Operations at Whirlpool

During the mid-1990s, Whirlpool carried out a massive restructuring and reorganizing exercise to create a more responsive environment to work in. In this process, it globalized some of its key functions including procurement and product development.

Whirlpool's procurement was one of the first functions to go global. As the company was spread across the globe, suppliers found it a very attractive customer. Whirlpool's Global Procurement department entered into deals with suppliers around the world and ensured that it used only high-quality, low-cost materials and components while manufacturing its home appliances.

By 2003, after more than a decade in logistics planning, Whirlpool's supply chain was 50-60 percent complete. Although the company ensured that it consistently improved its quality levels and reduced its cycle time and costs, there was still a lot of scope for improvement. Selling its products on a global platform was a very difficult and challenging task. Its warehouses had to get faster, its transportation carriers had to reduce transit time, factories had to change schedules faster and run with smaller lot sizes so that they could produce several SKUs every day. And for this, it realized that its entire supply chain had to be made more flexible...