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May 7, 2007
Business Process Management…Buckle Up!
BPM: It's here
MORE January 5, 2006
5S: THE FOUNDATION OF LEAN OPERATIONS
How should you start your lean manufacturing transformation? By implementing "5S" immediately. 5S is a strategy for attaining workplace organization and cleanliness, and it will do more for your quality, productivity and morale than any other lean manufacturing improvement tactic.
MORE August 15, 2005
Lean...The Emerging After Market
Do you recall the old saw, “It’s hard to remember that your initial goal was to drain the swamp when you’re up to your petoot in alligators?” For an increasing number of companies we speak to lean has become an alligator magnet with devastating consequences.
MOREDecember 15, 2004
Lean & The Global Economy
Global Econony: The Noise In The Living Room
“Tom, Tom, wake up. Come on, come on, someone is downstairs in the living room. I heard them,” Mary said as she was trying to desperately trying to wake her husband. “What? What’s the matter?” Tom asked as his eyes shot open as he sat up. He glanced at the clock; it read 2:23AM. “I’ve been listening for the last twenty minutes and now I just heard something break. What should we do? Call the police?” she asked as she picked up the handset. “Just a minute, let's make sure first that there really is someone downstairs before we call in a false alarm,” Tom said in a voice that seemed less than convincing. “I’ll go part way down the stairs and see if I can see anything. Wait for my signal,” Tom said as he headed for the bedroom door. He felt a dagger like chill down his back even though he just left the warm covers of the bed. He jacked up his courage, opened the bedroom door and …..
MOREAugust 19, 2004
Standard Work Is Hard Work
Standard work is one of the cornerstone’s of lean that many companies overlook which can later come back to haunt them. 5S, set-up reduction, value stream mapping, cells, etc… all have immediate benefits when implemented correctly. The benefits are most times visual; you can see where the waste is being eliminated.
MORE December 6, 2002
WHY KAIZEN EVENTS?...AND SEVEN TOP TIPS
What are "kaizen events," and how can you use them to improve quality, cost, delivery, and morale on the shop floor and in the office?
MORE October 10, 2002
A Salesman's Encounter With Kaizen
“Curtis, let me make this real simple for you. Either our order is on our loading dock by 8AM Thursday or you don’t have an order. You did the same thing to us with the last order, but this time it is in your hands. Either the order is here and you have a customer or it’s not and you don’t. I’m okay with it either way. Don’t call back with any more excuses.” Click.
MORE July 25, 2002
HOW TO USE VALUE ADDED ANALYSIS TO IMPROVE THE BOTTOM LINE
Do you want to achieve lower cost, higher quality and faster delivery (either on the manufacturing floor or in the office)? Start thinking of all the work that happens in your organization as processes – steps done one after another. Then understand that eliminating process steps improves delivery (fewer steps take less time), reduces cost (fewer steps cost less money) and improves quality (fewer opportunities to make mistakes or have problems). So, how do you eliminate process steps? Glad you asked…
MOREJune 12, 2001
KAIZEN IN A NY MINUTE
Set up for the press took over nine hours before the event and six after the event. As a result after several weeks WIP was reduced 73% and customer on time delivery improved 41%. It was anticipated when engineering was able to get involved that the set up could be reduced to less than two hours in a follow on event. After weeks of training 5S became the work standard for the entire plant and as a result re-work was reduced 33%. After calculating the takt time of the new robotics equipment productivity in the cell increased 38% while decreasing WIP by over 50%. With cooperation from the supply chain it was believed that further double digit improvements could be achieved in both of these measures.
MOREApril 2, 2001
Why Reduce Setup Time?
Many people think the reasons to reduce setup time are: (1) to reduce the amount of labor needed to do each setup and (2) to increase the capacity of the equipment by having it down less for setups. Sounds logical.
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