Engineering the leagile supply chain

Abstract

Notes the importance of new internal supply chains being properly interfaced with the marketplace. Suggests that the appropriate way forward is to design and implement a “leagile supply chain”. Whereas leanness may be achieved by eliminating non‐value added time, agility usually requires the additional reduction of value‐added time via production technology breakthroughs. Demonstrates how the “lean” and “agile” paradigms may be integrated. This requires evaluation of the total performance metric and development of a route map for integrating lean production and agile supply in the total chain. Presents results achieved in a re‐engineered real world supply chain serving the electronic products market.