Becoming lean in wholesale distribution is more important than ever in today's challenging economic market. Applying lean concepts makes sense because becoming lean means becoming a more effective distributor. And becoming lean will lead to higher profitability. This book discusses the steps distributors must take to design and manage a lean culture. It deals with one lucrative area: Operations, which includes all aspects of the order processing system-from the time you seek an order, to order entry, and all the way through to delivery of products and services. Apply the tools and techniques in this book to your company so that it will operate with minimal waste and few errors, while at the same time meet your primary goal of adding value to the products and services you provide.