Memorial Day - And a Jolt of Lean from Ulysses S. Grant

By Kevin Meyer

This Memorial Day we remember those who gave their lives in defense of our country, a sacrifice that should give pause to all the childish bickering going on in political circles these days.  A hat tip to a lean recruiter friend of ours, Keith Syberg, for letting us know of the following passage from The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant:

There never was a corps better organized than was the quartermaster’s corp with the Army of the Potomac in 1864.  With a wagon-train that would have extended from the Rapidan to Richmond, stretched along in single file and separated as the teams necessarily would be when moving, we could still carry only three days’ forage and about ten to twelve days’ rations, besides a supply of ammunition.

To overcome all difficulties, the chief quartermaster, General Rufus Ingalls, had marked on each wagon the corps badge with the division color and the number of the brigade.  At a glance, the particular brigade to which any wagon belonged could be told.  The wagons were also marked to note the contents: if ammunition, whether for artillery or infantry; if forage, whether grain or hay; if rations, whether bread, pork, beans, rice, coffee or whatever it might be. 

Empty wagons were never allowed to follow the army or stay in camp.  As soon as a wagon was empty, it would return to the base of supply for a load of precisely the same article that had been taken from it.  Empty trains were obliged to leave the road free for loaded ones.  Arriving near the army they would be parked in fields nearest to the brigades they belonged to.  Issues, except of ammunition, were made at night in all cases.

The concept of a lean supply chain is apparently nothing new!  Have a great, and relaxing, Memorial Day weekend.  Don't forget what we're observing.

Comments

[Robert Drescher]

Hi Kevin
Thanks for the excerpt from Grant’s memorial, it shows just how old Kanban really is, in this case they even eliminated the waste of the cards by marketing all the required info directly onto the wagons.

As I have often said there is very little new in the world of Lean, the only thing the Lean really does is to pull the ideas together.

If North America would in peace time act like it does during major wars, we would never have lost our competitive advantage in the world.

[Jamie Flinchbaugh]

Visual management, line side storage, and pull supply. Great stuff.

The role that logistics and supply has played in war time for 1000s of years is often underappreciated.