Prof. Seifert wins a prize for his case series on Lego
The case series on “Lego: Consolidating Distribution” co-authored by Carlos Cordon, Ralf W. Seifert, and Edwin Wellian won the 2011 ecch case award in the Production and Operations Management category.
The ecch case award is based on the number of adoptions during a given period—the Lego case series already won the jury-based 2009 EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) case award announced in April 2010.
Case Issues
In October 2008, LEGO won the prestigious European Supply Chain Excellence Award in the “Logistics and Fulfillment” category. The award recognized the supply chain changes that had been accomplished and which were seen as one of the key enablers of LEGO’s astonishing turnaround. The judges were particularly impressed with the cross-functional engagements driven by supply chain executives as well as the strong mandate given directly by group management. The company’s restructuring and the realignment of its supply chain capabilities, however, did not have a very auspicious starting point: LEGO had lost money for four out of seven years from 1998 to 2004, and with only 62% of orders being delivered on time, its logistics capability had been shattered. The LEGO Consolidating Distribution case series highlights both the organizational and operational issues that arose in reviving its distribution system and turning its supply chain operations into a distinct competitive advantage.
The Lego case is used by Professor Seifert in both the Mastering Technology Enterprise (MTE) program, jointly offered by IMD, EPFL and ETH Zurich, as well as in the Master-level course on Supply Chain Management given at the CDM as part of its specialization in Operations Management. The ecch recognition represents the fifth international case award for Professor Seifert since 2003.