Lean Manufacturing
Lean and Data-Driven Manufacturing Go Hand in Hand
Lean manufacturing is a never-ending quest to remove waste from processes. This pursuit should put a shop on the path to data-driven manufacturing.
Read MoreLean Manufacturing Begins With Layout, Commitment
Sustainably streamlining production of a varied mix of low-volume work depends not only on a strategy tailored for job shops, but also on human drive and enthusiasm.
Read MoreShops Cite Their One Big Technology Addition
Here are three technologies that participants in our Top Shops benchmarking survey say have been particularly impactful on their machining businesses.
Read More5S in a Box
Based on this shop’s experience, industrial vending systems and lockers can help kick-start and sustain lean manufacturing initiatives.
Read MoreInventory Systems Boost Lean Manufacturing Efforts
Computerized, point-of-use storage and dispensing systems help this shop target waste that is difficult to measure and often labor-intensive to eliminate.
Read MoreLean Manufacturing Is No Less Important
There are a variety of new production technologies coming onto the scene, but lean manufacturing should remain a shop’s underpinning.
Read MoreLean No Less Important
Lean manufacturing shouldn’t become lost in the shuffle of today’s emerging part-production technologies, strategies and approaches.
Read MoreImprovement Is Not Optional
No matter how busy this shop gets, it continues to pull teams of employees out of production so they can focus on solving problems to make incremental process changes. The advances add up. Today, this is a very different shop than it once was.
Read MoreHuman Capital
This shop’s attention to process improvement led it to recognize and appreciate the largest source of unrealized potential in the company: the employees. Now, employee improvement is a priority in the plant manager’s role, and training has become a systemized part of the process.
Read MoreA Robotic (R)evolution
This shop’s evolving approach to automation has led it to streamline processes, challenge preconceived notions about robotics and embrace the notion that a manufacturing sequence is greater than the sum of its parts.
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