Last month’s article, Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) for Enhancing Performance to Ensure ROI Retention, is a natural lead-in to Poka-Yoke. In lean terminology, roughly translated from Japanese, Poka-Yoke means to mistake-proof the process. A more accurate translation could be...

According to the research team at Goldman Sachs, we can expect healthy growth in 2024, with the economy growing by 2.1%. Most of the problems that would lead to higher inflation, such as an overheated labor market, are gone. And as a result, the probability of a recession in 2024 is much...

If you haven’t considered BuyMetrics yet, I have one more reason for you to check it out in 2024 – our new Commodity Analysis and Visualization Module. This new module will give BuyMetrics’ clients the power to control their own market analysis and measure their own...

Over twenty years ago, I struck out to help companies improve their operations through best practices based on lean manufacturing and industrial engineering practices. Helping hundreds of companies improve their operations has been an extremely rewarding experience. After all of the 35 years I...

As the fiscal year draws to a close, it may be worth considering Section 179 to lower your tax burden for 2023. To refresh your memory, Section 179 allows a business to deduct the full purchase price of certain equipment for the year it was put in service. By deducting the full purchase...

For years, TDC has promoted the idea of using reliable estimated work minutes (R.E., S.U., Man-Minutes) for scheduling, pricing, and understanding true labor efficiencies. The most important aspect of properly developed work minutes is that you can create a short scheduling time standards...

Over the last few months, we’ve been adjusting the rates on our factor sheet upwards as the Fed continued to raise interest rates. The Fed has now raised its target rate to the highest level in 22 years, to 5.50%. Despite the higher rates, we have not seen the demand for funding slowing...

Lumber is mission-critical to every component manufacturer (CM). On average, it represents two-thirds of your cost-of-goods (CoG), roughly half of the value of your product (Revenue – Pretax Profit). So, what are the market dynamics that surround the purchase of lumber? And how/why can CMs...

As the Fourth Quarter got underway, there were strong signs that the U.S. economy remains resilient, despite stock market volatility and consumers beginning to express some wobbles in confidence. But the crisis in the Middle East, political divisiveness in the U.S., and chaotic developments...

It’s easy to consider the bank down the block for your financing needs. After all, it’s close and you know the bank manager; it seems like you’re at the branch a lot dealing with the in’s and out’s of everyday business. But, is that bank always your best option for...