“Reducing lead times to become more competitive in variable and demanding environments”
Quick Response Manufacturing
QRM is a company-wide strategy, founded by the QRM Institute Special Advisor Rajan Suri, that reduces lead times on the shop floor and in the office operations. It allows companies to grow by bringing their products to the market more rapidly. QRM further increases profitability by reducing costs, enhancing delivery performance and improving quality.
QRM consists of four core concepts:
1. Highlighting the power of time
Focusing on lead time reduction, QRM helps companies to re-ignite their growth and reduce the hidden costs.
2. Creating the right organizational structure
QRM proposes a structural change to the organization creating QRM cells; a team of dedicated, multifunctional resources. The people in the QRM cells are cross-trained and have full responsibility of all the operations in the cell.
3. Exploiting system dynamics for better decisions
System dynamics provides insights in the surprising relations between lot-sizing, capacity utilization, variability and lead time. By applying these insights, managers can make better decisions and further reduce the lead time.
4. Building a company-wide strategy
The biggest benefits will arise when lead time reduction is applied to the full width of the organization. Such as the office operations, material planning, production control and new product introduction.