Ah, end of quarter time. Predictable craziness that happens four times a year. How are your lean efforts impacted by end of quarter? Does standard work and standard WIP get thrown out in an effort to “do everything you can to make the quarter?” At my site, all sorts of lean activities are always canceled and put aside the last few weeks of the quarter (lean strategy meetings, 5S audits, etc.). Does it mean those things are non-value-added and we shouldn't be doing them at all?
This article that I've linked to here does a nice job of painting the picture of one common EOQ conflict — “pulling in orders” from next quarter to make this quarter's revenue numbers. Of course, we're stealing from next quarter's revenue which means that, in September, we'll be stealing from Q4 to make the Q3 numbers. I hear talk of the factory having to “generate revenue.” No, sales does that. The factory fulfills orders, we don't “generate revenue” (except in the long term, we generate future revenue by delivering on time and with world-class quality).
What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn – and follow me or connect with me there.
Did you like this post? Make sure you don't miss a post or podcast — Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.
Check out my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation:
By pulling orders ahead, we are also increasing our costs — overtime, expediting, scrap, defects, stress, turnover, etc. Over the long-term, it’s easy to see that this practice of pulling ahead REDUCES profits over any measurable period of time — revenue is stable, but costs have increased. But, management needs to keep their jobs, so they can’t suck it up and stop the “cycle of madness”, can they? Again, it takes LEADERSHIP to do the right thing.