Remove Examples Remove Exercises Remove Factories
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Learning to See in 2023

The Lean Thinker

A plant manager asked me to build a map of the flows in his factory. With all of that information, I mapped out the factory’s flows. I learned a lot , not only about mapping a process, but about the way this factory functioned, and had pretty compelling evidence that the bottleneck was not what the common knowledge said it was.

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“95 Thesis” on Kaizen Events and TPS

The Lean Thinker

Thus, focusing on implementing the tools of TPS (takt time, flow, pull, etc) outside of the immediate response and problem solving context is an exercise which expends energy and gains very little sustainable change. This is independent of whether it is done in a week-long intense event or not. Every tool, technique, etc.

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Boeing: The Turning Point(s)

The Lean Thinker

With the justification aside, they next had us go through exercises calculating net present value and ROI for a hypothetical capital investment in tooling – as though a shop floor supervisor would do this at any point in the course of their job. The structural designs were far more tolerant of production variation, for example.

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Key challenges and solutions for the fabricated metals industry

SYSPRO Smarter ERP

The shift from oversupply to the current worldwide shortage has impacted raw materials, inbound logistics, the factory floor, and the outbound warehouse. For example, a custom manufacturer may need a metal fabrication supplier to take on a design-to-order project. Challenge: Skills gap on the factory floor.

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How manufacturers and distributors can mitigate disruption in the global supply chain

SYSPRO Smarter ERP

For example, one of the main problems with Asian-US trade is that all container ship deliveries are now routed to the West Coast, even though the bulk of America’s manufacturers are based on the East Coast. To assist with the short-term solution, the answer is an extensive data-gathering exercise. Use data to improve operations.

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Supply Chain Risks Come from All Sides

Material Handling and Logistics

Whether it is a hurricane or factory fire, new trade regulation or an unexpected supplier bankruptcy, much of how products are made and moved happens outside of our control. And in many cases, visibility is simply a matter of having regular status updates or reports between a company and an individual supplier, factory, carrier, or bank.

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Freight Procurement is a Different Game

Logistics Viewpoints

That factory also aims to rapidly process the raw materials into product. Any shipment moving from Siloam Springs to Bentonville, Arkansas, for example, would be one lane. An RFP is a data intensive exercise. But service is paramount in a vertically integrated supply chain with perishable products.