Employees are an important part of any company. Businesses following the Kaizen mindset need to empower workers at every level of the company, and one of the most effective ways to do this is through training. Training offers organizations an opportunity to help develop their workforce. However, many companies stumble at this point by not
Continue reading »American technology company Lockheed Martin recently achieved a set of five-year global environmental goals that were made back in 2008. Carol Cala, the company's vice president of energy, environment, safety and health, credits continuous improvement for help in accomplishing these standards. What's more, in addition to helping Lockheed Martin become greener, continuous improvement has also
Continue reading »Going “Lean” means the reduction of wasteful processes within a business. Going “Green” denotes practices that reduce negative impacts on the environment. Not every Lean practice will be green, while not every green initiative will be Lean, but in some instances the two approaches can be used together to accomplish shared goals. However, as the
Continue reading »Like many other business sectors, the manufacturing industry took a big hit over the past few years due to the economic recession. However, in some states throughout the U.S., the manufacturing business is slowly starting to improve, as evidenced by an influx of new hires to factories. For example, the 2012 Indiana Manufacturers Directory –
Continue reading »So often, business owners stress over the importance of becoming better leaders. Leadership is a skill everyone has, and yet, some people have to work harder than others to develop the trait. However, there is only so much businesspeople can do to become better leaders, and it's frequently just as important that they hire the
Continue reading »Buying products from retailers online is largely a green process – ecommerce businesses don't have brick-and-mortar stores that use electricity and shoppers don't have to get in a smog-spewing car to get to them. However, if there is one part of the process that isn't exactly environmentally friendly, it's the packaging and shipping of purchased
Continue reading »AMAX, a California-based high performance (HPC) solutions provider, has credited its adoption of Kaizen and Lean philosophies for its ability to stay ahead of competitors and provide high-quality service solutions to its customers. The company recently announced the addition of ISO:14001 certification for its U.S. manufacturing operations, as well as China Compulsory Certified (CCC) and
Continue reading »Becoming an effective leader requires entrepreneurs and upper management to develop a specific set of skills. These key skills include the ability to value people, lead by example, display a strong character and understand the company's missions and values. Valuing people It's important to view people working underneath you as just that – people, not
Continue reading »Gregory Kenny, CEO of Kentucky-based General Cable, asserts that his industry is a tough one to stay competitive in. If his company isn't running at peak capacity, there is a very real chance that someone else in the sector could easily surpass General Cable, IndustryWeek reports. Kenny's company produces and manufactures copper, aluminum and fiber-optic
Continue reading »Lean manufacturing and Kaizen terms and methodologies can oftentimes be difficult concepts to grasp. They originate from Toyota's Production System, meaning the philosophy and mindset behind them are, to most people, foreign in nature and may not be easy for Westerners to pick up at first. This difficulty holds true whether or not the person is
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