order them, as Dell does. But this has required reorganizing an entire industry.
The first step was to cut way back on the number of components, like processor chips and hard disk drives, they kept on hand. Instead, suppliers were forced to keep the inventory, typically adjacent to or even in the same building as the computer factory, and sell it to the manufacturers at spot prices throughout the day."
and
"Some manufacturers, realizing that spending on parts dwarfs labor costs, have shut down their factories for days at a time to wait for the price of Intel chips to fall."
And, IBM's Robert Maffat's technique of learning the path from manufacturer to customer: "I got on a truck with a computer because I couldn't believe what my guys were telling me," Moffat recalled. "I found there was more time spent waiting than driving."
B |
