32 DC VELOCITY JULY 2014 www.dcvelocity.com
t
h
ou
g
ht
l
e
a
de
rs
of implementing Lean in the supply chain.
Q How is applying lean thinking in logistics and sup- ply chain management different from applying it in
manufacturing?
A I love that question because almost 20 years later in my career, I’m actually questioning why Lean started
inside manufacturing. Lean thinking should have started
in distribution because it is really about understanding
customer consumption, then manufacturing and distributing to the pull of actual demand. So, the fact that a lot of
organizations started in the factory, in my opinion, has led
to a lot of lean implementations that have not produced the
business results the companies expected because they never
connected work in manufacturing with the actual supply
chain. The analogy I use is that their work amounted to
building an on-ramp to a freeway that’s already gridlocked.
Q When you visit clients, what are the biggest barriers you find to implementing lean principles?
A There tend to be two types of customers. The first type already understands the power of Lean and operational excellence. The barriers are about process and technology: How are speed and velocity going to be achieved with
the current technology systems, what processes will need to
change, and how will the companies manage that change?
When a customer already understands and is already emotionally committed to driving a lean culture, the barriers
are around tactical implementation.
The second type of customer we have is the customer
that is not quite there yet on understanding the benefits
of lean thinking. In that case, it’s more of an education
process, getting people to our Kentucky operations center
so they can see lean logistics processes live and in action,
and see the business results they can get. The first toll gate
you have to get through is to get people in the organiza-
tion aligned with the idea that Lean is a business system
designed to drive results relative to speed, cost, and quality.
It’s not about the tools and implementation of the tools;
it’s really about building a learning culture based on prob-
lem solving—specifically, on exposing problems every day
and finding the root causes so tomorrow the business is
stronger.
Q What do you see as the greatest opportunities for applying lean principles in logistics and supply chain
management?
A For companies with supply chains that are really good, the next step is extended value stream work, where
you’re getting out of your own four walls, getting upstream
working with suppliers, moving downstream with customers
to identify all of the waste. We’ve learned that waste tends to
exist in the interfaces, unleveled flow, and connection points
between stakeholders in the supply chain. Consequently,
focusing on end-to-end supply chain improvement will
produce the breakthrough results that leading companies
are now looking for. Secondly, transportation is changing
very quickly, and therefore, organizations are very interested
in lean thinking for transportation management. This is a
very busy part of our 3PL services right now.
As global supply chain strategy manager for
the Advanced Components and Systems
Division of Caterpillar Inc., Haydn Powell is
accountable for shipping performance excellence in his company’s component manufacturing business. He also leads supply chain
activities worldwide in such areas as strategic
process transformation, demand and orders
management, material requirements planning, supply chain planning, and performance improvement as well as logistics.
Prior to joining Caterpillar, he was involved in research
and the application of joining and process technologies at
the Welding Institute in the United Kingdom. Before that,
he spent a number of years in the European automotive
industry, working for such companies as Automobiles
Citroen, Peugeot SA, Jaguar Cars, and Ford Motor Co. in
the field of manufacturing engineering. He graduated from
the University of Coventry in the United Kingdom with
a bachelor of science degree in materials science and was
appointed to a research fellowship in mate-
rials management and logistics at Cambridge
University in the United Kingdom.
Q How and why did you go from engi- neering to supply chain management?
A That’s an interesting question as the change in direction was subtle. My basic
training was in material science, and I always
enjoyed the variety and challenge associated with manufacturing processes and how
to keep them in control and produce what is expected. I
started my career in a foundry and was fascinated with the
science of how it all worked. This led to welding and joining technology and their application in industry. One of
my mentors described welding as micro-casting metal by
throwing molten metal at high velocity at a target—hoping
it all went to plan and remained in control. The ability to
manage many parameters, simultaneously, some counteracting each other and on a knife edge close to disaster,
Haydn J. Powell
