Articles from across the industry and world

If you sell 10 items, and in your storage space you can store 100 items, it almost seems laughably logical to have 10 of each item. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. You’ll probably notice that 20 items are always out of stock, while the remaining 80 go unnoticed.

Implementing kaizen is all about organizational transformation. But what exactly does that mean? It’s not about ensuring a project runs smoothly or simply eliminating waste during events. 

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted labor markets globally during 2020. The short-term consequences were sudden and often severe: Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly 

adjusted to working from home as offices closed.

Manufacturing is one of the drivers of modern prosperity. Most manufactured goods become cheaper and cheaper over time, adjusted for inflation. Services, on the other hand, usually become more expensive over time. 

In the world of manufacturing, CNC machining is coming out on top. CNC machining is used everywhere from the automotive and medical industries to aerospace, gas and oil, and warehouse operations. Anywhere you see a machine, a molded part, or a product in use, CNC machining probably has a part in its construction. 

Lean manufacturing often talks about true north. This is the direction in which your operations should move to become better. Sometimes that may be a bit fuzzy, so let’s have a look at what true north could include. 

Lean philosophy has two interconnected pillars:  "Eliminate Waste" and "Respect for Humanity."  These foundational elements greatly contribute to the success of Lean Manufacturing.  Let's talk about them individually — the second one first. 

The pandemic has placed an intense focus on the importance of smart decisions and adaptability. 

To thrive in an increasingly uncertain world, organizations need to be able to innovate quickly, not only now but after this crisis subsides. Those that are more digitally mature may have an edge. 

As outlined in a McKinsey & Company report, there are four main themes affecting the manufacturing space: regionalization, data proliferation, an aging workforce, and the impact of COVID-19 on staffing.

Hoshin Kanri (also called Policy Deployment) is a method for ensuring that the strategic goals of a company drive progress and action at every level within that company. This eliminates the waste that comes from inconsistent direction and poor communication. 

 The manufacturing world, across industry sectors, has witnessed significant improvements in productivity and competitiveness over the past couple of decades as a result of Continuous Improvement (CI) methodologies. 

Deeply ingrained ways of doing things that have worked in the past can be one of the biggest hurdles to staying competitive in this industry. 

Planning and scheduling is at the center of good maintenance management. Here we arrive at what is “corrective maintenance” as part of our chain that must not be broken. It is important to understand the difference between planning and scheduling.  

The industrial application of cloud technology is widely seen as very promising, so we went to the front lines and conducted a large-scale survey to find out what really works. 

Research has shown that accidents in the workplace happen more frequently due to errors in systems rather than people. By writing clear work instructions, companies can improve their systems and reduce the number of accidents.

The growth of Industrial IoT solutions continue to expand, impacting all industrial market segments, including manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, and logistics, as well as consumer and home electronics devices. 

Have you ever studied a subject or brainstormed an idea, only to find yourself with pages of information, but no clear view of how it fits together? 

Shitsuke is the fifth and final step of the Lean 5S method. It means "sustain" or "sustained discipline". It is a Japanese word that carries a wealth of cultural meaning 

One of the most powerful retention tools you can have in your toolbox is to have a culture that proactively values recognition.

Time and again, it has been proven that motivation and empowerment are vital for driving continuous improvements and organizational success.

Explore five workforce trends that show how organizations can bring out the human strengths that make organizational thriving possible. 

Continuous improvement tools are a powerful resource in the lean manufacturing journey. Leveraging the right one can lead to improved productivity, reduced errors, and greater profitability overall.  

We are living—and working—within a monumental paradigm shift. The COVID-19 pandemic has divided the global economy into “befores” and “afters". Before and after the normalization of remote work. 

Managed well, stress can be an ally rather than an enemy. Here’s how to use it to your advantage. 

Continuous improvement tools are a powerful resource in the lean manufacturing journey. Leveraging the right one can lead to improved productivity, reduced errors, and greater profitability overall.  

Single-minute exchange of dies (SMED) is a process used to greatly reduce the time it takes to complete equipment changeovers.

Empathy is the ability to understand someone else’s feelings. It is a prerequisite for compassion. In 2021, compassion is in more demand than ever. 

At its core, a business is a series of processes. If there’s one document that should be the go-to for how to get things done, it’s an SOP. Companies create these internal guides to create lean, efficient, and uniform workflows. 

Most companies strive to become better at adapting to changes in the business environment. In today's globalized economy, market fluctuations and changes in customers' preferences move quickly and are felt in changes in the demand pattern. In production, this is felt almost immediately because stock levels are usually kept low 

With the COVID-19 pandemic poised to continue deep into 2021, the next generation of professionals faces substantial challenges when entering the workforce. But their unique perspective may also give them an advantage. 

Seiton is the second step of the 5S method. It means "to set in order" or to put everything into its proper place. 

Many people are aware that lubricant contaminants cause wear in machines, but all too often that knowledge does not translate into action. It is surprisingly common for plants to go to great lengths in monitoring the condition of their equipment and their lubricants, but to do very little to address the problems that are uncovered. 

Redundant objects may range from empty boxes through bins of rejected parts to obsolete machinery. Some objects might have some value but are simply inappropriate, such as a jerry-rigged tool that substitutes for a proper equipment repair. 

Starting out with a bit of Latin, the post hoc fallacy is short for post hoc ergo propter hoc or “after this, therefore because of this”. It’s a mouth full in either language. This is a logical fallacy that problem solvers can fall into when we think, “Since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X.”  

The year 2020 has been an eventful one for every industry, especially the manufacturing sector. Progress with smart technology and other technological advancements have helped to further optimize the means of production.  

Short Interval Control (SIC) is a structured process for identifying and acting on opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of production. It is a factory-floor process that engages team members to review performance data three or four times within their shift to assess where they need to focus their efforts to improve performance. 

2020 has been a busy and difficult year for everyone! While employees were busy settling down with the idea of remote work, HR leaders were busy in making this transition seamless.  

The entire world of work—whether assembly plant, hospital, bank, airport, military depot or pharmaceutical factory—is striving to making work safer, simpler, more logical, reliable, and linked, and less costly. Central to this is the visual workplace. 

If you're having trouble recognizing waste in your processes, one of America's manufacturing pioneers has some lessons to remember. 

In today’s uncertain world, the upskilling of employees has never been more important. As businesses navigate through the stormy seas of the coronavirus and look for new ways of working productively, online learning has become an important part of the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing. 

The metrics represent a stepping stone toward a universal ESG reporting standard, offering clear visibility into why prioritizing the creation of long-term value matters. The challenge now is for all of us to grasp that opportunity.

If someone had told manufacturers a year ago that they would face temporary factory closures and be confronted with complex new restrictions once plants re-opened including limited onsite personnel, social distancing practices and no business travel, no one would have believed that business would have been able to continue operating effectively. 

The global pandemic has put resiliency on the agenda of every company in the world. As they cope with the seismic changes brought about by COVID-19, businesses of all sizes and types have needed to adapt to remote work, reconfigured physical workspaces, and revised logistics and supply networks.

Stronger demand for customization, increasing customer expectations, the complexity of the global supply chain – these and many other challenges encourage manufacturers to find new, more innovative ways to remain competitive. 

In the near future, manufacturing companies will work together in hyper-connected value networks in which data-and-analytics applications drive productivity, new customer experiences, and societal and environmental impact.  

The mission statement of PM’s newly announced program “Make in India” focuses on product innovation for our growing economy.  The critical elements of this program Emphasize the importance of a multi-disciplinary, systems oriented approach to engineering & manufacturing practice with a special focus on customer-driven design. 

When pen-and-paper methods of tracking job efficiency left AccuRounds’ engineers and managers in the dark, the shop switched to MachineMetrics. But machine monitoring brought morale challenges along with it.  

Editor’s note: As we ended a difficult and unique year and entered a new one, the Training Industry editorial team asked learning leaders to write in with their reflections on 2020 and predictions for 2021. 

Method study is the process of subjecting work to systematic, critical scrutiny to make it more effective and/or more efficient. It is one of the keys to achieving productivity improvement. 

Using Accuracy Controlled 3T SOPs for Production and Maintenance Quality Assurance. Highly reliable equipment is necessary to reduce production costs and maximise production throughput. 

Skilled workers for industry have been at a premium, on and off, for at least half a decade. 

Job shops adapt the lean methodology to their high-mix, low-volume world. 

Industry 4.0 is a buzzword hard to avoid if you are living on the planet Earth! Quality 4.0, on the other hand, is a less-hyped concept to define the technologies, practices, and processes needed to transform quality management for the better. 

For the past few decades, consumers have rewarded companies that customize their products and services to individual tastes and needs. 

Moving to all-digital descriptions of parts is opening opportunities for small and medium sized business—not just the big guys.

The fourth industrial revolution will be empowered when 5G is meaningfully adopted in production settings, predicated on early adoption and scalable deployment. 

With the growth of industry and huge industrialization across the world, negligence or little compromise in safety results in huge disasters. Every year millions of industrial accidents occur which result in loss of human life, loss of man-hours, machine hours and loss of production time. 

Traceability is fast becoming an important part of the manufacturing process for companies in diverse industries. While some believe it only applies to products that might be subject to recalls, such as food, automobiles or aircraft, traceability should be a part of every manufacturer’s processes.  

This “essence” is reflected in all three of the well-known improvement processes: Lean Manufacturing, Theory of Constraints, and Six Sigma. The type and depth of information may vary, and there may be considerable differences in the types of actions that are taken and how those actions are prioritized, but Information, Focus, and Action are a common element of all three processes. 

By 2023, India is estimated to have 650-700 million smartphones as the number of internet users in the country crosses 800 

million, according to a McKinsey report. India’s digital economy has the potential to create 60-65 million jobs by 2025.

If you were to visit 20 different plants, you likely would find 20 different ways of managing machinery lubrication, some of which would be less than ideal. There is no need for this situation to exist. This article outlines 60 best practices that a good lubrication program should contain. 

Do you have the courage to confront your fears? If you don't, they will subconsciously influence your decisions and actions. Certain fears are particularly important to acknowledge if you want to succeed with continuous improvement. 

Higher numbers of variants and smaller batch sizes are forcing companies to make production more flexible and more agile. This is particularly difficult to achieve with “brownfield” plants if the machines involved were not designed to be used flexibly in a Smart Factory environment. 

This article updates our earlier perspectives on when the coronavirus pandemic will end. Transition toward normalcy in the United States remains most likely in the second quarter of 2021 and herd immunity in the third and fourth quarters, but the emergence of new strains and a slow start to vaccine rollout raise real risks to both timelines. 

Many operators don’t know the target for their shift, or if they’re currently on-track to hit that target. They start the shift not knowing what a ‘win’ is, and leave not knowing if they ‘won’ or ‘lost’.  

Every process has a constraint (bottleneck) and focusing improvement efforts on that constraint is the fastest and most effective path to improved profitability. 

Smart Factory processes (known increasingly under the term Industry 4.0) pass through several stages: connectivity, visibility, transparency, predictions, 

adaptability all the way to digital services complementing the production processes.

When looking at the obstacles that limit the success of predictive maintenance (PdM) initiatives in the Plant Services survey, it’s not surprising that four of the six noted are implementation related.

According to a McKinsey study, digital transformation is a major priority for 69% of industrial businesses, with 60% of companies saying they have to replace around 30% of their existing plants. 

SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies) is a system for dramatically reducing the time it takes to complete equipment changeovers. 

In order to measure changeover time accurately, it is important to create a clearly defined standard and then consistently apply that standard 

There are millions of manufacturing and processing businesses around the world. The shop floor is an integral part of those businesses where the real action takes place.  A shop floor is responsible to bring out the tangible, usable and superior quality products as per the specifications.

The manufacturing industry is currently witnessing the fourth industrial revolution, better known as Industry 4.0 where the 'real' and the 'virtual' world are to be seamlessly connected giving rise to what

are known as cyber-physical production systems. As a result, the traditional manufacturing processes are undergoing an enormous transformation which will change the way companies approach manufacturing.

Since 2010, we have found ourselves in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0). It is a revolution characterized by intelligent automation and data exchange in technology. The manufacturing industry is well-aware, as cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and cognitive computing are quickly  forcing the industry to evolve.

The Six Big Losses are a very effective way to categorize equipment-based losses: Unplanned Stops, Planned Stops, Small Stops, Slow Cycles, Production Rejects, and Startup Rejects. They are aligned with OEE and provide an excellent target for improvement actions. 

Manufacturing is an industry of skills. Every factory runs on the back of hundreds of specialized skill sets, any one of which may take years to master.  

So, it should be no surprise, then, that manufacturing’s enduring labor crisis is the result of a skills gap – a growing lack of alignment between the skills in the workforce and the demands of modern manufacturing. 

Value and the Cost of Quality in most firms is calculated by cost accounting and has been an important function until the integration of LEAN.  All organizations measure and report costs as a basis for control, compliance, and improvement. In this era of heavy oversight and regulation of publicly traded companies, which have to comply with new regulations, the identification of cost related activities is even more important. 

Lean manufacturing is an operational strategy oriented toward achieving the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating waste. It derives from the Toyota Production System and its key thrust is to increase value-added work by eliminating waste and reducing incidental work.  

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of the implementation of job rotation on employees’ perceived job satisfaction, and to identify the key factors that would influence the adoption of a job rotation strategy by the Registrar’s environment of a University of Technology, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was chosen for this study 

Line balancing is a production strategy that involves balancing operator and machine time to match the production rate to the Takt time.

Takt time is the rate at which parts or products must be produced in order to meet customer demand.

In 2020, manufacturing (like every other industry) has felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the many consequences of the crisis is a record increase in unemployment in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Absolutely not. Industrial robots do what they are designed to do extremely well. High speed, high repeatability, heavy payloads, and more. There are many reasons why industrial robots are here to stay.  

Tiny onions provide a maintenance-reducing alternative to hazardous chemicals for cooling and lubricating parts. 

With the ever-expanding marketing and customer experience (CX) technology stack that organisations are assembling, and the copious amounts of data they collect from the customer, it is natural for valuable information to go unused.  

Creating a maintenance plan is generally not difficult to do. But creating a comprehensive maintenance program that is effective poses some interesting challenges. It would be difficult to appreciate the subtleties of what makes a maintenance plan effective without understanding how the plan forms part of the total maintenance environment.

Achieving a frictionless enterprise that allows for a streamlined, perfectly aligned flow of information across both internal and external stakeholders is a desirable state of business for many organizations. 

Machines fail for a reason. They’re not supposed to wear out. Humans are at the root of the vast majority of these failures. It’s also humans that can intervene and restore plants to healthy and sustained operation. This is not an imaginary concept but rather a living reality in a growing number of companies today. 

The popularity of mindfulness has spread beyond self-help and personal wellness. Many organizations in fields such as business, healthcare and government are providing their leaders with mindfulness education and practices. 

Heavy machinery – from cranes and front-end loaders to skid loaders, bulldozers, and tractors – is a great asset. Without the proper earthmoving equipment and heavy-duty machinery, much of our modern infrastructure would be impossible to build. 

According to Aberdeen Research, the average hourly cost of downtime across all businesses is $260,000, and it seems to be rising. This figure is up from the 2014 data of $164,000. This is especially concerning since nearly all industrial and manufacturing production is accomplished using machines, making it largely dependent on those machines operating continuously.

There’s a good bit of literature out there that reports on the high failure rates of large initiatives like a lean enterprise implementation. Do a websearch on “failure rate of lean implementation” and you’ll find articles that indicate between 50% and 95% of all lean initiatives fail.

According to the Author  resilience is a quality forced upon us by the pace of change and the sheer number of continuous and exponential shifts required to evolve, live and do business. It is an invisible force that, until recently, went mostly ignored, as leaders dealt with day-to-day realities.  

Many companies have started experimenting with digital twins. For example, they use digital representations of physical objects, systems or processes during the validation phase of products to monitor, analyze and simulate their physical counterparts. 

Let’s break down what team communication actually means. According to Merriam Webster, communication is “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.” In other words, it’s an exchange of information. 

The prospect of successful vaccines for COVID-19 has given business leaders everywhere hope that the pandemic may be finally nearing a turning point. And not a second too soon: the organizational adrenaline that helped many companies get things done quickly and well during the pandemic’s early days has, 

in many cases, been replaced by fatigue.

In the post-COVID work climate, soft skills such as emotional intelligence are more in-demand than ever before. Workforces with high EQ are more agile and much better placed for business survival.

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is maintenance that monitors the performance and condition of equipment during normal operation to reduce the likelihood of failures. Also known as condition-based maintenance, predictive maintenance has been utilized in the industrial world since the 1990s. 

The skills gap in US manufacturing is a real hurdle for manufacturers looking to expand their workforces to meet increased business opportunities or to make up for the loss of retiring Baby Boomer workers. 

How do you measure the extent of manufacturing’s ongoing hiring challenges? The skills gap, that troublesome imbalance between the skills required for available manufacturing jobs and the experience that workers in the talent pool possess, seems to be widening. 

 The supply chain has undergone a complete transformation over the past 10 – 15 years. Two of the forces driving this change include the geographic expansion and increased regulatory activity based on market events.  Geographic expansion has driven down costs, but, has also exposed manufacturers to financial and brand risk caused by inconsistent quality. 

The Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is one of the integral pillars of the Indian economy, with around 63.4 million units spread across the geographical expanse of the country. This sector is one of the largest job providers, providing employment to 111 million people.  

The year 2020 has been full of unwelcome surprises and inescapable new realities. What started out as a health challenge escalated rapidly into an economic and humanitarian crisis. Businesses and individuals alike have had to adapt rapidly to cope with uncertainty and anxiety in a seemingly unending ordeal. And yet, the world endures. 

In recent weeks, a number of people across the author network have shared their aspirations to create a culture of continuous improvement; a key element of this is the successful deployment of problem-solving capability at each level of the organisation. 

In a previous article, titled ‘Why the future of work must be designed’, businessmodelsinc.com stated that  “[if] history has taught us anything it’s that disruptive paradigm shifting business models not only create a fortune for the first movers, they lay the foundation for other new business models, new market entrants, and new jobs to follow.

Electrical control and distribution systems are generally complex and expensive assets that need to be effectively maintained so they operate at optimum performance over their serviceable life. It is common to find that there has been significant effort applied to managing mechanical assets, with less focus on electrical equipment. 

In a classic experiment on human social intelligence by psychologists Felix Warneken and Michael Tomasello, an 18-month old toddler watches a man carry a stack of books towards an 

unopened cabinet. When the man reaches the cabinet, he clumsily bangs the books against the door of the cabinet several times, then makes a puzzled noise.

Change is exponential. There’s no getting around it. As we continue to invent new technologies and innovate business models we create paradigm shifts that leave the old models in the dust. 

In their search for the latest and greatest management and technical innovations, which often arrive with glorious trappings and fanfare, organizations often overlook opportunities to correct deficiencies that are so ingrained within the organization that they are often accepted as normal.  

The term became popularized in the 80s/90s where it was commonly used to describe the professional challenges women faced during that period. 

Everyone knows the story of the birth of the Post-it Note - how it was an accidental discovery that became one of 3M’s most beloved products. What you may not know is that it didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t entirely an accident. 

For weeks, everyone’s been hyper-aware of the good work frontline workers do to help us through this pandemic. We see so much imagery of healthcare workers in full protective gear, working tirelessly in emergency departments, postal and delivery workers walking up to our doors with important packages; and grocery store workers stocking shelves to make sure shoppers get what they need. 

India’s manufacturing sector could become an engine for economic growth and jobs—if it can specialize. Eleven high-potential value chains could more than double its manufacturing GDP in a few years. 

Industry 4.0 technologies let manufacturers integrate top-down performance management and bottom-up problem solving into business-as-usual routines—without replacing their current systems. The result? A virtuous cycle of improvement.  

Process improvement is the act of analyzing and improving existing processes. Below we discuss process improvement methodologies, how to get started and more.

Heijunka is defined as a technique for reducing unevenness in a production cycle, which in turn reduces waste. Below, we'll discuss how to implement heijunka, its benefits and more.

 I’m often asked what effective plant reliability management looks like. How does one recognize it when he or she sees it? 

Increasingly, managers and engineers who are responsibletrategic and tactical plans and initiatives. for manufacturing and other industrial pursuits are incorporating a reliability focus into their s

Last week I had the opportunity to address the question of why it’s sometimes difficult to see the financial impact of successful continuous improvement efforts. 

As an industry, we are facing vastly different circumstances than we ever have before. New low-cost producers and an ever-shrinking world market have left the old, dominant mills fighting for survival. 

So, how is the manufacturing industry preparing for and combating this brewing perfect storm? It is tackling two of the biggest contributing factors: lack of education and/or technical apprenticeships.  

In light of today’s economic landscape, it’s more important than ever for companies to have happy and productive employees. When employees are loyal and engaged in the company, profits are higher. Conversely, when people feel unmotivated or undervalued, the company suffers.

The purpose of gemba walks is to demonstrate respect for the people who do the work, collect information, and promote actions that continuously improve processes and shape 

organizational culture.

Today’s paper industry is far different than the industry we knew even five years ago. Increased foreign competition and a slowing domestic economy have fueled the consolidation of the U.S. paper industry. 

First established in the aviation industry, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is the process of identifying potential problems with your assets and determining what you should do to make sure those assets continue to produce at maximum capacity.  

A failure reporting, analysis and corrective action system (FRACAS) is a process that gives organizations a way to report, classify and analyze failures, as well as plan corrective reactions in response to those failures.  

International standards define reliability as the probability that a unit will perform its required functions, without failure for a specified time period when used under specified conditions. 

Autonomous maintenance increases efficiency by training operators to perform minor maintenance tasks. Below, 

we discuss implementing autonomous maintenance, sustaining it and more.

Criticality analysis is defined as the process of assigning assets a criticality rating based on their potential risk. Risk is defined as "the effect of uncertainty on objectives," 

For most plants, condition monitoring consists of multiple technologies that are cobbled together in an attempt to enhance machine reliability. Clearly, these efforts are founded in good intentions, and many such programs enjoy considerable success. 

There’s no doubt that 2020 presented many challenges for organizations across the globe. The shift to remote work drove the tech industry to respond to an increase in cyber attacks, heavier reliance on the cloud and the emergence of new technologies. 

 Even before COVID-19 arrived, inventory optimization was one of the most challenging aspects of manufacturing. Ensuring the right amount of inventory is on hand, when it’s needed, is a complex process. 

Digital technologies have long targeted sustainability objectives, focusing on elements of pollution control, energy efficiency and value chain optimization.

A single-point lesson, sometimes referred to as a one-point lesson or a one-page plan, is, as the name suggests, a one-page procedure clearly defining key points by using pictures and short-form text. 

Preventive maintenance is an established routine of periodically inspecting equipment, noticing small issues and fixing them before they turn into major problems.

Maintenance manager Robert was up to his elbows in grease and looking for spare parts. On his way to the supply room, he met Ron, the corporate reliability manager. 

Teaching operators and maintenance craftspeople basic inspection techniques and then deciding who is going the do the inspections in a route-based system is a very cost-effective way as a first step to reduce reactive maintenance. 

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is a maintenance strategy that monitors the real-time condition of an asset to determine what maintenance needs to be performed.

Maintenance culture is a hidden hierarchy of people and communication processes that binds an organization together.  

We are all aware of the impact outages have on business. In many cases, as much as one-third to one-half of the maintenance budget is consumed during this timeframe. Factor in the cost of lost production during this time and the costs are tremendous.  

You have a quarterly or monthly route-based vibration monitoring program but you’re still experiencing failures. The problem is that route-based monitoring only provides an instantaneous reading. For many assets, issues can develop quickly and often without warning.

In today’s competitive global environment, we are constantly being asked to do more with less. Now more than ever, companies are asking their employees to become more productive, more efficient and more “lean.” 

With the forming of ISO Technical Committee 251, it’s clear that asset management will soon have a standard. Now is the time to educate ourselves about the value that optimized asset management creates.

Data has long been treated in the manufacturing industry as the orphan nephew living in the cupboard under the stairs. While operational and service industries have leapt on the benefits of data as the catalyst of business growth and efficiency gains, the manufacturing sector has been slow to adopt the culture of becoming a data-driven business. 

We are all faced with a terrible reality—some of us are just a little bit luckier for now than others. If there is one thing that has become critically visible for any organization, it is that accurate and trustworthy information is key to sustain and survive. 

Whenever you are asked to specify the best tool for an application, you must first consider a few things before settling on an answer. You have to consider who is going to use it, what this tool would be used for (its application), and what the outcome is intended to accomplish. 

Vibration analysis helps you monitor and detect issues using vibration data. Read about vibration analysis methodology, tools and techniques, 

vibration analysis measurement methods, and more.

Many of the vibration data collectors of today have the capability to support two or more sensors gathering data simultaneously. With this capability is the ability to select cross-channel phase as an analysis tool. 

Value Stream Mapping is used to analyze the current state and design a future state for the process that takes a product 

from start to finish with as little waste as possible.

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is the premier standard for measuring manufacturing productivity. Read about how to calculate OEE, the six big losses, OEE benefits and more. 

Operational excellence is defined as the process of executing a business strategy more consistently and more reliably than the competition, resulting in increased revenue, lower operational risk and lower operating costs.  

MTTR is a metric used by maintenance departments to measure the average time needed to determine the cause of and fix failed equipment. 

Proper maintenance and scheduling, when done right, can greatly increase productivity. Below we discuss how to implement maintenance planning and scheduling and more. 

Manufacturing and process industries lose an estimated $20 to $60 billion each year due to unscheduled downtime and poor asset quality. Most organizations are fully aware of this and say improving uptime is their main goal for implementing a predictive maintenance plan. 

Huge cost savings, higher productivity, and better customer responsiveness are among the benefits reaped by the Federal-Mogul Corporation (formerly Fel-Pro) plant in Skokie, IL, thanks to its adoption of constraint management (CM) concepts, according to Rick Cummings, manager of materials and logistics. 

Today’s paper industry is far different than the industry we knew even five years ago. Increased foreign competition and a slowing domestic economy have fueled the consolidation of the U.S. paper industry. 

How well the systems and practices discussed in this column are being used indicate to me how far a plant has to go to become 

world class in the areas of maintenance and reliability. I would suggest reading this column with a group of operations and 

maintenance employees that includes both management and craftspeople.

Maintenance operations present certain challenges. Unexpected repairs, efficient management of technician time and keeping up with preventive 

maintenance are just a few major areas that maintenance managers must address. However, these challenges can be met through effective planning 

and scheduling and by using technology.

Today’s business reality: an impossibly fast marketplace, increasing disruptions and customers demanding faster deliveries with shorter order-to-ship cycles. 

Maybe things have always been this way. But it seems like we are increasingly shouting at each other rather than working things out. 

We’ve recently released “phase 1” of a new Business Process Mapping series.  Two additional phases will be added in the coming weeks.  In phase 1 we explore the topic of transactional value stream mapping.  

Teams are a well-established feature of how we manage, accomplish and improve our work. Yet too often teams at work are no more than a near-random collection of people. If we were building a high-performance car, we would never do so without checking first that the parts were compatible.  

One of our content goals for the year is to make our learning library more useful for knowledge workers. To this end, we are in the process of building the Business Process Mapping course. 

Where do we start? This is one of the most common questions people ask throughout the continuous improvement journey. This is true not only at the very beginning but also at various stages. 

There was much more to the 1950s than sock hops and rock 'n' roll. In fact, several popular technologies were designed and invented in the decade, including credit cards, automatic doors and the microwave.  

 If you’ve been practicing lean for any amount of time you’ve likely heard about gemba walks, leader standard work, and obeya.  

 Industrialization is becoming a vast field with time. Large scale investments often occupy food industries with less time for production—public demands to get the best food product within a short time duration with great outcomes. 

 The term productivity can be used to examine efficiency and effectiveness of any activity conducted in an economy, business, government or by individuals. 

 Robotics are helping move the chemical industry into a safer and more productive space. While many feared that robots would take away the need for human employees, chemical plants are finding that robots are giving employees the opportunities to do their jobs more thoughtfully and without fear of injury. 

I recall interviewing executives in a conference room at Toyota’s proving grounds in Arizona when I was writing The Toyota Way.  The President of the Toyota Technical Center, George Yamashina, on assignment from Japan, who had responsibility for engineering operations in North America, including the proving ground, stuck his head in the room.  Immediately everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. 

It can have a significant impact on your costs. It can have a very significant impact on your profitability. And it definitely has a particularly significant impact on your ability to remain competitive 

It is important to grow the top line of your business on an annual basis, but you also need to make sure the bottom line is healthy which can help fund that growth. This is particularly important if you are a manufacturing company and need to be efficient in your production process.

For today’s businesses, it is just as important to go beyond the top line measures used to track output. And while time and motion workstudy can have old fashioned connotations of men with stop watches producing piles of impenetrable data, modern workstudy uses a mix of simple data collection and analysis techniques to help businesses make better productivity driving decisions. 

In this article, we explore the world of shop floor planning, from the advantages, the different aspects you need to consider, and how you can implement it into your manufacturing business.  

Automation has made closed-loop metrology systems, nondestructive testing and productivity increasingly accessible.  

Optimize calibration in line with your needs to enhance productivity, ensure compliance and maintain quality.  

With IT/OT convergence transforming the plant floor, companies are struggling to find people with the right skillsets to manage not only new technologies but also new security threats.    

Are you cross-training your employees and empowering them to unlock their full potential? In this guide of best practices, we discuss what cross-training is, how to get started, and the benefits you could expect from cross-training your employees.   

Spring 2020 has introduced unprecedented changes to both business and societal norms. Social or physical distancing is our current reality and most likely to stay in some form in our post-COVID-19 world.   

Risk, value and cost are terms that have been especially prevalent in quality management literature over recent years.  A recent review of over one hundred years of published writings relating to quality revealed them to be themes that always underscored much of quality theory and practice.   

Rapid changes in technology, and the many options available for the manufacturing sectors, have caused some manufacturers to hesitate when it comes to making investments in technology. A recent survey discovered that 76% percent of manufacturers find prioritizing tech investments difficult. 

During the last few decades of the 20th century, Industry 3.0 was a huge leap forward--the advent of computer systems and automation ruled the industrial scene. However, in India, we did not quite grab the opportunities that came with Industry 3.0 because of amply available labour and access to limited software. 

As a manufacturer, you certainly want to be able to increase productivity, reduce costs, and maximize profits.Those goals can be achieved if you’re able to increase efficiency at your manufacturing plant.
 

It’s safe to say none of us have ever experienced a year like 2020. For manufacturers, it’s been a journey littered with disruption. As we continue to grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that business models must adapt to survive. 

We are all faced with a terrible reality—some of us are just a little bit luckier for now than others. If there is one thing that has become critically visible for any organization, it is that accurate and trustworthy information is key to sustain and survive. 

The 5 Whys tool is the straightforward process of asking "why?" in an interrogative fashion to get to the root cause of a specific problem. Read about when and how to use 5 Whys, see 5 Whys examples and more. 

The manufacturing sector has been taking a closer look at the possibilities of autonomous IT processes. These include reduced costs and greater efficiencies of scope and scale. Autonomous technologies are relatively new, and it’s clear that not all applications are equally effective. 

Data has long been treated in the manufacturing industry as the orphan nephew living in the cupboard under the stairs. While operational and service industries have leapt on the benefits of data as the catalyst of business growth and efficiency gains, the manufacturing sector has been slow to adopt the culture of becoming a data-driven business. 

How does "change" happen in your organization? Is it through major initiatives, or is it part of the ongoing way you work? 

Operational Excellence is a broad term that encompasses a variety of programs and initiatives. Improvements often occur with Lean, or Six Sigma, initiatives that are designed to fix problems, eliminate waste and create consistency in standardized processes. 

Whether you are running the meeting or just participating in it, there are ways to make it better and more inclusive. And, believe it or not, in some ways that’s easier to do on virtual platforms.  So while many of us are stuck on our screens, let’s make the most of it and use some of the unique features offered by virtual platforms for better inclusion. 

The 2018 Deloitte/MAPI survey shows that the United States will be short 2.3 million skilled workers by 2028. But what do they mean by skilled workers? We know that in the last 40 years, automation and outsourcing have eliminated most of the low and semi-skilled jobs, so what is needed are jobs requiring a significant investment in training. A good example is the need for maintenance technicians.

Root cause analysis is a systematic approach for uncovering the root cause of problems. Below we'll take a look at how to conduct a Root cause analysis, including the tools and methods used and the phases of the RCM process.

The Eight Commandments to digitizing your shop floor workforce bundles insights, examples and lessons learned from PwC’s experience in digital transformation in an operations and supply chain environment into eight practical ‘commandments’. Operations, production, and supply chain leaders can apply this knowledge to digitizing and connecting their workforce through wearable technologies. 

April and May have been very busy months for the Agile Elephant Crew – first client, first conference, first Meetups ,  first partners signed  – and has not left as much time for background research (and hence blogging) to take place. But it is ongoing.  One thing we have been doing a lot of work in is the future of Organizations in general. We have been researching where similar initiatives to current theories have occurred in the past, to learn what worked, what didn’t, and what came afterwards. 

When talking about lean process improvement tools, many turn their eyes to Six Sigma, Kanban and even to lean canvas. 

But what these people forget is that the origin of lean is in the use of tools to improve processes in an agile and practical way, aiming to reduce waste and create a “lean” process. 

Manufacturers face a daunting task. They’re expected to achieve increasingly short production time frames, while still meeting quality, safety and compliance standards… It’s a big ask, to say the least. 

 As team leaders, production managers have the essential responsibility of understanding how to manage factory production. While there are countless corporate cheerleading tactics that motivate office workers, finding the right strategy to get frontline manufacturing workers fired up and excited is more difficult.  

During a recent Facilitating a Requirements Workshop class, my students and I had great discussion regarding decision criteria. While the discussion came out of a class centered on business analysis, the answer resonates with almost any industry. Since my students asked me for a quick write up to reference, I thought it might help others and wanted to share. First, let’s take a quick step back to the question that started our discussion. 

Manufacturing systems generate a massive amount of data. This data is generally very difficult to mine given the scale and non-homogeneity in the data sources. However, mining this dark data could yield significant returns. With increasing automation, shop-floor analytics will become extremely critical for efficient operation.  

Manufacturers choose to track product genealogy within a quality management solution to improve the outcome of their finished goods. Managers are able to gain complete visibility into the production of every part, sub-assembly, and final assembly to help identify quality issues before they become a problem. 

 The smart factory has been a top manufacturing initiative for years as shop floors continue to become digital, automated, and intelligent. Today, companies are investing heavily in smart manufacturing, intelligent automation, and advanced robotics. A 2019 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Manufacturing Institute found that 73 percent of manufacturers planned to increase their investment in smart factory technology over the next year. 

 As we approach the arbitrary end of the year, many organizations are beginning the planning cycle for next year.  Part of that process should be identifying what projects and activities should be stopped, for several reasons – performance, alignment with strategy, and so forth.  However, equally if not more important is creating a process (and supporting culture!) that encourages stopping at any time. 

Whenever you are asked to specify the best tool for an application, you must first consider a few things before settling on an answer. You have to consider who is going to use it, what this tool would be used for (its application), and what the outcome is intended to accomplish. We know the answer to the first consideration to be operators. With this in mind, let us step through the remaining areas of concern to arrive at an answer. 

The 5S method is widely recognized as a fundamental and foundational part of Lean management. Without the basic discipline to remove clutter and distractions, put things back where they belong, and plug our leaks and sources of cutter, we live in chaos. We lose things, we waste time searching or choosing, we cause accidents and spills. When we empower people to apply the 5S method to design their workspace and process, they can identify what they need to work in safe, productive and high-quality ways. 

Conducting an effective meeting is an art and science.

A well structured meeting runs short but gets work done very well.

Cross-training your employees to mitigate risk may involve developing your team’s capacity so your company has the flexibility to respond to fluctuating workflows. 

 Although cross-training may result in some short-term loss in productivity, it’s a small price to pay for long-term risk mitigation and increased efficiency.