A member of a team from Ford recently visiting Dell doubted that his employer could ever do anything so drastic. But old-established companies can make similar gains. Procter & Gamble, a consumer-goods giant, used to think that the most efficient way to get detergent from its warehouses to shops' shelves was to load trucks as fully as possible. Then, a few years ago, it invested in software from BiosGroup, now owned by a company called Nutech Solutions, to simulate what happened to its inventory as it moved through the supply chain. The counter-intuitive conclusion was that it makes more sense to send trucks less full, and to load some toothpaste and other stuff alongside the detergent. As a result, P&G's inventory is down by some 30%, and its warehouse workers spend less time idle.