12. Lean at Kramer Sports

Steve Medland, Colorado State UniversitySusan L. Golicic, Ph.D., Colorado State University

Kramer Sports CEO Tim Wilcox slumped over his desk looking at a simple, handwritten list he made one year ago, comparing its hopeful words with a disturbing reality. Wilcox made the list when Kramer Sports first made the decision to alter its production environment to adopt the principles of lean production. Based on the highly successful Toyota Production System and being used effectively by organizations throughout the world, lean had helped others reduce inventory by 50 percent or more; cut production costs; and improve quality, customer satisfaction, and company morale. At the time, Kramer needed all of these benefits, as it ...

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