It's not easy being lean

HEADNOTE

Complete and unabridged

Okay, it's a safe bet that Herrick, a 17th Century poet, didn't have inventory management on his mind when he penned that couplet, but the sentiment is as timely as it is timeless,

especially in reference to 21st Century logistics managers. Taking control of the supply chain and aligning a company's processes in such a way that improvements are regular and long-lasting are very difficult tasks to accomplish - nobody would dispute that - but oftentimes the hardest decision to make is whether to start the process at all.

The principles of lean manufacturing, for instance, are finally beginning to migrate from the exclusive province of the automotive industry, but it's taken several decades of waiting-and-seeing. Today, shippers of all types of products are at least looking into lean as a route to eliminating waste, reducing inventory and becoming more profitable. Who wouldn't want those benefits? Well, it's not as easy as that.