Kanban Uniersit KANBANKANBAN AT AT BLIZZARD BLIZZARD SPORT SPORT RespondingResponding FasterFaster in anan UncertainUncertain Market Market CLASSROOMKANBANCOMPANIONCASESTUDYSERIESSERIES KANBANCASESTUDY – 9 – t didn’t snow much during that particular winter. The average temperatures were the sev- Ienth highest ever recorded in the northern hemisphere. “The winter of ’06–’07 nearly killed the ski industry in Austria,” recalls Eric-Jan Kaak, Chief Information Officer at Blizzard Sport, an Austrian ski maker. At the end of that season, the company had 30% of their production left in stock at the factory. Blizzard Sport had been making skis in Mittersill, in the Salzburg- er Land region of Austria, for 60 years. It had grown to be the largest employer in the Salzach valley. Many people living in the Pinzgau region of the Alps relied directly or indirectly on the success of Blizzard Sport for their livelihood. In addition, Blizzard is a brand synonymous with Austrian sporting achievement and a great source of pride for the Austrian nation—many Austrian alpine skiers have won Olympic and World Championship medals on Blizzard skis. As the last snow of that ’06–’07 season melted, Blizzard’s new owners, Tecnica Group, from It- aly, had much to consider regarding the future of the factory in Mittersill and the future of the Blizzard brand as a renowned innovator in Alpine skiing technology. Now, six years later, workers at the Blizzard Sport factory feel a lot more secure than they did then. A fundamental shift in the manufacturing process and in the internal organization of the company has made it resilient to the uncertainty of the winter season as well as to the changing trends in such a competitive industry. Blizzard has optimized the way it produces skis, becoming the first Lean ski manufacturer in the world. For the past few years, Blizzard Sport has continued to set trends in the market and recently won two ISPO1 awards for inno- vation. Lean thinking has spread throughout the company, and Eric-Jan has driven a Kanban Method adoption in the IT department. The implementation has not only improved perfor- mance of the IT team, which has direct influence on the quality of all of the company’s IT systems and the flow of information between them, it has also brought Eric-Jan the 2013 CIO Award for Best IT Manager in Austria. This is the story of how a Lean transformation and the Kanban Method strengthened Blizzard Sport and freed it from depending on the increasingly fickle winter weather in the northern hemisphere. Background Skiing carries particular importance ski factory has been making skis in ski models, as well as the manufac- and zeal in Austria. It is the sport in Mittersill since 1945. Throughout the turing of all the higher-end models which Austria has truly gifted racers years it has employed people from the with wood cores, is done in the Mit- who have won many medals, a genuine entire Pinzgau region, situated in the tersill factory. An additional factory source of national pride. Skiing up in Western part of Austria. It is the larg- was built in Ukraine, which employs the mountains is a passionate way for est employer in the region, currently another 200 people, and where the Austrians to spend their leisure time. employing 200 people, and it works skis at the lower end of their range of “Above 1,000 meters here in Austria with various local suppliers, thus en- models are produced. Counting all people are all equal. Societal differenti- suring the livelihoods of an additional models in all colors and all sizes, the ation and formality in the communica- 50 to 60 people from the valley. Bliz- two factories combined make a vari- tion that might exist in the world be- zard Sport was acquired by the Italian ety of more than 800 different kinds low are left at the entrance of the cable conglomerate Tecnica Group in 2006, of skis in various quantities. car,” Eric Jan explains. Even though the which includes the Nordica ski brand The traditional cycle of ski pro- elevation at the Blizzard Sport factory in its portfolio of companies. After duction begins a year before the is 210 meters short of that virtual bor- the acquisition, Nordica’s ski manu- skis are on the market. Skis for the der, the company attempts to have this facturing was moved to the Blizzard 2006–2007 winter season would have sort of equality. factory. Nowadays, design and devel- begun production in November of The Blizzard Sport traditional opment of all Blizzard and Nordica 2005. The process to determine how 1. ISPO is an international sporting-goods trade association. –– 2 –– – 2 – BlizzardLayout.indd 2 11/18/13 3:43 PM much to produce was a combination construction, together with the edges facturing method that has been popu- of forecasting and taking actual or- of a ski, determine a key part of the lar for making cars over the last 20 ders from distributors and retailers experience of skiing on the slopes of years. It helped to locate and elimi- of skis. Until early this century, or- the Austrian Alps. But overproduc- nate wasteful activities in the flow of ders placed with Blizzard Sport were tion (tens of thousands of pairs of skis the entire process. Many aspects of made in late December or January were left in stock at the end of the manufacturing are sufficiently similar of the previous season as the dealers 2007 season) threatened the future that Lean concepts can be easily saw how many skis were selling that of the factory and the livelihoods of transferred to different types of man- winter. This meant that Blizzard was hundreds of people in the Pinzgau ufacturing. The sources of waste, seen blindly producing skis for two to region. as activities that do not directly create three months without knowing the Tecnica Group’s first goal was to value for the clients, were much more actual demand from their distribution reduce costs at the Blizzard factory. widespread than just incurring extra channels. But as the winters—and the This required greater information costs. Waste could be an unnecessary behavior of customers—became more visibility and support for process stan- amount of walking in the factory, unpredictable, the orders began to dardization. Eric-Jan and the IT team’s overstocking the warehouse with raw come even later in the winter season, role in these changes was to introduce materials, or the time consumed to as retailers wanted to see the number a new Enterprise Resource Planning find something in the clutter of of unsold skis and adapt their orders (ERP) system within Blizzard. That over-produced skis. The optimization accordingly. But they still required the system was meant to organize in one benefits could be profound, but every- new models by October, when people place all of the information related to one had to accept that the process of begin to gear up for the upcoming the orders, manufacturing, and ship- making skis that they had been used season. That forced manufacturers to ment of skis. The real-time view and to all their lives was going to change. make more skis by forecast and fewer facilitation of all the business processes by actual orders as the window of would help to spot and then cut extra “Tecnica Group found blind forecasting before hard orders costs. As time passed, though, this type appeared grew longer and longer. of optimization reached a limit. “We inspiration in an With a throughput of 300,000 pairs, realized very quickly that a sole focus Blizzard began to carry higher risks on removing costs was not giving unlikely place—the of overproduction. The impact of this added value to the business, let alone automobile industry.” increased risk was clear by the end of satisfaction and motivation to the ski the winter season of ’06–’07. makers. Yes, we were making a pair Naturally, there was resistance of skis cheaper. However, we were not to such shifts of mindset. The pride improving the throughput and our in making skis was standing in the The Turnaround production, which was what we really way of adapting to change that came With the recent acquisition by Tecni- needed to achieve in order to produce from a source in a completely differ- ca, orders were now placed through larger volumes after receiving orders at ent industry. But there was a cultural the group headquarters in Italy. This the end of April [avoiding speculative aspect to Lean manufacturing that increased processing time exposed over-production earlier in the season],” potentially could ease the resistance. Blizzard to yet more risk. With less Eric-Jan says. The focus and motiva- Evolutionary change and continuous and less time to respond to market tion for improvements had to change. improvement, core principles behind demand and still deliver skis for the Lean manufacturing—defining it as new season by October of each year, a continuous journey in a particu- the production process would have to A Lean Ski Maker lar context rather than as a one-off improve. “When I joined the compa- Looking for ways to refocus, Tecnica change formula—advocated for con- ny in 2007, the lead time from order Group found inspiration in an unlike- tributions from the entire team. Un- to delivery to the client for a standard ly place—the automobile industry. der a Lean transformation, change batch of skis (150 pairs) was between Consultants from Porsche Consult- was not imposed upon the produc- twelve and fourteen weeks,” Eric-Jan ing, a subsidiary of the automobile tion workers (the ski makers in the says.