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Bananas on countertop

Bananas

You Can't Hoard Bananas!

There have been numerous articles and posts on what items are frequently missing from store shelves, but have you noticed what commonly consumed items are typically in stock?

In my area, one of them is Bananas.

Why?  Because they are fresh fruit that ripens quickly.  If you try to preserve them with refrigeration, they turn brown.  A typical maximum shelf-life for me is a  week, so hoarding bananas is not an option. 

The quick ripening process forces the behavior of only purchasing what end-users need at the rate of consumption in small batch sizes contributing to an even flow. 

Except for the first few days of panic buying, the rate of consumption seems to be steady, minimizing the whiplash effect on the supply chain.  The produce area gets restocked daily, and everyone has access to the product.

There may be some increase in consumption as people prepare meals at home, but otherwise, bananas are an example of level consumer purchasing.  

Let me help you level load your processes.

Proven History - Blended Approach - Superior Results

Steve

The initiator of and Deployment Champion for Chevron's Lean Sigma process improvement program for 14 years. Started as a bottom-up initiative, Lean Sigma eventually becoming a corporate-wide program with several hundred teams generating annual verified financial benefits of over 1 billion dollars.