Why won’t Lean commit to the Demand Chain the way it committed to the Supply chain?

The Supply Chain has matured to the point where many things are understood and acted on very quickly. Few of us are making substantial changes anymore and even fewer can use their existing supply chain as a marketing differentiator or as an instrument for increased revenue (unless you are Amazon). Why won’t Lean commit to Read More …

Service Design increases Customer demand

Design and Customer Experience, incorporated in Service Design Thinking are not the future but already upon us as the new norm for being successful in business. These principles address the demand side of the equation. Examples being Amazon, Starbucks, Xerox and IBM to name a few high profile companies. As a side note these companies Read More …

Is Lean and Six Sigma a waste of time?

Most large manufacturers last year failed to reach their cost-savings targets, despite significant investments in “lean manufacturing,” “Six Sigma” and other productivity programs as part of their overall retrenchment efforts in this tepid economy.  Nearly 70% of manufacturing executives say that their manufacturing-improvement efforts led to a reduction in manufacturing costs of less than 5%, Read More …

Work on demand, ‘It’s the demand side, stupid’

Working on supply side economics is not putting people back on the payrolls. Commentator Robert Reich has another idea: Work on increasing demand for goods and services here at home. Listen to this audio: I am not arguing political issues, I am just trying to build supporting evidence for why supply side solutions are not Read More …

The Internet of Things

This is very interesting concept and one of the foremost thoughts that I have seen lately. It is not about one particular “thing” but about a collection of components. Watch live streaming video from mobilize2011 at livestream.com What this does allow is for niche players and ideas to take hold. But what you will have Read More …

What is your iCustomer Level

If the customer interaction (iCustomer) is an important part of marketing you should be able to measure it. But first, let’s review a few of other popular “scores” out there. Net Promoter is a customer loyalty metric developed by (and a registered trademark of) Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix. It was introduced by Read More …