New Micro-Course Launch: The Batching Trap
Team, I’m excited to share that our first micro-course is now live: 📘 The Batching Trap: Why Waiting to Return Items for Repair Bloats Supply Chain Inventory By Paul R Salmon FCILT, FSCM This short, practical course looks at one of the most common — and most costly — habits in supply chains: batching unserviceable items before sending them for repair. While batching feels efficient, it creates hidden problems: 🔻 Longer turnaround times (TAT) 🔻 Higher pipeline inventory 🔻 Reduced asset utilisation 🔻 Capital locked up in idle components Through real-world defence and civilian examples, we explore how moving to continuous returns can cut costs, speed up availability, and make supply chains more agile. Why it matters for us This isn’t just theory — batching vs. continuous flow decisions affect military readiness, retail cash cycles, and overall supply chain resilience. Breaking the batching habit is one of the simplest ways to free up capital and improve agility. 👉 Committee Action - Please take the course this week (it’s a quick one — less than 15 minutes). - Share your reflections and practical examples in the comments. Where have you seen batching create problems? Could your area move towards continuous returns? This will also give us a great discussion base for shaping our future content programme.