7 Signs Your Lean Manufacturing Program Won’t Survive Leadership Turnover
A new plant manager arrives. Within months, the kaizen calendar has gaps and improvement boards go stale. The departure gets blamed, but the deeper problem was a system that depended on one sponsor. A lean program lasts when operating routines, standards, resources, and accountability outlive the person who introduced them. The seven signs below reveal […]
8 Steps to Build a Digital Transformation Roadmap for an Industrial Manufacturing Plant
A digital transformation roadmap should start with the problems holding your plant back, not a list of technologies to buy. Which losses cost the most? Where can improvements deliver measurable returns? And what needs to happen before you scale? This guide walks you through eight practical steps to build a roadmap that connects technology investments […]
Using the R-Squared Statistic in Anova and General Linear Models
Robert Ballard Senior Operations Analyst View Profile “All models are wrong but some are useful.” – George Box The statistic R2 is useful for interpreting the results of certain statistical analyses; it represents the percentage of variation in a response variable explained by its relationship with one or more predictor variables. Common Use of R2 […]
2 Ways to Improve Order Tracking for Operational Excellence
Robert Ballard Senior Operations Analyst View Profile “Where’s my order?” Do you ever get that question asked to you by a customer? Are you able to answer without asking anyone or pulling up a report? Granted, customers typically only ask this if their order is late which is another problem in and of itself, […]
Root Cause Analysis in Organizational & Operational Engineering
Chris McCurrie VP, Operations View Profile Production and Manufacturing is the heart and lifeblood of a company. Manufacturing is where ideas and designs come to fruition. Production ultimately determines whether our methods, resources, and materials are viable and offers the anticipated return. Successful companies constantly monitor, review, and revamp their best practices to predictably deliver […]
Operations: Sustaining Results for the Long Term
At Implementation Engineers, efficiently improving operations is at the core of our business. Our teams work with senior leaders to create a robust roadmap to systematically improve operations internally. When we first start working with a client, we conduct an on-site interview with company executives to understand what they think is critical. During the Program […]
Go Beyond Maintenance to “Asset Performance Excellence”
Asset Management, and its associated maintenance and reliability activities, is recognized as a fundamental driver of the success of manufacturing. The production capacity of manufacturing sites is dependent upon the effectiveness of all maintenance and reliability activities undertaken by the maintenance department. The associated cost is a significant component of the total cost of production, […]
Codifying Knowledge : How Does it Help Human Capital Development?
People are the single most important asset in a company, so human capital development (HCD) is critical during a growth phase. When a manufacturer ramps up production, typically they onboard and train new employees. Hiring new people in itself is a challenge for any organization; training them to be proficient is another. Best practices is […]
Total Performance Excellence and Quality Management Model
What is Total Performance Excellence? Total Performance Excellence means looking at every detail and taking a holistic view of the entire company with a strategy to achieve performance rapidly. This means looking at the operations piece, tactical piece, people piece–and analyzing which ones are hurting the performance and which are going well. The lost profits […]
Compression Challenges in Engineering & Product Development
Engineering and product development is where innovative ideas begin. Implementing the ideas becomes more of a challenge. With rapid advancements in technology and high standards of the current business climate, engineering professionals are facing compression more than ever. This means they are squeezed in terms of time and money to get a product to market. […]