Supply Chain Redesign: Transforming Supply Chains into Integrated Value Systems

Chapter 3. Internal Integration—Managing Information Flows within the Organization

Reinventing Herman Miller

Managers at Herman Miller are justifiably proud of their furniture plant in Holland, Michigan. The place is so bright and airy that it's called the “Greenhouse.” But best of all is the plant's performance. A sign near the front door boasts that workers there have not shipped a single late order in 70 days. Indeed, the factory has managed to solve a host of problems plaguing office furniture makers. Herman Miller, the country's second-largest manufacturer of office furniture, built the plant five years ago, to serve a new division: “Simple, Quick, Affordable” (SQA). Key to the effort was that all sales and purchasing operations were linked ...