Smart Manufacturing You have probably read articles, heard this term used by an equipment manufacturer, and even heard it at a Chamber of Commerce meeting or other local group. Smart Manufacturing covers a broad category of manufacturing with the goal of optimizing the process from concept,...

Two very distinct aspects of the bidding calculation could be costing your company tens of thousands of dollars. If you were shown a better bidding method, would you allow your pride to prevent you from testing it and, if it works, taking the time to embrace it to improve your company’s...

A lot of people have been talking about production tracking lately, so now is a good time to talk more in depth about some of the issues involved. With increased demand for the handling of metrics, levels of complexity and ever-changing conditions, manufacturers have been moving toward more...

The actual payment to employees for increased performance is truly one aspect that many managers may not understand, especially regarding how to get the most bang for their buck. For example, why give equal dollars to personnel with varying degrees of skills and responsibilities? This payout...

Sometimes people give me a variety of answers when I ask them to describe lean: tightening the belt; doing more with less; reducing inventory; cost-savings program; waste elimination; quality program; reducing head count; and turnaround tool. The word has meaning to many different people...

Continuous Improvement  – Success is achieved, not from the program, but from the mindset Theory of Constraints. The Houlihan Labor Method. Quick Response Manufacturing. Six Sigma. Lean. Total Productive Maintenance. Total Quality Management. The lexicon, tools, and methods...

On behalf of all the self-proclaimed industry expert consultants (SPIEC) in the component manufacturing (CM) industry, I would like to state a rebuttal to a published article “Confusion is Starting to Confuse Me” written by Carl Schoening in the May 2016 issue of The Advertiser....

Industry’s averages for net-profits-to-sales ratio: Below average – 0% to 9% Average – 10% to 12% Common to see – 13% to 19% High return more common than most know– Greater than 20% (No B.S.) Do you know how well your company did in comparison to...

Sometimes we lose focus of the main goal of creating more net profit for the company by focusing too much on one aspect of our business. Too often individuals focus too much on perceived labor efficiencies while limiting their overall capacities. Does reducing labor cost always produce more net...