Benchmarking, was also employed. This involved staff from Trico facilitat-
ing round-table management discussions at suppliers to scrutinize each
aspect of the firm’s internal processes. This was very time-consuming for
Trico and took longer than expected. The method was used to find out
whether each of the firms (again including Trico) had the processes in place
to achieve world-class performance. Sadly, this was not the case. As a
result, a matrix was drawn up showing in which areas the individual firms
were deficient (Table 3.1.1). The different firms were assigned specific
letters for this table.
These findings were brought back to the suppliers at the Inaugural
Seminar held in June 1995. The general reaction to these findings was,
‘Well, what do we do next?’ Jim and Paul already had a plan in place but
did not want to strong-arm the suppliers into something they did not want
to do. Trico had suffered from their customers doing this over the years
and they did not want to repeat that particular mistake. The result of the
discussion at this seminar was a little inconclusive as a result, and the sup-
pliers went away unsure as to what would happen. This was a make-or-
break time for the association.
Shortly afterwards Jim brought the suppliers together again after talking
to most of them on a one-to-one basis and getting their viewpoints. At this
next meeting the House of Lean Production (Figure 3.1.4) was put forward
The supplier and alliance market domain 189
The Lean Production ProcessKaizen – Continuous process improvementProduction planning – schedule stabilityProblem solving and improvement processA five-step process for workplace organizationPull systems – kanban – onepiece flow (100% delivery)Streamlining production –eliminating the 7 wastes(cost down)Total productive maintenance:overall equipment effectiveness(cost down)Right first time production – visual controls – poka yoke(100% quality)Figure 3.1.4 The House of Lean Production.