1. A system held inventory to protect it from uncertainties in supply. In an effort to be lean, this inventory is used and not replaced, although the uncertainties in supply remain unchanged. What is likely to happen to the operation of the system now?
2. Why is vendor-managed inventory considered a lean practice? Does VMI reduce inventory?
3. Just as lean systems are also called just-in-time systems, earlier approaches to inven- tory control are sometimes called just-in-case systems. The phrase just-in-case refers to what?
4. What does the lean principle of level scheduling imply about finished goods inventory? Is this a contradiction to the philosophy of lean?