“We are different. Every job is unique.” “We cannot expect teamwork from skilled trades. Their work is too specialized.” “We must keep our people busy at all times. That’s why inventory is so ...

The best way to reduce machining lead time is to establish a “flow” from one process to another, using cells to link, synchronize, and eliminate excessive material handling, excess inventory, and ...

If you google “Buffer Management” you will get a variety of results that focus mainly on buffers used to pad time for a task in project management or a deliberate amount time built into a project ...

Today’s productivity improvement goals, and the significant disparity in wages between U.S. manufacturing and lower-cost countries, require shops to use as much of a machine operator’s idle time as is ...

Ms. Peach used Kaizen, a process improvement strategy within lean manufacturing, within her division’s hospitals. Kaizen encompassed a three-day workshop in which front-line workers in the emergency ...