Here, all levels of the work force must be educated in the objectives and techniques of JIT, otherwise it will not be possible to maintain the necessary discipline needed.The next step has to be some sort of Interplant planning and logistics integration. JIT is good for reducing lead-times within various "cells" of an industry, but some sort of materials planning mechanism is needed to reduce the total lead-time of the business. Every activity needs to be identified and beginning and ending times for each must be defined. Once the is accomplished, a company wide effort can begin to reduce total lead-time.The next step in the cycle is vendor integration. Before this can take place, the companies total number of vendors should be reduced to include only those that offer the best sources of supply or service. Most vendors will then be linked the location using some form of EDI. This then becomes the major channel for demand and supply information.The next phase is to integrate customer ordering and product distribution. Traditionally this is controlled by some sort of trained sales or marketing staff and these need to remain in place. Products need to be added that allow the customer to directly place orders on-line, either to a central information system or directly to manufacturing. In parallel, systems need to be designed that allow direct shipment of products to the customer. In the end, there is a system that looks something like "Figure 3" .Who's doing whatMany companies seem to agree that supply chain management is the way of the future. Everywhere you look, new companies are forming and someone is talking about the newly discovered supply chain management techniques, software or packages. One company that should take particular notice of who is talking is Roanoke's own Norfolk and Southern Railroad. CSX Rolls Out Java ApplicationCSX Technology, a division of the transportation giant CSX Corporation, announced that ...
