Introduction
Entering the global economy means locating a niche that one may become a leader in and strive for maintaining quality rates impeccably high. The application of the Lean Six Sigma to the key company processes, particularly, the management of the raw materials (Schroeder, Goldstein, & Rungtusanatham, 2014), the Work-in-Process (WIP) items, and the end products creates prerequisites for stellar success, as the examples of Toyota and the Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Group have shown.
Raw Materials
Seeing that the RES Group primarily focuses on the provision of renewable energy to its target customers, the delivery thereof by means of wind- and solar-powered devices can be viewed as the primary scope of its operations. Therefore, wind and sun – or, to be more specific, the momentum that wind and solar particles give the devices owned by the entrepreneurship can be considered the primary raw materials used by it. Toyota, in its turn, uses a much more sophisticated type of raw materials, as well as a more numerous one. Particularly, the firm considers the resources such as steel, plastic, laminated glass, etc., as its primary raw material that is later on used to produce cars (Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) inventories, work in process, 2016).
WIP
Different elements of cars, including windshields, motors, doors, etc., can be considered the elements of the WIP phase as far as Toyota’s production process is concerned. Although the above items can be viewed as completed, they only function as a whole and cannot be viewed as separate parts. Therefore, the above items should be viewed primarily as the elements of Toyota’s WIP.
WIP is slightly more complicated with the RES Group. While tracking down the process of raw materials being transformed into the end product is rather simple, identifying the elements of its WIP is somewhat tricky due to the nature of the services. It could be argued that the process of operating the tools that facilitate the delivery of the electricity to the target customers can be considered WIP at the RES Group (Working for RES, 2016).
On the one hand, the process of energy transfer, i.e., the process of the mechanical movement transforming into electric power, cannot be split into the stages that involve WIP. On the other hand, when viewing the operations is the stages coordinated and facilitated by the employees, one must admit that the overview of the operations and their supervision can be deemed the essence of WIP.
Finished Goods
The concept of finished goods is rather easy to pin down for both Toyota and the RES Group. The former provides vehicles (e.g., trucks, SUVs, hybrids, etc.), whereas the latter offers its customers electricity. Although the finished goods in both companies are strikingly different from each other, the timeliness of their provision, as well as their quality, is what makes both organizations be among the leaders in the target markets.
Working in the environment of the global economy is equally hard for the companies providing services and those offering goods (Analysis of inventory, 2016). Although each of the domains incorporates its own issues to face, the primary goals of delivering the products of the expected quality are equally challenging for both types of entrepreneurship. However, the adoption of the Lean Six Sigma approach may help become successful in the global market.
By allowing organizations to focus on timely delivery of the raw materials and the end products, as well as consistent coordination of the staff members’ actions, the above framework serves as a perfect tool for making customer satisfaction rates grow increasingly.
Reference List
Analysis of inventory. (2016).
Schroeder, R., Goldstein, M. J., & Rungtusanatham, S. (2014). Independent demand inventory. In Operations management in the supply chain: Decisions and cases (6th ed.) (pp. 370-400). New York, NY: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) inventories, work in process. (2016).
Working for RES. (2016).