21 practices and tools improve Cessna's logistics system

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How did the 21 practices and tools improve Cessna's logistics system?

Cessna aims to drive SCM to its very core
Purchasing; Boston; Jun 6, 2002; James P Morgan

Abstract:
When Michael R. Katzorke, vice president of supply management at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., began working on the company's supply chain management system in 1998, Cessna was still a traditional aerospace firm. It had a functional orientation, was vertically integrated, had traditional processes and practices, and there was no provision for Total Quality Management or Six Sigma. To bring about the more fundamental and permanent changes they were seeking, Katzorke and his Cessna colleagues - both at the executive level and in supply management - have developed and deployed no fewer than twenty-one practices and tools aimed at: 1. driving the best possible supply-base rationalization decisions, 2. accelerating the supply-base rationalization process, 3. improving suppliers' performance, and 4. integrating key suppliers with Cessna's critical business, manufacturing, and design processes. Brief discussions of each of these steps are presented.

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Supply chain management is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the operations of the supply chain with the purpose to satisfy customer requirements as efficiently as possible. Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point-of-origin to point-of-consumption (Wikipedia, 2006). This concept has become increasingly popular and those organizations who are recognizing the importance of effective supply chain management are gaining significant competitive advantage over their competitors because of way they are configuring and managing their supply chain.

When Michael R. Katzorke, vice president of supply management at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., began working on the company's supply chain management system in 1998, Cessna was still a traditional aerospace firm. It had a functional orientation, was vertically integrated, had traditional processes and practices, and there was no provision for Total Quality Management or Six Sigma. Thereafter he brought remarkable changes by using innovative supply chain management practices such as twenty-one practices and tools aimed at driving the best possible supply-base rationalization decisions, accelerating the supply-base rationalization process, ...