Process Improvements and Understanding

Process Improvements and Understanding of Europe Logistics / Distribution / Purchasing:

The purpose of the trip, of course, was work.

To continue the training, understanding and improvement of the inventory control processes and systems for European region. The team is coming together well, and making progress in understanding the processes that aren’t effective, and making improvements to them. They are good people, who care a lot and work hard. The language barrier in the office isn’t to bad. English is the second language for these people, but they are fluent, which helps a lot.

My lean / six sigma / process improvement background from manufacturing is translating well into business processes. I am driving a deeper understanding of the systems we have at our disposal. It is challenging, to get the team to take the leap of faith and get rid of the “security blanket” currently where the system allows inventory to become negative (meaning there is a problem with the transaction). We also seem to have a problem with the team in Spain, which may require a stop there on my next trip.