Lean Logistic in a Global Environment: How Distance Impacts Lean Inbound Systems

Many companies in the industrialised world are increasing their competitiveness by implementing lean production- and logistic-systems. However, to further reduce cost, also low cost country sourcing is increasingly applied. Therefore, the central question in this book is, if and how lean logistic inbound systems are contradicted by low cost country sourcing due to the bigger distance from the suppliers. To be able to value the impact of distance to the logistic cost, it was first of all necessary to understand the implication of a lean logistic system to the logistic cost. Therefore the Lean Logistic Matrix was developed. This tool allows companies to better understand the impact of the different lean logistic principles to their logistic cost. Furthermore the impact of the distance to the lean logistic principles was researched, and lead to a function which enables companies to calculate the negative financial impact of distance on their lean logistic benefits. To illustrate that process, a case study based on 5 Austrian manufacturing companies was performed. However, the developed method is applicable for all kind of different industries in all different parts of this world.