A Wild River Ride!

I suspect that most of you are happy with Amazon’s speedy deliveries but always want them to be just a little bit faster. I know I am and do.

We also love the idea that they will provide drone delivery, lockboxes at the corner store and other innovations to provide us with almost instant delivery. Faster is better, right?

I’d not thought much about this from the manufacturer’s standpoint until a couple months ago. For most of my clients, Walmart is their most significant customer, accounting for half or more of sales. They are usually their most challenging customer as well.

I found an exception when a client called me in to help them reduce setup and changeover times. Walmart was a biggie for them, of course. Amazon was even bigger and tougher, particularly on delivery times.

Their current contract Amazon requires 36-hour shipment. Their upcoming contract will require 33 hours. I’ve never seen shipping requirements expressed in hours instead of days except in some special circumstances. I was amazed and still don’t see how this is possible unless FEDEX/UPS are picking up almost hourly.

This company had almost 1,000 SKUs so keeping inventory is out of the question.

They’re not there yet but I see Amazon pushing them towards single piece manufacturing with short cycle times. Buy one, make one. In hours, not days. And cheaper too, please.

Vicky Smitley of the Contract Packaging Association spoke about mass customization at Pack Expo earlier this month. She (and all of us, really) want exactly what we want and we want it now. As a customer, she wants it all. As a manufacturer, it drives her crazy.

You’ve gotta do it. If you don’t your competition will and you will be left behind.

They key to meeting this challenge is total commitment by everyone, starting with marketing/product design. Products and packages must be designed for small batch manufacturing and nimble changeover.

Lines and plants must be designed for nimbleness and everyone in the plant, top to bottom, must understand the strategic importance.

Delight your customers, one unique product at a time.