Category: Continuous Improvement

  • What Sandpaper Will You Use? – Part One

    What Sandpaper Will You Use? – Part One

    What to Use to Get the Most of Your Demand-Driven Changes Demand-driven manufacturing leaders are always refining their tools and tactics to ensure they’re spending their time wisely. This blog marks the first in a three-part series about using the tools of TOC, Six Sigma and Lean to help manufacturing leaders gain the most benefit

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  • Guest Blog Part 3: Listen to the Process

    Guest Blog Part 3: Listen to the Process

    Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In my second installment, I reviewed strategies for rolling

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  • Guest Blog: Real-world Advice for Getting Started on eKanban

    Guest Blog: Real-world Advice for Getting Started on eKanban

    by Jim Shore Through this guest blog series, I’d like to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. This first entry offers advice for planning an eKanban rollout – suggestions that can also be applied across any Lean manufacturing project. As a result, my hope

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  • 3 Ways to Put Big Data to Work in Your Factory

    3 Ways to Put Big Data to Work in Your Factory

    Is enthusiasm for Big Data wavering? In 2015, McKinsey Global Institute claimed that the IIoT had the potential to create as much as $3.7 trillion in economic value in the global manufacturing sector by 2025. They also predicted that 80 to 100% of manufacturers will have implemented IIoT applications by then and already be reaping

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  • Why Demand-Driven Manufacturing is Focused on Metrics for Action

    Why Demand-Driven Manufacturing is Focused on Metrics for Action

    Driving Continuous Improvement. In Demand-Driven Manufacturing, there is only one measurement that is important to drive performance:  Throughput. There are two subordinate measurements: Inventory and Operating Expense.  These three measurements cover the gambit of what needs to be measured because they are directly related to customer orders, cash captured inside the organization, and the cash

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  • Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement

    Building Muscle for Waste Awareness It almost seemed hackneyed: Lean manufacturing and continuous process improvement.  The phrase is tossed about with a certain familiarity and forgone conclusion. Yet this intentional, ongoing process of improving services, and procedures to improve flow, customer satisfaction, quality, safety, and profit means nothing without metrics. A systematic process which identifies

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