Interest rates have always had a profound impact on the manufacturing sector. As an economic inevitability, their rise can take businesses by surprise, triggering a series of responses to mitigate the effects. While I’m not an economist, throughout my decades in the industry I’ve noticed several trends in the industry as businesses grapple with these…
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we examined just how important it is to every level of your business to ensure your operational due diligence is done as quickly and efficiently as possible. But the question remains: How do you speed up the operational due diligence process and reap the benefits of informed decision-making,…
We’ve all been there before. The manufacturing floor is humming along, hitting deadlines, reaching quotas – all according to plan. And then… A machine goes down. All the progress your team has been making suddenly hits a wall. And the problems spiral out from there. It’s a simple fact of manufacturing production: machinery reliability is…
If the COVID-19 epidemic taught the manufacturing industry anything, it was the significance of an efficient and streamlined supply chain. When supply chain efficiency issues arise, businesses often tend to solely focus on external factors and fail to recognize the potential for improvement within their own internal processes. Let’s take a look at the importance…
As a strategic planning expert, I’ve seen firsthand how the right KPIs can help manufacturing companies achieve their goals. When KPIs are aligned with strategy, they can provide a clear roadmap for success. They can also help to identify areas for improvement and track progress over time. The Symphony of Strategy and Metrics I like…
Back in my days as a site lead in manufacturing, I had an operator who made a common problem all too clear to me. At the end of the shift, I asked him how his day had gone. “It was a great day,” he said. “Well, that’s good,” I said, then asked him what made…
My wife was recently involved in a car accident. She was thankfully unhurt and it wasn’t her fault. Because she needs her vehicle, we paid out of pocket to have it repaired while simultaneously working with the insurance company to get them to cut the reimbursement check. For us, keeping the time between paying out…
Let’s face it: every business has its problems, its constraints, and its inefficiencies. These issues can be like roadblocks, preventing you from reaching your goals and keeping you from delivering on your promises to your customers. The key is figuring out which of these roadblocks are the most detrimental and, more importantly, how to remove…
When we think about quality in the manufacturing realm, we generally limit our focus to the tangible aspects of products such as parts, components, and their fit, size, finish, and alignment. Poor quality, however, extends far beyond what you can feel and see. As do the effects, not just on the consumer but within the…
Once, early in my career, I was standing above a Toyota assembly line in Japan. Looking down at the plant floor, I realized that at any given time, a hundred different kinds of vehicles were rolling off the line. I felt like being there and seeing all of this was essentially akin to giving away…
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