Value-Driven Channel Strategy

Reviewer comments

“I believe this work describes a great extension to today’s lean thinking.  The incorporation of the distribution channel and the concept of focusing in on value drivers is leading edge.  While the authors are pushing the frontiers of lean they may be opening the eyes of readers to extend their efforts beyond the manufacturing floor.  The work is innovative in another way.  The connection of drivers of value and value mapping promote a focused, prioritized way of working on potential improvements that mean something to the customer!”  Director of Quality Assurance,  Large Manufacturing Corporation 

“The concept [of the book] may be classified on the leading edge.  I like the concept a lot because in today’s market… there are a fleet of manufacturers that think ‘low cost’ is the only driver of success.  Customer often perceives the value of a product or service in a different way than the manufacturer or service provider.  The authors demonstrate a structured approach for defining and weighting the drivers of true value.  More important, it also is a method that clearly shows how to use data to prioritize the [lean] initiatives.”  Supplier Development Engineer, Deere and Company

“[The authors] address gaps in the way lean is applied in most cases.  First, lean is [typically] product focused, leaving out the market focus that six sigma has used with its ‘voice of the customer’ aspect.  Second, lean initiatives tend to assume that value at consumption equals value at production.  There are a lot of ways an organization can impact the value perception after the product is made.  Third, lean tends to neglect the need for providing ‘service after the sale’ to address shortcomings or periodic failings in the value stream.  Fourth, the book addresses the distribution value stream that is often neglected by lean initiatives.” Lean Implementation Manager, Michelin

“[This book] represents the latest methods used in the field.  The authors have taken a unique approach to using the lean concepts and extending to the distribution system.  Although [other authors] have addressed the value stream, none are as comprehensive or provide insight into extending lean concepts to the distribution system and its application to the organization’s entire value stream.” Corporate Quality Manager, Federal Mogul-Chassis

“Many of the examples provided in the book focus on sales, distribution and customer service processes which are not usually addressed in continual improvement books.  It is the extra focus on these topics that differentiates it from other continual improvement/lean books.” ASQ Certified Quality Manager

About the Book

Value at the point of production does not automatically translate into value at the point of consumption. Augmenting Lean Thinking with a more robust and substantial customer value basis makes it even more powerful when applied to the organization’s value stream. This book unleashes the principles of Lean Thinking as a strategic tool to do just that. As authors Reidenbach and Goeke argue throughout this book, an organization’s ability to use lean techniques to not only eliminate non-value adding costs but also to use the same lean tools to enhance its competitive value proposition is to realize the full power and potency of Lean.

Managers from a number of distinct organizational areas such as marketing, quality, logistics, Six Sigma, TQM (Total Quality Management), and CRM (Customer Relationship Management), as well as market research and business intelligence will find the book useful and interesting and will challenge them to think about the way they view their business. The book is pertinent not only to manufacturing but also service organizations that move products/services through channels of distribution. The principles outlined in this book apply equally to commercial banks, healthcare and insurance as they do to the automotive or pharmaceutical industries.

Benefits

• The book is populated with a number of actual but disguised examples to illustrate the key principles of an extended Lean philosophy.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Expanding Lean Thinking
• Chapter 2 The Value Advantage
• Chapter 3 Six Propositions of Channel Value That Drive Lean Distribution
• Chapter 4 How do Markets Define Value?
• Chapter 5 Linking Value Drivers to Value Delivery Systems
• Chapter 6 Value Stream Analysis: A Process Overview
• Chapter 7 Becoming Lean
• Chapter 8 VSA In Action
• Chapter 9 Managing Channel Loyalty: A Necessary Condition for Lean Initiatives
• Chapter 10 Implementing Lean Thinking Within the Channel Environment
• Appendix A Understanding the Value Model
• Appendix B The Competitive Value Matrix Appendix C Acquisition and Retention Tools
• Appendix D How Do You Capture Customer Value Definitions?
• References
• Glossary
• Index