Improving service level through agility

Agility is a business-wide capability that is actually required to compete successfully. It embraces organizational structures, information systems, logistic processes and, in particular, mindsets, Christopher, etal., 2000. Mason-Jones, etal., 2000 provide several characteristics that describe the environments for which this capability is well suited. A volatile marketplace, high product variety, high product availability and custom-made products are among the most important ones. Christopher, 2000 and Gunasekaran, 1998, among others, describe schemes for achieving higher levels of agility. Two fundamental elements of these schemes are the minimization of both; total lead time and inventory levels. The aim of an agile company or supply chain should be to carry inventory in as generic a form as possible. This is the concept of postponement, a vital element in any agile strategy. This paper is concerned with the implementation of strategies for improving service levels for a Mexican company that manufactures fiberglass reinforced polyester panels for industrial applications. The main strategy is concerned with applying the concept of postponement to improve service levels through reducing lead times with lower inventory levels.