Lean Manufacturing

Jim Womack’s Top Misconceptions of the Lean Movement

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confused

This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the Lean movement which continues to revolutionize the manufacturing industry and is now spreading into other industries as well. Jim Womack, former MIT researcher and well-known founder of the Lean movement was a keynote presenter at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) in Toronto last month. Womack was introduced by CME president Jayson Meyers, who said he is “someone who has changed the world” by launching the Lean …

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A Restaurant Experience Worth Mentioning

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Buffalo wings

We’ve all had a bad experience at a restaurant. It’s nothing we or the restaurant ever hope for, but it’s the risk we take each time we venture out for a meal. We generally choose a restaurant for one of two reasons, the food or the atmosphere and set our expectations accordingly. For my most recent dining experience I went with the latter and made my way to Buffalo Wild Wings. There were multiple sporting …

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Project Management is Important for Continuous Improvement

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Most businesses are run with a series of ongoing projects. The breaking up of tasks into projects results in manageable workloads with specific assignments, making them more likely to get accomplished in a timely manner. By definition, projects are sets of interconnected tasks that are targeted at meeting a certain goal. Many organizations rely on steady project completion to lead to the achievement of broader company goals. Project Phases Projects are run, overseen, and monitored …

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Why Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)?

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Why SMED

The path towards continuous improvement in your lean journey is not always as clear as you’d like it to be. Many of the processes and methodologies behind Lean take time before your organization has success with them. It’s a learning process well worth the investment, but can be frustrating at times. Same goes for the Lean process known as Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED). The increased efficiency and reduction of costly inventory that results …

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An Engaged Employee is a Productive Employee

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Get the most out of each employee To measure the success of an organization, you don’t have to look much further than the employees that make it go. Are they happy to be there? Do they take pride in their work? Can they acknowledge they’re a part of something bigger? The answer to these questions will more often than not, be dependent upon your employee’s level of engagement. If you’re a Lean organization, then you …

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Go Lean – Visual Factory

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Lean Manufacturing Visual Factory refers to lean manufacturing theory. It describes visual methods a factory or any manufacturing plant can use to communicate information about a process to everyone who needs to understand it as they work. What Exactly Is It? A visual factory uses a collection of conceptual tools that will convey information in a clear, accurate, efficient, and organized way to those who need to know it. Since this visual information is easier …

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Lean Layout Fundamentals

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Designing a layout for your facility is a hefty project that really takes both sides of the brain to draw out all your creativity and scientific knowledge in order to be successful. The growth of Lean concepts and processes over the past decade has shifted many facilities to adopt a Lean layout on their floors. The results of a successful Lean layout can dramatically improve your facilities efficiency and flexibility when it comes to production …

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Not Your Grandpa’s Moonshine

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For anyone outside of the Lean manufacturing realm, moonshine has a whole different meaning. However for those that do go to work everyday in a Lean based facility, a moonshine event might just be the best part of their job. What is Moonshine? Moonshine is not for everyone (no matter how you define it). It is intended for the those who are seasoned Lean and Kaizen practitioners who have a knack for creativity. The process …

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JIT – Just In Time Manufacturing Explained

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Just In Time (JIT) manufacturing describes the process whereby companies only acquire and produce items on an as needed basis. This process in contradictory to conventional thought that focuses on carrying large amounts of product inventory and merchandise on hand to create products and fulfill orders. While the conventional approach of amassing a large inventory and keeping the parts or stock items on hand to fill orders sounds practical, the reality is the process of …

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Jishuken 101

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jishuken measuring process eliminating waste

What is Jishuken? For those that work in a Lean inspired organization, the term “kaizen” is one of the more popular terms heard when someone talks about improvement. Kaizen though, is more of a philosophy than an actual activity. Jishuken however, is an actual activity within the kaizen philosophy that is driven by management and involves identifying specific areas in need of continuous improvement. An easy way to think of jishuken is to think of …

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