Effective Lean Logistics Strategy for the Auto Industry

Abstract

Lean logistics refers to the superior ability to design and administer systems to control movement and geographical positioning of raw materials, work‐in‐process, and finished inventories at the lowest cost. This study takes a novel view by comparing the practices used by automotive suppliers in the United States to serve Japanese companies vs. those used to serve U.S. companies. This study, taking the supplier's perspective, investigates the strategies that today's automotive parts suppliers take to improve their logistics operations by associating their internal manufacturing practices and customer's external distribution system.