Quick Response Manufacturing as an alternative to lean

Professor Suri tells about Quick Response Manufacturing at BoschScharnieren in Doetinchem, the Netherlands. QRM is a companywide strategy for lead-time reduction throughout the enterprise. Using QRM, companies have reduced their lead times by 80 to 90 percent. As a result, these companies have not only seen large increases in market share, but also experienced significant cost reduction and quality improvement. Although lean manufacturing techniques can be powerful in certain situations, for companies making low-volume or custom-engineered products, lean techniques do not apply too well. Quick Response Manufacturing can be a more effective competitive strategy for companies targeting such markets.