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Here you will find a host of information providing insights into operational excellence and innovation suitable for a range of industries and experience levels.
How R.H. Sheppard used 3P to discover a new way to manufacture. In 2012, R.H. Sheppard, a manufacturer of power steering systems and related engineered products, faced a key business decision on capital investment for one of its parts manufacturing lines that needed updating…
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To consistently drive top-line growth, leaders must commit to a disciplined and creative focus on meeting today’s market challenges while strengthening capabilities for future competitive mastery. It’s a matter of keeping the core business running optimally without losing sight of what’s on the horizon—and being prepared for and open to “creative destruction.”
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In the midst of disruption, businesses still need to operate by optimizing systems to drive out waste and improve flow. What’s changed is the need to do so smarter and faster. In this month’s What’s Up, we look at the importance of building capabilities through up-skilling and multi-skilling, and doing so rapidly…as well as highlight opportunities for educating employees.
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TPM’s integral role, with 5 takeaways to guide your strategy.
Most business owners and general managers recognize just how critically important proper equipment maintenance is, particularly in an asset-oriented work environment.
Last month saw another round of graduates from our Lean Manager for Services Certification held on the campus of The Ohio State University. Instructor and Executive Partner of Productivity Inc., Catherine Converset, spent a few minutes with us recently to talk about implementing lean in service and administrative functions.
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Recently I was working with a project team looking at machine data for a key piece of equipment. The data showed the machine had several sporadic losses in that particular week. To dig deeper into the data, we spoke to the operators and maintenance staff; one seasoned associate told us, “Oh, I know what caused that loss, we’ve had to fix that a few times.”...
Read moreShingo, whose work at Toyota provided the foundation for JIT, teaches how to implement non-stock production in your JIT manufacturing operations. The culmination of his extensive writings on efficient production management and continuous improvement...
Read moreWe often hear from clients that one of the challenges they run into in applying Lean methodologies to daily work isn’t necessarily applying various tools and techniques, it’s how to address the inevitable problems that arise along the way.
Read more2020 has been fraught with challenges. As we look to 2021, what can we do to make it a better year for our businesses? We asked our consultants to weigh-in.
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This month we look back at sage advice from Joel Barker the individual responsible for making “paradigm” a household word back. While Joel’s focus in the article is overcoming resistance to innovation, we believe his advice is pertinent to overcoming resistance to any change and we find it just a relevant for today’s workplace.
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Looking for a powerful new technique to add to your improvement arsenal? Then you’ll want to learn more about 3P, a cross functional team process that provides a systematized way to achieve step-level change.
From the standpoint of a Lean manufacturer, the process of producing a part quote is no different than actually making the part. You think in terms of flow, value-added, teamwork, and multi-skilled employees for both processes. In this month's From the Archives, read how a division of Aeroquip significantly improved their Customer Service team's response time and reduced the quote-processing cycle time.
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Making operations flow in manufacturing and administrative operations is key to consistently and continuously meeting customer demand. In this month’s Word of the Month we look at the seamless linking of people, material, and information and some of the tools of flow.