We recently highlighted how manufacturers are buying equipment in 2017, noting that the greatest increases in spending are a result of the e-commerce boom. No doubt, e-commerce is something every manufacturer wants to take part in. MMH recently released Bridget McCrea’s article, “Conveyors and Sortation Keep up the Pace” where she points out that: Forrester… Read more
Manufacturing has experienced some good fortune in recent years. Of course, along with a thriving industry come price fluctuations – ones that both benefit and hinder industry professionals. For example, consumer spending increased the demand for material handling equipment, thereby driving up their prices. You’ve probably noticed this over the last few years, especially if… Read more
Modern Materials Handling (MMH) recently discussed the results of Peerless Research Group’s 2017 Warehouse/DC Equipment Survey. The results revealed that the industry is spending and planning to spend on solutions that improve flexibility and efficiency. This was especially true for companies that felt stress from: faster cycle times, smaller, more frequent orders, and labor pressures…. Read more
We write a lot about Lean strategies here, but they’re not the only path to improvement. You want to save money and/or reduce your carbon footprint? You probably have plenty of opportunity to do so all over your facility. Sometimes the answers are staring you right in the face. For United Warehouse Co, it was… Read more
Modern Materials Handling recently featured the company LEDVANCE and the changes that brought them a two-year ROI with reduced costs and product damage. The primary change was replacing forklifts for tasks related to moving pallets. The article highlights an interview with LEDVANCE plant manager Mike McNulty. He explained that one of the company’s Lean strategies… Read more
In part 1, we celebrated the recent PMI that showed February 2017 had the highest monthly growth in manufacturing since August of 2014. With growth come new challenges for manufacturers, one being that suppliers are struggling to keep up with demand, and therefore, delivery times from them are slowing. This can hurt lead times for… Read more
The manufacturing industry is reaping fantastic growth. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) monthly Manufacturing Report on Business uses the PMI to measure growth in the industry. The February 2017 PMI was the highest monthly PMI since August of 2014. (Read more details about the report here.) The growth is worthy of celebration, but it… Read more
Not every manufacturer will benefit from Lean. Even when applied correctly, a method that works for a company like Toyota is not tailored to benefit every operation. Manufacturers producing low volume or custom-engineered products, for example, would not improve with a technique like Kanban. These kinds of companies have to look at improvement strategies a… Read more
Did you know that the lean strategy Just-in-Time (JIT) was modeled after a supermarket? Taiichi Ohno, former Vice President of Toyota, promoted the idea of JIT from the concept that at a grocery store, the “next process” (or customer) goes to the “preceding process” (the supermarket) to retrieve the exact “parts” that are necessary in… Read more
Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) share similarities and are therefore often used interchangeably. Together they’re recognized as the key operational activities of a quality management system. However, they are two separate approaches to what we understand today to be Lean Manufacturing. You may think TQM is a bit outdated, as it… Read more