Mr. Gorski's company, Demand Point, does cash extraction for big companies hooked on the idea of Lean Manufacturing--these are companies who believe sacred efficiency begins and ends inside the 4 walls of their factories. These are companies who know better, who know that the the big picture of the Supply Chain plays a critical role toward their bottom lines--yet they can't get their heads around how to make Lean Manufacturing less of a religion, and the overall supply chain a synergistic contributor to their cash flow. And while Mr. Gorski's key note talk gets them standing on their feet, that key note is the key to Demand Point's powerful concepts, voice and marketing identity.
That speech has the roots of Demand Point's Foundational Story, and Ink Stain has been asked to make it come alive for every marketing medium possible.
Ink Stain's job is to take a highly developed Demand Point Key Note Speech, one filled with salient metaphors, historical examples, anecdotes and case studies, and turn it into a Foundational Story repurposed for every marketing medium used by the Demand Point marketing team.
The one request I received was, "Make it edgy."
I asked the Demand Point CEO, "Can I use the language you alluded to, the "drug" and "religion" similes you used in your speech to describe how people turn to Lean Manufacturing as a panacea?"
"Of course," he replied.
This is going to be even more fun that I thought, I said to myself.
For any kind of thinker who finds the synergy needed to run a large company remarkable, Demand Point's story has got that special flavor of sticky:
It begins with this thought: Companies as prominent as Merc and Sony and Toshiba, Gillette and Sara Lee, John Deere and Ingersoll Rand--might be neglecting the value chain outside the 4 walls of their own factories.
But why?
There are two main reasons why:
First) Lean Manufacturing techniques are used by many as a form of religion. Or, like a cult whose members are fixated on ritualistic productivity.
Productivity sounds good at first, but high productivity creates huge amounts of inventory, and if that inventory isn't sold on time it becomes a cash depleting liability; that inventory goes on sale, it's sold 2 for 1, or it turns rotten on the shelf and gets thrown into dumpsters--and that means Lean Manufacturing, the religion of productivity, is far removed from the realities of the bottom line. This is why many companies are stunned to learn that their high levels of productivity are leading to losses.
Secondly) The quantitative worlds of Math and Science haven't made their way into the popular business culture to influence the myriad details of the supply chain--not just track it and manage what happens outside the 4 walls--but balance the entire supply chain with the manufacturing process to make sure cash is flowing. There's too much that's too hard to track that lives outside the 4 walls of the factory. It's complicated stuff to explain, but consider this:
One of the early founders of Demand Point was nominated for a Nobel Prize in economics--in economics of all things because the demand flow technology has the ability to identify and control the flow of the working capital that is often tied up or held hostage in a company's inventory.
One thing that's certain: Ink Stain will ensure that the compelling vision of Tony's Gorski's key note won't be held hostage either.
http://demandpointinc.com
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