ETM Manufacturing, a sheet metal producer, has used Lean practices and concepts to improve internal operations and product quality since 2009. Now, the company is looking to test Lean in a broader sense by applying it to the extended supply chain. One strategy the company hopes to apply is the improvement of workflow. In a
Continue reading »United Kingdom-based truck manufacturer Leyland Trucks, which delivers its products under the DAF brand name, currently has a 15 percent share of Europe's new truck registration market. As Business Case Studies reports, the company's current goal is to expand this market share to 20 percent by increasing its production capacity and embracing the Japanese continuous
Continue reading »There are dozens of potential wastes that could plague a manufacturing company – material wastes from unused components, energy waste from poorly used utilities and employee waste from potentially redundant processes are among some of the top concerns. But, as Henry Ford puts it, time waste is perhaps the worst, because there is nothing that
Continue reading »The manufacturing industry has undergone a number of changes over the decades. According to Innovation Excellence, one of the most pressing concerns of manufacturers nowadays is the nurturing of talented individuals as a means of continually improving the quality and efficiency of production. Implementation of a Kaizen culture is widely seen as a way to
Continue reading »For many manufacturers, there is an ever-persistent dilemma between balancing efficiency with quality. The economy has forced many businesses to focus on doing more with limited resources, which has placed efficiency at a premium. At the same time, companies feel as if productivity has to come at the expense of quality, and they simply can't
Continue reading »The number of manufacturers that are recognizing the benefits of going Lean and green is rising. Although the idea of adopting environmentally friendly practices has traditionally been perceived as a more costly course of action, environmental sustainability goes hand in hand with waste reduction – a core tenet of Kaizen. For many businesses, the goals
Continue reading »Kaizen may have been developed by Japanese automakers decades ago, but continuous improvement and Lean practices are still benefitting automakers across the world today. Indus Motor Company, a Pakistan-based car manufacturer that produces automobiles for businesses such as Toyota and Daihatsu, is one of the many companies in the sector making use of Kaizen. Kaizen
Continue reading »Manufacturing is a complex business that needs to balance a variety of costs in a way that makes the most sense. This leads to some wasteful processes and procedures in lieu of other more productive ones. American manufacturers in particular tend to be wasteful. Gary Langenwalter, a principal at consulting group ConfluencePoint, notes the efficiency
Continue reading »After years of outsourcing jobs to foreign countries in an effort to save money, many manufacturing companies are beginning to realize that the best way to maximize their bottom lines is by bringing these jobs back to the U.S. As a result, the manufacturing business has been booming as of late, accounting for a significant
Continue reading »The American manufacturing industry has been slowly growing over the past few years. While it recently contracted in June, according to the Institute for Supply Management's Manufacturing Business Survey, this was the first occurrence of activity decline since July 2009. Even then, seven of the 18 manufacturing industries observed still grew. This changes how manufacturers
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