All Things People, Process & Metrics

Bridging the gap between your data and point of use

Jan 17, 2012

Data is critical when making decisions and applying lean principles for your manufacturing environment. However, there is often a substantial gap between where your data is stored and point of use, making it difficult to leverage all that your data has to offer.

Recently Derek Singleton with Software Advice offered insights in his article, “How Manufacturing Software Should Adapt to Support Lean Principles” surrounding the use of technology to help bridge this gap and gain more access to vital data. We have offered him a guest...

U.S. manufacturing showing signs of a recovery

Dec 1, 2011

Hearing news about the dismal state of the economy and the lack of growth in the United States is not new. We’ve become accustomed to thinking that there was only doom and gloom.

But this month, economists have been seeing some more positive indicators, and many point to the strength of manufacturing for leading the way. An article by the AP provides...

Assembly Magazine’s 2011 Assembly Plant of the Year credits 5S implementation for success

Nov 23, 2011

Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. We’re all well aware of the lean manufacturing 5S methodology. But how many of us have integrated this into our business plan? If you haven’t, it’s important to understand just how much of an impact it could have on your organization without investing money, but rather time.

Although the concept seems relatively simple – eliminate waste, keep a clean workspace and be consistent – success depends on the organization and a team’s willingness to participate and adopt the...

Employee Empowerment as Much a Part of Success as Lean & Kaizen

Nov 18, 2011

In the world of manufacturing consultants, we often think the important learnings from the Toyota Production System (TPS) can be encapsulated in a series of processes – lean production, kaizen, continuous improvement, just-in-time and other concepts.

A recent article in BusinessWorld reminds us that the lessons learned from TPS are also about people.

“…if workers have that sense of shared ownership in formulating factory rules, corporate goals can be easily achieved,” says Susumu Minegishi, a...

Manufacturers that changed the way we work

Nov 10, 2011

What can we learn from history? Since the Industrial Revolution, there have been many innovations in manufacturing, but in a few instances, a factory literally changed the way we do business. Every company has a story, but there are a few standouts that have paved the way for innovation:

In 1818, Springfield Armory, a U.S. military firearms manufacturer, started using inventor Thomas Blanchard’s replicating machine and revolutionized the assembly line method of mass production. His wood-turning lathe was able to cut...

Behind the Numbers: What You Can Learn From the ISM Index

Nov 1, 2011

We hear about it nearly every month – the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index. It’s one of those metrics your leadership may or may not be tuned into.

Just this morning, the October index was released and came in at 50.8 percent, holding steady over the last few months. View the news here. Some manufacturers follow the index closely, as...

Overcoming the Skilled Worker Gap in Manufacturing

Oct 27, 2011

Is it really possible to have high unemployment and still not be able to find good workers? If you’re in manufacturing and like many of our manufacturing clients, the answer is likely to be yes. It’s that distinction of “skilled workers” that causes the gap. Recent media attention surrounding a poll by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute has directed a spotlight on this issue that we in the trenches have seen for some time – U.S. manufacturers aren’t able to fill as many as 600,000 positions due to a lack of skilled labor.

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Know your Successes and Ideal Customer

Jun 4, 2010

Quick! Name your top three customers – not by revenue – but by profitability. Now articulate why they are your most profitable customers and how adding similar clients will enhance your ability to grow the business. Write these things down.

If you can’t answer these above questions, you will continue to spin your wheels and “sell to everybody.” You have a limited amount of time and resources – so do your potential clients. Know where you can truly be successful and focus your effort there first.

Oh, and don’t forget, your next big sale might be an existing client – don’...

What gets incentivized gets done first

Jun 2, 2010

Metrics are a critical piece of the business to drive the right behaviors. We use metrics everyday in our lives from stoplights to our gas gauge telling us when to get more gas. The same goes for the metrics that we use in our business. The first step is having the right metrics to drive the behaviors of the people that are running the business. Secondly, the metrics need to connect to the customer and at the same time to the vision of the company. Thirdly, they must help each individual be motivated for continuous improvement.

I was with a client where the CEO explained to the...

Be the best version of yourself

May 28, 2010

If you could become a better version of yourself, wouldn’t you want to? What if you could become the best version of yourself? How could that change your business?

Let’s take a step back on what that impact can mean on your decision-making. If you’re striving to reach not only mediocre, but the best version possible, how will that change the decisions you make? Taking another step back, what can that look like in your teams? Once you’ve been motivated to change, how can you engage your team in growing along with you?

In the past three months, two thousand...

All Things People, Process & Metrics

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